I was very pleased with Myra's presentation, but even more so, I was left with a sense of new energy and desire to put her recommendations to use. I can't wait for Monday.

Tim O'Laughlin

The Coca-Cola Company

Tulsa City-County Library 

You exceeded our expectations!

Rhonda Fox

District IV Manager - Member Relations
Best Western International, Inc

How can I proactively detect problems with call center agent morale?

Is there a way to proactively identify problems with morale or productivity before they bubble over and become huge problems? We usually have pretty good employee morale, but then sometimes we look up and have a huge problem.

Myra's answer to How can I proactively detect problems with call center agent morale?

One of my colleagues, Janelle Barlow, author of A Complaint Is A Gift, developed the Early Warning Detection System and I'd like to share eight signals from her system that I'd like you to be watching for:

1. Hold or wait times increasing at "x" factor.
If your average hold or wait time increases significantly for no obvious (peak season, serious or widespread product/service defect, etc.) reason, this could be an early detection that a problem exists.

2. Increase in the numbers of abandoned telephone calls.
If your average abandon rate has been 4% and it suddenly jumps up to 6% or higher, look into the reasons. I was consulting with a call center recently and we noticed that the abandon rate had jumped 4% overnight! After carefully scrutinizing the problem we discovered the root-cause. The call center had just upgraded their phone system and a glitz in the upgrade resulted in callers hearing a series of clicks after the first ring. Callers thought they were disconnected so they hung up and called back. The problem was a simple fix and watching the abandon rate was the clue.

3. Staff absenteeism or tardiness rates increase.
This could suggest staff is on the brink of burnout, under unusual stress or it may be a problem with morale.

4. Increase in escalated calls to supervisors.
An increase in escalated calls might reflect a lack of patience on the part of your representatives or a lack of problem resolution focus.

5. Changes in soft measures.
By this I mean noticing changes in attitude, morale, an increase in whispers or the rumor mill is turning faster and faster. These soft measures must be noted and directly addressed.

6. Changes in motivation levels.
Have you noticed a lack of commitment or a drop in work ethic? Listen to the conversations on the call center floor. Are employees unreasonably negative about customers or their workloads? What are their conversations telling you?

7. Increases in average talk times.
A lot of call center managers miss this one. An increase in talk times might suggest that your representatives are staying on the line with "pleasant" customers to avoid speaking to the potentially unpleasant customers.

8. Increase in Idle times.
This suggests representatives are creating strategies to be away from their phones as much as possible. Watch closely for this one, as your employees may look as though they're working very hard.

Keep this checklist, share it with supervisors not on this call today and use it as an early warning detection system. Let it alert you to potential problems with morale and or service levels. You'll find you can be much more proactive in problem identification and correction when you know what to look for.

*Early Warning Detection System developed by TMI, USA. www.tmius.com 

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