In the world of call centers, staffing hurdles can make or break your ability to deliver outstanding customer service. As we reflect on this year’s recruitment landscape, we’ve seen how traditional hiring approaches are being tested by changing candidate expectations and market dynamics.
These five crucial lessons from our year’s experiences offer practical solutions to help you overcome your staffing hurdles and build a stronger, more capable team for the future.
Staffing Challenges We Faced and What We Learned This Year
This year, we faced staffing challenges that tested our team’s resilience and adaptability. From dealing with a lack of candidates to adjusting to new ways of working, we learned important lessons that helped improve our recruitment process and how we manage our team.
Here’s a look at our challenges and what we learned from them.
Read More: 3 Call Center Challenges and How to Overcome Them
1. Finding the right people.
In today’s landscape, 76 percent of hiring managers admit that attracting the right job candidates is their greatest challenge.¹ The search for qualified candidates has become increasingly complex, with employers needing to balance technical skills against soft skills and cultural fit.
A useful approach is to train or upskill candidates who may not meet every job requirement but show strong potential for your call center environment. Suppose you have a candidate who excels in communication and has a positive attitude but lacks the technical certification to handle your CRM system.
Rather than rejecting their application, you could create a tailored training plan. This plan might include online courses on your CRM software, hands-on practice sessions with simulated customer interactions, and mentorship from a team member who is skilled in using the system.
While a qualified candidate might not tick every box on the requirements list, what matters most are core competencies and attitude. Candidates who demonstrate strong communication skills, adaptability, and alignment with your company’s values can become top performers with the right training and support.
2. Advancing with automation, effective workflows, and speed.
Recruiters face a major challenge with heavy workloads, and slow, outdated methods can mean missing out on great candidates. Since the best candidates are often hired within just 10 days of being on the market,² speed is important in hiring.
Automation tools, like AI-driven applicant tracking systems and automated interview scheduling, can streamline the hiring process and help you identify and onboard the right agents.
If you continue using old-fashioned staffing methods, you risk falling behind competitors who are using modern technology. Relying on manual application reviews and lengthy onboarding processes can make it hard to attract candidates. These outdated methods can cause delays in hiring and lead to missing out on highly qualified agents whose more agile competitors quickly snap up.
On the other hand, using modern staffing solutions like automated candidate screening and digital onboarding can make your hiring process faster and more efficient. This approach can lead to better customer service and improved performance, helping you stay competitive in a fast-paced industry where the best agent is always in demand.
3. Getting the most out of data and analytics.
When you use data on call patterns, agent performance, and customer interactions, you can make more informed staffing decisions. For example, data can help predict peak call hours and help you schedule more agents during busy periods and fewer during quieter times.
Fast-growing call centers are already using these data-driven approaches to improve their staffing strategies. They use data to identify high-performing agents, understand training needs, and forecast future staffing requirements. This proactive approach helps them stay ahead of demand and maintain high service levels.
Read More: 10 Contact Center Trends To Know For a Successful 2024
4. Making communication and transparency better.
One of the biggest hurdles in recruitment is effectively managing candidate communications—from keeping them informed about their application status to ensuring their continued engagement throughout the hiring process.
Keeping the hiring process clear and straightforward is important. For call centers, here’s how you can apply these principles:
- Outline job expectations: Clearly describe the responsibilities of a call center agent. Make sure candidates understand the performance metrics they’ll be judged on, such as average handling time and customer satisfaction scores.
- Set a recruitment timeline: Provide a clear timeline for each stage of the hiring process. Let candidates know when they can expect to hear back about their application, the dates for interviews, and when they can expect to hear about the final decision.
- Detail necessary steps: Explain each step in the hiring process. Inform candidates if they will need to complete a skills assessment related to handling customer calls, participate in a role-playing exercise to simulate real call scenarios, or attend multiple interviews with different team members.
- Regular updates: Keep candidates informed at every stage. Notify them when their application is received, if they are progressing to the next stage, or if they have been rejected. Send an email confirming receipt of their application, a follow-up email if they are selected for an interview, and a final email with the outcome.
- Clear communication channels: Ensure candidates know who to contact if they have questions or need further information. Provide contact details for the recruiter or hiring manager and be prompt in responding to their questions and concerns.
5. Improving how candidates feel about the process.
Around 78 percent of candidates believe that their overall candidate experience reflects how much a company values its employees.³ To enhance this experience, it’s important to implement automation and streamline the onboarding process so you can focus on adding a personal touch and offload repetitive, time-consuming tasks.
Improving the candidate experience in a call center involves engaging with candidates at every step of their journey—from the initial application to the final hiring decision. Candidates in the call center industry expect to be treated well and kept informed. They want authentic and engaging experiences throughout the hiring process.
Here’s how you can do it:
- Use an automated scheduling tool to set up interviews and assessments. This ensures candidates receive notifications about their interview and can easily reschedule if needed, reducing the back-and-forth usually involved in coordinating schedules.
- Implement a digital onboarding platform that provides new hires with all the necessary information, such as training materials, company policies, and access to systems, before their first day. This helps new agents feel prepared and reduces first-day stress.
- Use tools to send personalized messages and updates throughout the hiring process. For example, you can send emails congratulating candidates on moving to the next stage or providing feedback after interviews.
- Create engaging and interactive online training modules that allow new agents to learn at their own pace. Incorporate elements like quizzes, video tutorials, and simulations to make the training process more engaging and effective.
- After the hiring process, ask candidates for their feedback on how it went. Use their suggestions to make improvements and show that you value their opinions.
Read More: A Personalized Approach to Staffing: The Salem Solutions Difference
Bounce back from challenges with Salem Solutions and let’s conquer setbacks together
If you’re facing difficulties like finding the right candidates, handling high turnover rates, or managing an overwhelming hiring process, Salem Solutions is here to provide the support you need. We understand that these challenges can impact your business, which is why we offer customized solutions designed to address your unique needs.
We partner with you to understand the core issues you’re facing and turn setbacks into opportunities for growth and build a stronger, more resilient team. Contact us now and let’s start the new year on the right foot!
References
- Thakkar, Rinku. “Top 100 Hiring Statistics for 2022.” LinkedIn, 16 July 2022, www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-100-hiring-statistics-2022-rinku-thakkar/.
- Caramela, Sammi. “Tips for Improving Your Hiring Process.” Business News Daily, Apr. 2018, www.businessnewsdaily.com/7155-startup-hiring-tips.html.
- Thakkar, Rinku . “Top 100 Hiring Statistics for 2022.”LinkedIn, 16 July 2022, www.linkedin.com/pulse/top-100-hiring-statistics-2022-rinku-thakkar/.
