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The key to securing a lower agent attrition rate

Contact centers have a turnover problem – that’s nothing new. But the revolving door of hiring and rehiring agents doesn’t just cause internal headaches, customers are feeling the pain too.

Attrition rates were already high pre-pandemic. But COVID disruptions have intensified retention challenges. The result? Operational issues, sky-high costs, and declining customer satisfaction as inexperienced new hires compromise service quality.

This is why keeping your best agents needs to be a top priority. You’ll enjoy smoother operations, lower costs, and delivering the kind of customer experiences that build loyalty. Here’s how to cure your organisation’s attrition woes.

The real pain of agent attrition

Pre-COVID, annual attrition already ranged from 10-35%, but disruptions like remote work intensified turnover. In 2021, 37% of centers saw attrition rise over 20% and only 13% decreased.

This churn significantly impacts operations through:

• Disruption of knowledge continuity and customer relationships
• Lost productivity onboarding new hires
• Increased recruitment and training costs
• Lower service quality from inexperienced staff
• Higher absenteeism handling larger workloads

The result? Employee and customer satisfaction drops, while revenue suffers. New agents tend to lack knowledge and take time to reach full productivity, which means added responsibility for experienced employees. Having to handle larger workloads ultimately leads to burnout.

Customers will sense drops in service – but excellent CX depends on engaged employees and talent retention. With consumers willing to churn after one bad experience, the impact of high turnover on the business is immense.

Stop churn in its tracks

There’s light at the end of the turnover tunnel, though. Contact centers can take control of attrition through smart strategies like:

• Boosting compensation
  Pay and benefits need to stay competitive in this labour market to retain top talent. Don’t risk losing your stars over pay.

• Career development programs
  Create clear paths for advancement so ambitious agents see a future with your company.

• Flexible scheduling
  Support work-life balance and employee needs through remote, hybrid, and flexible shift options.

• Diversity and Inclusion initiatives
  Foster an inclusive culture where employees feel valued, respected, and able to perform at their best.

• Ongoing support
  Provide the coaching, training, tools, and guidance to set your agents up for customer service success.

The bottom line? Invest in your employees as much as your customers. Satisfied agents deliver better experiences – fueling satisfaction, loyalty, referrals, and revenue.

Turnover doesn’t have to be inevitable. Prioritize retention now to build an engaged, empowered team that drives your contact center – and your business – forward.

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Best practices for managing BPO churn

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