When Chief Call Center Officer Angie Flurry joined law firm Morgan & Morgan, she wanted to create a culture of belonging that would keep agents with the company longer.
“They came, they went,” Flurry said on a CCWomen webinar Wednesday. “When they were here, they hopefully got to help some people, but the turnover was high — as it traditionally is in contact centers.”
Reducing turnover at a contact center can come down to a simple matter of changing the culture for the better, according to Flurry. The key is to make staff feel appreciated in their day-to-day work while turning what can feel like a dead-end job into the start of a career.
Agents need to feel like they have a future with the company, and leaders play a key role in ensuring new hires feel that way. Representatives need to feel appreciated throughout their tenure, which is where perks and swag can help. Done right, the drop in attrition will prove a valuable ROI
Flurry sees her own efforts as proof. Attrition of customer service representatives at Morgan & Morgan used to be 60%, but as of last year, the attrition rate had dropped to 25%. At a contact center with 1,100 agents, that change represents a significant difference.
Make agents feel like they have a future
When Flurry took on her role, agents felt like their work was a temporary job, not part of a larger career. Changing that was one of her early goals.
Agents don’t have much incentive to work harder if they don’t see room to advance their position as part of a larger career, according to Flurry. Leaders are the ones who need to make long-term opportunities feel real.
“You've got to really train them to always be thinking about, ‘How do I make sure that the agents here today feel like they have a future here if they want it?’” Flurry said. “If they just want to sit and take calls, that's OK, too. But they know they're empowered to set their own path and that we're here to support them.”
Part of that support is making leaders visible, according to Flurry. This is especially important for new hires who are just getting acclimated to the company culture.
Every morning, a different leader from Flurry’s department visits for a meet and greet so representatives get to know the people who will oversee them. The meetings include discussing positive moments from the previous day, whether work-related or private.
“That way they get to see the faces of all the leaders,” Flurry said. “It's a requirement. Different people go in at different times, but no leader is off limits. The workforce management guy? You might never see him again, but he comes in, introduces who he is, he shares his positive moment, he conducts the class. That way everybody gets to feel that same vibe, and then every leader gets to meet the new hires.”
Perks help, but they require follow through
Small perks like the occasional celebration or free meal can go a long way, but leaders must handle and present them with care to avoid potential backlash.
Follow through is essential, according to Flurry. For example, if a company is going to offer monthly lunches for its top performers, that program can’t die two months in because the people running it were too busy.
“You have to commit if you're going to roll something out or you're going to launch something,” Flurry said. People notice when proposed benefits and incentives keep falling through, and future efforts become less motivational.
Some perks deserve to be shared with everyone, according to Flurry. When the contact center reaches a major goal it should be a celebration for everyone there, not just the people in charge.
“I understand we all want to pat ourselves on the back that we had a great month, but really none of it happened without the agents,” Flurry said. “So take the money that you want to spend on an outing for the leaders, and let's do something great for them, because they start noticing, ‘All my leaders leave every Friday and go have a happy hour, and I never get to do that.’”
When initiatives do fall through, leaders can’t just let them disappear without a word, according to Flurry. Workers will start to fill in the blanks themselves and end up with explanations that may be more negative than the truth. This can be especially true if a long-running perk gets canceled.
“If you do something on a regular basis, and then you just stop and there's no explanation, people tend to get very suspicious of what's going on,” Flurry said. “It can really damage the culture really quickly.”
Reduced attrition is proof of ROI
It can be hard to prove the ROI a strong culture generates. Flurry found success by tying her initiatives to turnover rates.
The effort started small, with bits of swag for representatives and the occasional lunch, according to Flurry. The goal was to recognize employees without breaking the budget, and even small changes can move the needle on attrition.
For example, if you invest $5,000 in culture and drop attrition numbers by 5% to 10%, that can be presented as a big win, Flurry said. That initial investment may have saved $10,000 to $20,000 in hiring and training costs — and then you can argue that a bigger budget can cut turnover even further.
Flurry pointed to the success of her own attrition reduction efforts as an example.
“They don't really bug me anymore about why I need a culture team, because it pays for itself all day long,” Flurry said. “That, to me, is the easiest ROI to prove. If you can show your attrition numbers dropping, it'll pay for itself in like three employees.”
