Are Remote Agents in Your Staffing Future?
1 Jul, 2005
By: Penny ReynoldsOne of the most critical steps in making and receiving customer calls is deciding not only how many staff will be needed, but also what type of staffing solution will be used. Since about three-fourths of call center costs are labor-related, this decision is fundamental to the operation of the business. How a business chooses to get people in place to handle its customer interactions will have an impact on every other function within the center, including site selection and facility design, forecasting and scheduling, performance management, technology acquisition and management, facilities management, human resources administration and risk management.
Four main options exist for call center staffing: traditional in-house staffing, outsourcing, contract agency staffing and telecommuting. Telecommuting, or using remote agents, offers a unique set of advantages and disadvantages as a call center staffing solution, but can be successful if some best practices are followed.
The practice of telecommuting for office workers is growing rapidly. The International Telework Association and Council (ITAC), based in Washington, D.C., forecasts that more than 30 million workers will telecommute in 2005—more than a 50 percent increase in just three years. This growth is occurring across all sectors of business, from business and legal services to health care, banking and finance. The call center with its “knowledge worker” population is one of the professions best positioned to take advantage of this work option.
Remote Agent Advantages
A remote agent arrangement offers several advantages.
Schedule Flexibility. The main advantage of using remote workers as all or part of the call center workforce is the flexibility gained in scheduling. It is very difficult to cover the peaks and valleys of calls throughout the day with traditional staff. The call center may have a two-hour peak of calls in the morning and another in the afternoon. While the call center can’t expect someone to come into the center and work a split shift to handle those periods, it may be reasonable to expect a person working from home to do so.
Covering night and weekend hours may also be easier to accomplish with telecommuters. Many people do not like to commute to work at night when crime and traffic risks rise. These same people may be willing to work night or weekend hours if they can do so from home.
Real Estate Savings. Another primary benefit of telecommuting is the space savings accomplished by not needing to house the agent in the physical call center. Assuming that an agent occupies 50 square feet of call center space and the lease cost of this space is $20 per square foot per month, the savings per agent would be $1,000 per month, or $12,000 per year. And this is only the cost of the space. Add to that the one-time and ongoing costs of building and maintaining workstations, furniture, lunchrooms, conference spaces, and other amenities, along with the cost of additional utilities, and that cost could easily double.
This estimate of savings is supported by industry statistics. According to numbers from ITAC, there is a cost avoidance of $25,000 per teleworking agent when compared to traditional staffing alternatives.
Expanded Labor Pool. One strong reason to consider the utilization of a remote workforce is the potential to attract additional labor sources. This expanded labor pool may include highly qualified workers that are disabled or physically challenged and unable to commute daily into the business site. Another potential source of workers may be those that are homebound caregivers, such as the growing population of baby-boomers now caring for their elderly parents.
A telecommuting option may also simply bring in a bigger pool of qualified candidates attracted to the prospect of working at home and avoiding the commuting hassles of getting to their job every day. In fact, companies may not only find their candidate pool increasing, but also may find that people may be willing to work for less money if telecommuting is an option. In addition to avoiding the travel time of a long commute, employees can save money on transportation costs, food costs and a working wardrobe. These are all significant benefits to employees.
Remote staffing capabilities may also be a way to have workers out of the office due to illness or disability back on the job sooner. Rather than waiting on a full recovery, many workers may be able to resume work sooner if working from home, either on a full-time or gradual part-time basis.
Staff Retention. Businesses generally find that their teleworking employees have much higher job satisfaction and retention rates than traditional in-house employees. In addition to the “hard dollar” employee benefits listed above, the additional time found in their day is a big factor in overall satisfaction and quality of life.
Another retention benefit is the fact that trained employees can also be retained even if they move to another city or area of the country. Many call centers lose valuable employees when a spouse’s job takes them to a new place. With remote agent capabilities, the high-quality agent can remain employed, avoiding recruiting, hiring and training costs for new staff, not to mention the retention of valuable skills and knowledge.
Increased Productivity. Many trials of telecommuting workers versus traditional office workers suggest that telecommuters are more productive. The main reason for this higher productivity may be the fact that there are fewer interruptions to distract the employee. Their comfort and increased satisfaction from working at home may also be a contributing factor to the better productivity.
Disaster Recovery. All sorts of disasters and emergencies can happen that disable normal call center functions, and having a pool of remote workers can assist the call center in carrying out its work. A major storm or icy road may prevent staff from coming into the center, but work can still be carried out in remote sites. A flood or power outage at the site can damage workstations, but assuming connectivity is still possible to the main switch, agents at home can continue to process calls.
Environmental Impact. Having fewer people driving into the call center every day can certainly reduce auto emissions and pollution. This isn’t just a nice side benefit, but also may help some companies comply with legal regulations. The federal Clean Air Act requires companies with more than 100 employees in high-pollution areas to design and implement programs to reduce air pollution. Setting up a telecommuting program is one option for complying with this rule.
Telecommuting Disadvantages
Telecommuting is not for everyone, however; there are some downsides to this staffing alternative. The major obstacle preventing many companies from implementing telecommuting is the issue of equipping the agent to work at home. While the voice part of the technology is easy to accomplish and phone calls can be seamlessly made and answered, the bigger stumbling block has to do with the delivery of the data portion of the call.
Delivery of the data portion of the call to the agent’s desktop at home requires equipping the agent with the proper equipment and sufficient bandwidth to enable the customer interactions. Dedicated lines can be expensive, and ISDN and DSL lines are not available in every area. There is also concern about the delivery of private or confidential information to an agent’s home where friends and family members may have access to it.
Social concerns should also be taken into consideration. Team members who work from home may not feel as much of the team as their on-site counterparts. And it may be more difficult to keep at-home agents “in the loop” of office communications and new procedures. Many companies address this gap by having the employee come into the office at least one day a week to work.
Finally, many employees are not good candidates for telecommuting. Some may lack the experience or discipline to work without supervision. Others long for the camaraderie of being in a social workplace. It is important to define up front what the selection criteria will be and make sure a process is in place to continually monitor and coach the distant workers to ensure they effectively contribute to the goals and objectives of the center and of the overall business.
Evaluating the Potential
Consider the advantages of telecommuting listed above, it’s no surprise that telecommuting is growing by leaps and bounds. What’s a wonder is the fact that some companies are ignoring this staffing opportunity. According to Jack Heacock, an industry expert on telecommuting, the companies that aren’t at least exploring this solution are likely just stymied by “organizational laziness.” There may be an overall reluctance to change current policies and procedures, especially in supporting departments like IT and Human Resources.
If you that think telecommuting might be a potential solution for your call center, you’ll want to proceed through the evaluation process with a thorough business case. Evaluate your current situation and consider what problems or issues might be addressed by a remote workforce. The most common problems that push companies to think about telecommuting as a solution are scheduling inflexibility and coverage problems, real estate shortage or rising cost, and lowered job satisfaction or retention. Telecommuting provides a viable solution to all these problems.
Part of the business case will also be evaluating all the different ways to set up remote agents. Some organizations use agents that work for themselves as independent contractors, like Willow CSN. Others use agents that work for outsourcing agencies that specialize in work-at-home staff, like West at Home. And growing numbers are sending their own employees home to work.
As part of a business case evaluation, you’ll want to decide on performance metrics up front that will serve as proof of the success of a telecommuting solution. Sample metrics will likely include measures of customer satisfaction, quality scores, productivity scores, speed of answer, and employee satisfaction and retention. Certainly, a financial analysis will also be part of the business case evaluation. You’ll want to quantify the cost of setting up the solution, compared to the potential savings or other benefits anticipated as you calculate a potential return on investment.
Finally, a big part of presenting the business case for telecommuting will be mapping out an implementation plan. This plan should identify the key people to be involved, including potential teleworkers, others in the call center that will be impacted by the solution, and support you’ll need from other departments. A step-by-step written implementation guide will show senior management that you have thought through the entire process and will serve you well if and when you get the green light to proceed.
Implementation of Best Practices
Assuming your business case is approved, there are several proven practices for ensuring the success of your remote agent solution. These best practices include how to select the right staff and set up the home workplace on the front end. Then, you’ll want to have a plan in place for maximizing the performance of the remote staff.
One of the most important decisions you will make is the choice of the staff that will work from home. While some telecommuting organizations such as VIP Desk or JetBlue Airlines hire someone to be a remote agent from the beginning, organizations such as UNUM Provident select from current employees who have already proven themselves in a traditional call center setting.
There are some schools of thought that suggest that those employees who make the most successful employees in the hustle and bustle of the call center are not necessarily the ones that will succeed at home. According to Dr. Robert Hogan, President of Hogan Assessment Systems, people that work well on their own have three important characteristics. First, they should actually be introverted and not need much social interaction. Second, they should be conscientious, self-disciplined, self-starting and self-managing. And although it may sound contradictory to the established business model, Hogan suggests the best candidates should have lower aspirations about rising in the organization because working alone may actually remove them from some opportunities and interactions necessary to advance their careers in the short term. These characteristics are generally opposite from those who work well in a call center group, such as an extroverted nature, enjoyment of the company of others, and ability to work well within a team.
Just as interviews and assessments can identify people that will function well in a traditional call center, sophisticated screening can point out prospects who are likely to be successful telecommuters. The assessments can identify those that are productive self-starters with the personal discipline to work at home alone and be comfortable doing so without frequent oversight. It can also help identify those individuals who will treat the caller’s secure information as they would their own.
Another important part of getting started has to do with the remote agent home setup. Assemble a home office specification guide with a list of the “must haves,” “nice to haves, and “can’t haves” for home workers. Items that organizations generally require include a dedicated space that can be shut off from the rest of the home, minimum size physical space requirements and a dedicated phone line (which may be paid for by employee or company). Some of the deal killers may include small children at home or noisy pets.
In addition to space specifications, you’ll also want to assemble a suggested home inventory list. This inventory may include items such as computer, printer, fax and required phone lines. In addition, items like power surge protectors and smoke alarms should be on the list, along with a listing of general office supplies and reference materials. This inventory should be reviewed on a periodic basis to ensure the remote office stays properly equipped.
One of the ongoing management issues to consider is what the policy will be regarding scheduling. One of the reasons to consider telecommuting in the first place is to provide more flexibility in schedule coverage. Therefore, part of the telecommuting policy should outline scheduling expectations of these staff, in terms of what schedules they will be expected to fill and how much availability and flexibility will be expected of them. Many centers find that their remote staff are not only more willing to log off during overstaffed times, but also to fill in at the last minute for understaffed periods. However, these scheduling expectations should be clearly defined up front.
A disadvantage of telecommuting mentioned earlier was the lack of belonging felt by some remote employees. A good telecommuting policy will ensure that the remote employees are included in various programs and promotions. They should have the same opportunities for rewards and recognition as in-house employees.
Conclusion
The “knowledge workers” in today’s call center are excellent candidates for working at home. A remote agent setup can provide a way to attract and retain a qualified workforce given the many perceived advantages to the employee. The call center also benefits in terms of scheduling flexibility, real estate savings, and better overall productivity.
Could remote agents be in your call center’s staffing future? Talk to others that have done so and see for yourself why telecommuting success stories are growing in number. In talking to call centers who have adopted this solution, the biggest regret most of them express is that they didn’t do it much sooner!
Remote Staffing Success Stories
One company that has had tremendous success with remote agents is UNUM Provident. According to Phillip Nichols, the firm’s business analyst, the call center was faced with a physical space shortage and implemented a pilot project to test out the possibility of sending some staff home to work. The initial pilot was a sound success, and the center has since moved about a third of the workforce out of the traditional call center to a home work environment. The results have been overwhelmingly positive. For those employees working from home, shrinkage (the lost or unproductive time in a center when agents are not available to take calls) has been reduced by about 15 percent while productivity has risen by 18 percent. The center has enjoyed more schedule flexibility, along with much higher retention rate.
Nichols attributes the success of their telecommuting program to several factors. Only employees with proven performance records are selected to work from home. The company has a Remote Agent Start-Up Manual that includes detailed documentation on all aspects of the arrangement. A detailed Teleworker Agreement is in place, which is signed by the employee and management so all parties are clear on the terms of the remote arrangement. It also includes a detailed manager’s remote checklist, as well as a home inventory guide.
VIP Desk, a professional concierge service, is staffed with remote agents all across the country. Known for its stellar customer service, VIP Desk attributes its success to its vigorous screening process and training of new agents. According to Tim Gordon, who heads up operations at VIP Desk the efforts have paid for themselves many times over. Due to the perceived benefits of working from home, the company has been able to attract an experienced, mature workforce that performs at consistently high levels. Retention is over 85 percent and word of mouth advertising keeps a ready supply of job applicants in line for this desirable job arrangement.
