Locate and Hire Agents in Days, Not Months
11 Jun, 2010
By: Rob DuncanVirtual Contact Centers Offer New Staffing Solution
Staffing is an ongoing, extremely costly problem for most contact centers. The industry has historically had a difficult time attracting a steady supply of qualified workers and, once hired, these agents are hard to retain. In fact, according to industry researchers, the average contact center spends approximately $2,000 to recruit and hire one new agent, a costly proposition considering many centers have annual attrition of 50 percent to 100 percent or more.
Partnering with a virtual contact center can provide some relief to this tough management challenge. Virtual contact centers have unprecedented access to talented workers from across the United States. They also have the knowledge and processes in place to drastically reduce the cost and time associated with staffing a contact center. Today, some virtual centers are offering this expertise as an à la carte service. This means that call center executives interested in maintaining their customer care services in-house can still take advantage of the recruiting and hiring resources used by virtual centers, resulting in significant operational efficiencies.
The Largest Talent Pool
Virtual contact centers have access to an enormous pool of applicants for two main reasons. First, unlike traditional centers, they aren’t limited to hiring within a specific geographic region – typically inside a 30 mile radius of a brick-and-mortar facility. Second, working from home is a desirable situation. Very desirable. In fact, many virtual contact centers receive thousands of applications weekly from across the United States. Contrast this with the typical response to a traditional call center job posting, and it’s clear this is a big advantage. So, where do these people come from? How do they hear about home-based agent positions? The truth is that most of the applications come from word of mouth. Virtual contact centers have to spend very little on advertising or recruiting because so many potential agents hear about the positions through stories in the news, friends, or their own proactive research.
The Selection Process
With so many applications, virtual contact centers are in a unique position to hire only the most qualified people from hundreds of thousands of prospects. However, sifting through the prospects to find the best-of-the-best can be time-consuming and challenging. To overcome this obstacle, some companies have developed sophisticated technology solutions that can rank applications to produce lists of potential agents that fit specific criteria.
At the beginning of the application process, prospects indicate their various days and times of availability. Computer logic engines then compare their desired availability across multiple client schedules and requirements. Applicants that are a match to a specific program proceed further into the application process. Application forms are filled out, résumés are uploaded, essays are drafted and client-specific screening questions are answered. In addition, prospective agents are further qualified through a rigorous online pre-employment assessment tool, which evaluates them on multiple job-related, behavioral and personality dimensions. If this sounds like a lot of work, it is. Most prospects at this point have invested over six hours of their own time, ensuring that only the most capable and committed applicants are considered for further evaluation.
After completing the online application and assessment portions, sophisticated algorithms filter, sort and rank tens of thousands of applicants, allowing recruiters to spend their time further evaluating only the best-of-the-best. Using role-playing and situational response questions developed over years of hiring virtual workers, the interview process is honed to a science and is extremely effective in identifying top performing candidates. While the above recruiting methodology is robust and comprehensive, the selection process does not stop there. Once offered an employment position, each applicant must pass a thorough background and credit check. This last filter has proven to be an especially helpful step in hiring the best agents in the nation.
Partnership Approach
Of course, hiring virtual contact center agents for a client should never be done in isolation. Any reputable provider should embrace a partnership approach, working closely with the client to customize each step in the process. Clients looking to outsource their recruiting and staffing functions should have a detailed consultation session with their outsourced partner. The outsourcer should seek to understand the client’s culture, philosophies and objectives, as each of these will influence the profile of the ideal applicant. Secondly, the outsourcer should collaborate with the client to develop customized screening tests and behavioral interview questions to ensure applicants possess the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities. Finally, the outsourced partner should regularly solicit feedback and report on metrics to refine the recruiting process and hiring criteria. Only through close collaboration can the client and outsourcer together ensure that the hired agents will exceed expectations.
Whether you are looking to add extra customer care capacity or just needing assistance with recruiting and hiring top talent, virtual contact centers can get you up and running quicker and with better results than handling it yourself. With access to a large talent pool, a streamlined selection process developed from years of experience, and a willingness to work hand-in-hand with their clients, virtual contact centers are a clear choice for companies who are serious about providing the best possible customer interaction experience.
