SITE AMENITITES
Get Me Out
Employees want to step out at lunch to not only eat but to run a quick errand. Location! Location! Location!
How close is your service center to other businesses? Is the service center so remote that employees have to bring their lunch or eat the same cheese pizza provided by the site manager every day? Boring! People want to integrate work and personal activities. A transportation company moved their contact center to a remote suburban location and there wasn’t a place to eat within 20 minutes of the service center. There was absolutely nothing out there. The recruiters were overwhelmed with the constant hiring, as turnover went from 50% to 90% within the first 6 months. It was so remote and far from anywhere, no one wanted to work there.
A couple of large banks thought it would be a great idea to put their service centers next to the airport. The airport location is likely convenient for the executives flying in. While there were many airport related businesses, it was 20 minutes to the closest lunch spot and with only 45 minutes for lunch it was not realistic to get out for lunch. The noise from the planes landing made it impossible to sit outside and make a phone call. This location offered no amenities for employees. People tire of bag lunches and pizza and it’s an energy boost for people to get out of the building and see sunshine!
Local Transportation
Motivated people will do whatever it takes to get to work even if that means taking the bus, riding light rail or carpooling.
Where are all the bus stops? How far is the walk? Is it a safe walk? Do you have a lounge for employees to wait in when then arrive too early to start their shifts? How about light-rail stations? Does your contact center offer any incentives to carpool? Take a ride around the block and look for people walking to stations. Can you make your center close and easy to take public transportation?
My Doctor Is Across Town
Is the dentist and doctor’s office close by?
Agents have healthcare needs and until doctors start working second shift and weekends, agents need to leave during the day to attend appointments. The less time out of the contact center reduces staffing shortages. Make travel time to and from doctor appointments easily accessible.
Flex-Time for All
Agents appreciate flex-time on their commutes to and from the service center.
Evaluate the traffic patterns and get creative with shift start times. This is a free amenity that everyone enjoys. Start teams at different times so not everyone has to fight rush hour. Having a stressful commute can really put an agent in the wrong frame of mind and can turn ugly when it gets taken out on a caller. Consider the agent’s drive in and out. Depending on the wage, agents may or may not be willing to tolerate long stressful commutes. Make it a stress-free commute and agents will line up to work at your center.
Errands
People are busy and will run an errand on the way home.
For example, where are the UPS/FedEx locations? Companies no longer accept packages for employees. With online shopping, packages are coming and going more than ever. Companies do provide health club memberships yet employees can’t get to the gym because it’s not convenient on their commute. Make it easy for people to exercise and relieve the stress of the day.
Today’s employee wants a short work commute and better work/life balance. Local amenities make it possible. When people can’t carry on with other parts of their lives they reconsider where they work and will look for other contact centers with more amenities.
Agents like to let off steam and want to socialize after work. Where are fun places to meet people and relax? Put your contact center in neighborhoods that can provide these kinds of amenities that employees want. Make yours the place to be!
INDUSTRY SERVICE TIPS
1. Location! Choose a location that has lunch spots, a few retail shops and a gym. Choose a location where employees can get out at lunch or run an errand after work.
2. Avoid remote locations and you will avoid excessive turnover and unhappy agents.
NEXT STEPS
Balancing the need for small sized contact centers, local amenities with the right building and the perfect labor pool takes time, energy and effort. Choosing a site selector that really understands contact centers will make the difference in the success rate. All these factors contribute to a high quality, high performance, low agent churn environment.
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INDUSTRY EXPERTS
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NETWORKING FOR CONTACT CENTER PROFESSIONALS
ABOUT NACSMA
NACSMA brings together like-minded professionals focused on advancing the customer contact industry and creating career growth.
BEST-IN-CLASS
Management of a best-in-class contact center sites require the continuous review of Agent Sourcing Models, Organizational Training and Management Development Programs.
NACSMA MEMBERSHIP
NACSMA is a professional, non-profit association whose members represent customer contact organizations and the vendors who support them.
IMPLEMENTATION
When a contact center organization expands to an additional site or requires new space, the steps to properly implement are unique to each organization but do have standard phases.