Best way to deal with the outsourced agents

Hi Srikanth,

when you indicate outsourced agents what do you mean? are these agents on temporary agency contacts with your company? or has the customer service for your organisation been outsourced?

Assuming you are talking about agents on temporary contracts paid by a recruitment firm (temps) - I would say that you treat them the same as your own employees with the same expectations in regards to performance and behaviour - potentially with the support of the Agency?

If you are using a company and they employ the 'outsourced agents' then the onus on managing those agents lies with them - as a client you might get involved in quality monitoring or perhaps make mystery calls to assess the customer experience yourself?

Hi Srikanth,

Generally our recruitment partners come in one day a week and make themselves available to the agents, with off line time authorised by their Team Lead or manager. They also generally give the Team Lead a call in the fist week or so to ensure everything is going ok. But remember, your company is making them a lot of money by supplying you with temporary agents and as such they should be open to working with and supporting you and as such be willing to come in to suit you!

At the end of the day should it really matter who is paying the wages of these agents? - I would say not, you should be able to expect and demand the same level of service from a temp as an internal employee and they should understand that whilst it may be the agency that pays their wages they work for and report to you - and as far as a customer contact is concerned reperesent you and or your client.

If your batch of temporary agents do not meet your expectations and are not dedicated to providing a good service then I would be telling the agency that and terminating the contracts of the agents - I dont know where you are in the world but generally the economy is poor everywhere - there must be people out their desperate even for a temp job? - and who would want to do the job to the very best of their ability? - particualry if there is even a small chance good performance may lead to a permanent contract with your company? - or even on-going temp employment........

If it were me in your shoes I think firstly I would document the general problems I am experiencing with the temps - with specific details about the agents causing you most concern. I would then request a meeting with the Temp agency rep to dicsuss the concerns and to find a way the issues can be addressed together. Agree a time frame for improvements on the understanding if they are not met you will terminate those agents contracts and may look to an alternative employment agency to better suit your needs.......

Whilst not directly involved I am sure at my company where an agent is found unsuitable within the first 3 months the agency is penalised in regards to the fees they receive for providing the contract..........

Let us know how you get on - be firm!

Hello,

So far I have not had a team that work with Right Now (but it is used elsewhere here) and neither do I have any experience or knowledge of "cloud platfor" - but I'm sure many of the other frequent users will and will have advice, guidance and ideas for you :O)