AGENT RECRUITING AND SOURCING

Industry Content Supporter:
Samantha Hansen
Director of Workforce Development and Career Pathways
https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthahansenleal

Continuously attracting qualified candidates is the single most significant recruiting challenge in contact centers today. Therefore, site selection is so critical.

Many hiring managers have a limited labor pool due to a small or limited geographic area. This can be compounded by too much competition, too many other contact centers, or too many in the same industry l, such as insurance or mortgages.

Without a steady pipeline of candidates, the contact center suffers from long hold times, longer handle times, higher abandonment rates, and, thus, poor customer satisfaction.

Choosing a site location with the right education demographics and the depth and breadth of candidates is critical to long-term success. You can also create an education plan to develop candidates in a depressed or under-educated area. Be a leader!

In competitive markets, contact center candidates are on the market for an average of 10-15 days. The recruiting process can take 7-14 days, from the initial resume review to scheduling an interview. It takes another 7-21 days to complete background checks and prepare offers.

No wonder candidates have already taken other positions! While the recruiting process has made great strides in automating the steps, more automation is still required to speed it up.

For example, resume screening, pre-employment screening, applicant communication, background checks, and tax credit eligibility processing can reduce the time to hire if they are automated. Tweaking these processes to shave time off can make a difference in landing top performers.

People vent about their employers and colleagues through Glassdoor, Facebook, and other social media channels. Are these comments hurting your recruiting efforts? Are these comments valid?

While the disgruntled employee will sound off unfairly, you must be honest and consider how many of those comments are valid and what the company is doing about them.

When candidates see one or two negative comments, they think the employee is disgruntled, but when they see too many negative comments to count, they become concerned. Being prepared and addressing candidates' concerns about negative comments or reviews is just as critical as selling them on the differentiation of your company's benefits and compensation.

The job posting is the single piece of advertising you use to attract applicants. It should scream why your contact center is the place to work. Write the posting from a “we” perspective.

What can “we” do together as partners versus what “you” can do for us? The latter sounds like applicants are just pawns. This one subtle change in pronouns can change how applicants see your job, contact center, and company. Top candidates want to know their skills, knowledge, and presence are valued. Show how you value them in your job posting.

Industry Content Supporter:
Samantha Hansen
Director of Workforce Development and Career Pathways
https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthahansenleal

Is the bar set too high? Are recruiters complaining they can’t find quality candidates? Recruiters weed out potential top performers due to no experience. It’s not always about experience or what they have done. It’s about what they CAN DO!

Pre-employment assessments can provide the recruiter with candidates that fit the personality traits of your top performers. You can continually assess skill level and intelligence, but what about traits? Are you looking for a patient person? It’s easy to teach the technical skills, like the computer systems. But how to answer the phone, resolve conflict, and learn other job skills. What can’t be taught is the amount of assertiveness or conscientiousness that the agents need or the right amount of energy.

Too little energy or a slow pace yields low production, inefficiency, and a tendency to tire quickly. Does that show up on a resume? It doesn’t, so pre-employment screenings that evaluate traits can help identify future top performers.

Broadening the definition of qualified candidates and focusing on what candidates’ capabilities and motivations will net a larger pool of qualified candidates.