Troubleshooter targets contact centre attrition

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The North East of England is widely regarded as the “Contact Centre Capital of the UK” and with the wide variety of positions on offer, many companies suffer from staff moving from job to job in search of better pay, opportunities or conditions of employment.

There are more than 50,000 people employed in the contact centre business within the North East alone and despite the current economic climate, the industry boasts a staff growth of around 5% each year. However, one of the most expensive costs to the business is the 20% to 30% staff attrition rate which many contact centres cite as their biggest problem.

One Sunderland-based business is now offering its services and experience to the contact centre industry in a bid to stem the flow of staff moving from job to job and to identify exactly why people leave contact centres.

Emma Cordiner (pictured above), whose business Denalli is ideally placed at Doxford International Park, believes that the increasing demands placed upon contact centre staff can account for poor productivity, high attrition rates and spiralling costs. Her findings are based on her experience in recruitment for the contact centre industry. Seeing top quality staff leave their new jobs shortly after initial training made her realise that even hiring the best people can never solve the problems associated with excessive staff turn over.

“Contact Centres in our region literally waste £188 million on recruitment and the training of staff who stay with a company for a short period of time and then move on to other positions within the sector,” said Emma. “Unfortunately, sometimes without realising, these businesses let their staff down by not valuing their work, through bad management practice or simply by a lack of ongoing training. In many cases people move jobs for reasons other than for better rates of pay. It is vital that contact centres retain their best staff and I can help them to do that.”

Emma’s role as a troubleshooter with a “one-stop shop” solution helps to reduce these high attrition rates and increase staff motivation and productivity. Her business is unique within the region and involves a three-step process to analyse the problem, make recommendations and then provide solutions. Working in partnership with training companies, universities and other experts in their field, Emma is confident that the contact centre industry will benefit from her expertise including the use of targeted and informed recruitment techniques.

“Because I am totally independent from the contact centre management structure, I have found that staff are willing to tell me in confidence what the problems are in an organisation,” said Emma. “I am then able to suggest solutions to the management which will ensure that dissatisfied staff stay with the company – in many cases with an increased sense of value and motivation.”

Author: Jo Robinson

Published On: 29th Jul 2009 - Last modified: 11th Sep 2019
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5 Comments

  • I have worked in a contact centre for 10 years, it is now no-where near the job i was emoloyed for, Targets have been raised, yet our incentives have been lowered making it very hard work to earn a bonus. Only a large savings account guarantees this, Our sales targets have increased from 3 to 10. Moral is very low, stress levels very high and long time sickness climbing. Those of us that attend work and try to hit our targets are demotivated and wondering wether it is better to be on long term sick and stress free, now almost 70% of the workforce have been put on action plans, while there is talk of the department needing to lose half of its staff (this has happened to other departments in the last few months) and the jobs are being sent to our call centres in India.

    bev 29 Jul at 18:24

  • Emma seems to be making some very valid points, but why should employers listen to her if they’re not willing to listen to their own staff?

    The solution surely lies in employees forming a trade union in their workplace which would give them a structure for raising and resolving such issues and give them access to independent support, advice, and training.

    I know the CWU has been doing a lot of work in this area and have been making the same points regarding excessive turnover that Emma makes.

    Kev 30 Jul at 16:34

  • I totally agree with everything said here. I’ve worked at a few different call centres and felt I had to move because the goalposts were continually being moved by the management. I always find that I end up doing a completely different job to the one I am initially employed to do, and the targets get harder, the workload more and more and the management less and less human. However that Kev is saying is right, the ones I worked in where there was a union were much better than the ones without, and if I had a problem, they would always deal and take the stress away from me.

    Jo 30 Jul at 17:24

  • haveing worked in a call centre for nearly 9 years i found general working conditions are getting worse .sickness policies which are draconian,people who have serious illnesses like diabettes and cancer are pulled into the office regards their attendance .everything is stats based ,training is getting reduced and we have to suffer abuse by increaseingly aggressive customers and management do nothing to stop it.when we show our concearns we are negative and told you don,t like it leave

    mark 30 Jul at 18:40

  • Thanks all for your comments. If I can address the one left by Kev specifically. Yes, you’re right and this is my point. Unless the management – from team leaders up – admit there is a problem and are prepared to make changes to address it, the issue of losing staff will never be fixed. Denalli’s services are win/win. If the management want to reduce cost, save time and prevent the hassle associated with constant staff churn, bring us in. The very nature of what we do makes the staff feel supported, listened to and valued meaning they stay longer in the position, the company retains its knoweldge, skills and experience, service improves and their reputation as a quality employer results. Bingo. It seems simple doesn’t it?!

    Emma Cordiner 20 Aug at 14:37