The modern challenges of contact centre recruitment

Your company’s recruitment process may seem tried and tested – but what do would-be employees really think of the system that decides whether or not they get the job? And once they’ve gained the hoped-for post, does their real-life experience of work with their new employer match the message they were given during the selection process?

Adam Gordon of Rise Consulting has just completed a detailed analysis of attitudes among both contact centre agents and candidates in the financial services sector. The exercise also covered those in training with the companies and those who recently started work following training. And although his research has disclosed some very worrying trends, it has also helped identify a number of practical and positive remedies.

“The single most obvious fact to arise from our findings is that the experience of a job does not, for many new employees, match the picture they were given during the selection process of how things would be – there can be a stark divide between perception and reality,” he said.

He adds that this in turn can rapidly cause discontent and lead to high staff turnover.

The project was carried out in partnership with major Scottish financial services contact centres with a natural inbuilt interest in devising the best possible recruitment system, and had the particular objective of reducing attrition among both candidates and new starts.

Another goal was to use the information gleaned to enable the various companies concerned to gain a better return on recruitment spend, while at the same time maximising the longevity of contact centre agents’ employment.

Adam Gordon acquired the evidence through facilitating confidential focus groups, and after thorough examination of the findings, arrived at some interesting key conclusions about the employment process and where it can come badly unstuck.

For example, some candidates felt the recruitment experience was quick and efficient, while others thought it too long – and in some cases candidates reckoned their recruitment agency was unsupportive in the recruitment process after the initial meeting with their potential employer.

The work also disclosed that recruitment agencies seldom received suitable feedback on candidates from the company concerned, and the way interviews were arranged was inconsistent, leading to major communication problems.

Many candidates were frustrated that the terms of their job, such as shift times, had varied significantly by the time they started the job – which in turn led to lack of trust – while those already in a job found the experience inflexible and inconvenient.

Adam Gordon comments: “In a competitive sales environment, the best performers are not always at an advantage by sharing the reasons for their successes. Companies should extract hints and tips from the best performers and create channels for knowledge sharing.”

9 Jul 2008

Filed under Call Centre News