Workforce Management Featured Article
Three Tips for Successful Agent Training
Hiring new employees is a standard part of running any company, but that doesn’t make it any easier. Finding the right candidates for the job can be difficult, especially in the call center. Managers need to make sure they are hiring people who can deal with the stress of being an agent—from meeting first call resolution goals to dealing with angry customers.
Once managers actually figure out which candidates they want to hire, they have to go through yet another long process: training. New hire training should begin the moment the agents enter the building. Introducing them to the team is an essential step one when it comes to training; the call center managing director, department heads and agent supervisors should all be available to chat with new hires to provide them with ways to contact them if needed.
Another important aspect of agent training is going over schedule adherence. Scheduling is key to call center success; after all, great customer experiences can’t be provided if agents aren’t working their assigned shifts to pick up the calls. As an article from talkdesk points out, “Most new hires have no idea how schedule adherence impacts the call center. Make sure your agents are in the know by having someone from Workforce Management explain the impact that schedule adherence has on key performance indicators like service level. It would also be helpful to give new hires information on which KPIs managers will assess, how these will be tied to performance evaluations as well as practical tips on how to hit their KPI benchmarks.” With all of this information in front of them, it would be hard for agents to underestimate the importance of sticking to their schedules.
Finally, bringing in veteran agents to help train the new hires is a guaranteed way to ensure that they’re learning the best skills. Veterans know the best call handling practices, have etiquette down to a science, and can provide plenty of tips on how to deal with unpleasant callers. They’re also the best people to introduce new hires to the workforce management software that’s used in the call center because they use it every day. Additionally, having the veterans train the new hires is a great way to help them form camaraderie, consequently improving the call center’s culture as a whole.
Edited by Maurice Nagle
