10 Ways to Give New Recruits an Amazing Welcome

How you welcome your agents into your contact centre can make or break your recruitment efforts and staff retention, so what can you do in your agents’ early weeks to make sure they want to stay?

To find out, our Editor – Megan Jones – interviewed contact centre experts Brittany Hodak, Clare Santos, Dan Pratt, Jeremy Hyde, Kim Ellis, and Naomi Smith – to find out what a warm welcome really looks like.

1. Send a Hand-Signed Letter From the Team as Soon as They Accept the Job

Clare Santos, Director, Knowledge & Quality, Customer Experience at Aviso — Clare Santos

“I love sending out hand-signed cards or letters to our new recruits saying, “We can’t wait to work with you!”.

It’s such a nice surprise for them and really kick-starts their journey with us in the best possible way.” – Clare Santos, Director, Knowledge & Quality, Customer Experience at Aviso

This simple but effective initiative also gives new recruits a chance to get familiar with the names of the people in their team, so there’s not quite so much information to digest when they meet everyone for the first time.

2. Never Expect Them to Complete Compliance e-Learning Before They Arrive

Don’t send out a compliance e-Learning module for them to complete before they even arrive on site! Yes, it might feel more efficient to get it out of the way sooner rather than later.

But for the agent, it can be soul destroying and really dampen any enthusiasm they might have had for joining your team.

“It’s common for managers to think they have to do all of the compliance training in the early part of the induction, but double-check with HR, because typically there’s a longer grace period on this and they can tick that box a few weeks into the role when they are feeling a lot more settled.” – Kim Ellis, Chief Learning Architect at Go Ginger Learning Solutions

3. Record a Video Message Explaining Where to Park and What Door to Use

The first day of any new job can be very stressful – particularly trying to figure out where to park, and which entrance to go to, so get ahead of the game by sending a quick video message explaining all of these things in advance.

This can even be a more polished video that’s sent to all new recruits, if budget allows.

Naomi Smith, Contact Centre Manager at Worcester Bosch — Naomi Smith

“We have a video that we send to all new recruits of me walking around the building, telling them, “This is where you’re going to park”, “This is where you need to come to to sign in when you arrive”, and “This is who will meet you there.”

So, they don’t have to worry about any of this on their first day and it all gets “put to bed” straight away.” – Naomi Smith, Contact Centre Manager at Worcester Bosch

4. Don’t Leave Them Sitting Awkwardly in Reception on Their First Day

Don’t make their first day worse by leaving them sitting awkwardly in Reception waiting for the rest of their training group to arrive.

Be there to meet them, introduce yourself, and take them to have a cup of tea and a chat as everyone turns up.

“I always used to go and wait around Reception, so I could say hello and introduce myself to new agents as soon as they arrived.

Then I’d walk them down to the kitchen where I’d show them where to get a cup of tea or coffee, and bring others up to meet them as they arrived too.

This really helped to remove that awkward start and helped with team building – before they even set foot in the training room.” – Kim Ellis

5. Act Excited About Their Arrival – Even If You Feel Stressed Out and Busy

When you have a new person joining your team, you have to be able to present them with the best version yourself – with an air of being completely focused on and excited about their arrival!

“Too often, a new recruit’s first impression is meeting their manager all flustered and overwhelmed, and even a bit grumpy – worrying about trying to fit in their onboarding along with everything else. It’s a horrible way to be welcomed into a company!

So even if it is a 100% stage show, you’ve really got to pretend there’s nothing else you’d rather be doing than welcoming this new person into your team.” – Brittany Hodak, Keynote Speaker & Author of Creating Superfans

6. Let Them Experience Your Products and Services

Make sure they have chance to understand and experience your product and services too, so they understand the wider business and its purpose. It really helps to take the conversation beyond the pay cheque and build connection with the brand.

Dan Pratt, Founder & Director DAP Consultancy — Dan Pratt

“Whatever the product is, let them have a play with it – they could even borrow one and use it for a week.

Or if it’s a service they are supporting, take them to visit that store and see what it’s like – talking to the shop assistants about their job, for example.

It can really help them to see beyond their day job and understand their connection to the wider customer experience.” – Dan Pratt, Founder & Director of DAP Consultancy

If you are looking for advice on how to inspire your agents to love your products and services, read our article: How to Ensure Agents Love Your Products and Services

7. Tell Them Where They Can Buy a Great Lunch

Don’t just talk about training and processes in your induction. Make sure you tell them about the fun, helpful extras too. For example, it can really hit the right note to talk about the canteen options, where everyone goes to get a coffee, and where the best place to get a burger is.

When it’s part of the induction, it’s not left to chance that they maybe discover these great eating places a few weeks into their time with you – or waste their lunch break walking in the wrong direction.

8. Pair Them Up With a Buddy to Help Them Make Friends

Some people are better at making friends than others, so don’t just leave them to their own devices and hope they find someone to chat to beside the watercooler.

Instead, assign everyone a buddy for their first few weeks, so they have someone to sit with at lunch, and can ask any questions – big or small – about day-to-day life in the contact centre, without needing to save them up for their next 1-to-1. It can really kick-start those positive working relationships.

9. Let Your New Recruits Get Stuck in as Soon as Possible

It can make a big difference to allow new team members to add value and be productive in some form very early on.

Jeremy Hyde, Senior Director, Customer Service at Sun Country Airlines — Jeremy Hyde

“If you have a really lengthy training programme, new agents can feel like they are not contributing, and it can feel very disheartening.

But when they can get involved early on, complete simple tasks, and are even asked for their opinions in team meetings, it can really help them to feel like a valued part of the team much sooner.” – Jeremy Hyde, Senior Director, Customer Service at Sun Country Airlines

Although be careful not to confuse this with rushing them through their training and dropping them in at the deep end – as this can have the opposite effect.

“Don’t rush your training! Make sure that everybody’s confident and knows what they are doing and where to find information – before they take live calls.

I’ve worked in companies where new recruits are dropped in at the deep end, and it’s a lose–lose situation for the quality of service the customer receives and how panicked the agent feels.” – Dan Pratt

For essential soft skills that every call centre agent should have before going live with their first call, read our article: 5 Soft Skills Every Agent Needs Before Taking Their First Call

10. Celebrate Their Wins “Little and Often” in Those Early Weeks

Don’t just wait until the end of the induction period to celebrate a new agent’s transition to the floor either.

Brittany Hodak, customer experience speaker and author of ‘Creating Superfans’ — Brittany Hodak

“Map out and celebrate lots of small milestones along the away. This could include everything from handling their first call on their own and resolving their first ticket, to getting their first bit of good customer feedback – creating lots of opportunities for supervisors and teammates to say “Hey, great job!” and build their confidence.” – Brittany Hodak

It’s equally important to put in clear and transparent feedback loops too, so agents know who to ask and what to do if something isn’t going as well as they’d hoped – so they feel they have a voice, and you can fix any issues before things have chance to fester.

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Create a Checklist to Make Sure Nothing Gets Missed

These may seem like little things, but they all add up! Equally, when one too many little things goes wrong, this can send people heading to the door – with leaders scratching their heads as to what went wrong. So don’t leave it to chance!

“We have an onboarding checklist for our team leaders to follow, from the moment that a new agent signs the offer letter up until the end of their first 90 days with us to make sure everyone gets the same warm welcome.” – Clare Santos