There's No Right Way To Train A Poor Fit For A Contact Center Job

On site or remotely - you can deliver the world’s best training to the wrong new hires and still wind up with a Call Center operation that delivers poor Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) & poor productivity – staffed with disengaged Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) – who quickly become another attrition statistic that further damages your bottom line.

Bricks & Mortar or Work@Home – You’ll Generally Find 3 Kinds Of CSRs:

• Above Average CSRs - who meet/exceed Performance Standards.

These ‘Best Fit’ CSRs are stable & conscientious frontline workers – who achieve high training pass rates – ramp up to productive levels quicker – are naturally caring & compassionate – and possess an affinity to display Empathy to form relationships based on Rapport/Trust with callers in a Customer Service & Support and/or TeleSales context.

They receive high Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores and achieve their Revenue Targets. They’re highly engaged & enthusiastic “Team Players” who contribute to driving coworker performance.

• Average CSRs - who are ‘Moderate’ Job Fits.

Often they’re good people in the wrong job. They have lower training pass rates – require more attention & extra coaching from Supervisors just to achieve average results – have higher error rates - higher absenteeism - receive lower Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores and/or fail to meet  Revenue Targets - become burned out/emotionally exhausted faster - prematurely quit - or are fired for cause sooner - because they are a poorer job fit.

These CRSs are not engaged with the job. They put in their time in body - not in spirit. They become easily annoyed by callers – they’re poor at avoiding or diffusing conflict – and they don’t handle complaints or retain customers well.

• Below Average CSRs - who are ‘Poor’ Job Fits.

These people are mostly actively disengaged from the work – demoralized/cynical/unhappy in the job - displaying “I Don’t Care” apathy & a “Slacker” attitude.

They tend to hold hostile/negative attitudes toward management/employer - actively undermine supervisors & engaged coworkers – sabotage callers/damage brand – and have high Absenteeism levels.

They have a toxic effect on coworkers – infecting them with their poor work habits & attitudes. The negative thoughts & feelings Below Average ‘Poor’ Job Fit CSRs trigger in customers & coworkers are far larger - and longer lasting - than the positive responses generated by ‘Best Fit’ Top Performers.

Bricks & Mortar Or Work@Home: You Can’t Easily/Quickly/Cost Effectively Train Good People In The Wrong Job To Be Better

A pre Covid19 Harvard Study of 5,000 new CSRs - who all received 4 weeks initial training/onboarding – found that after 6 months on the job - the bottom performing poorer fit CSRs produced 4 negative customer encounters for every 3 positive ones.

Nearly 60% of the time – encounters with bottom performing poorer fit CSRs resulted in a negative caller experience – even after the employer had invested in an extensive training/onboarding program.

It’s the CSR’s Personality/Job Fit/Soft Skill/Work Ethic traits – combined with their “Train Ability” – and competence speaking & understanding Business English - that delivers value when it comes to the kind of service customers demand - and the kind of performance your business requires. These traits can’t easily/quickly/cost effectively be taught – so you need to hire people that already have them.

There’s no right way to train a poor fit new hire CSR for a Call Center job. No training program exists that can substitute for a flawed hiring process.

If you think that nearly “everyone can be taught to take customer calls” – then you’ll be hiring people strictly on the basis of who interviews & speaks English reasonably well - has an acceptable level of Typing Speed & Accuracy – and can navigate their way around a computer.

If that’s all you do to screen your applicants – then you’ll find that too many of your new hires are not actually ‘Best Fits’ for the job – particularly for Work@Home positions.

Many ‘Moderate’ (and most ‘Poor’ Job Fits) display less than desirable work attitudes - resulting in poor performance - poor customer satisfaction ratings - poor sales results - and a lot of ‘just out of training’ turnover - whether that be your choice or theirs.

There is a Return on Investment (ROI) to be had when investing in training for new hires who have the right Personality/Job Fit/Soft Skill/Work Ethic traits & “Train Ability” for the job to begin with. However - it’s a huge mistake to assume that everyone who is given training will benefit from it. That’s simply not the case.

The training delivered to many ‘Moderate’ (and most ‘Poor’ Job Fits) is simply investing dollars chasing dimes - just money down the drain - a recipe for higher hiring/training/onboarding costs – higher turnover – and lowered productivity - and not a wise long term business or customer care strategy.

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It’s a Customer Service Representative’s (CSR’s)  Personality/Job Fit/Soft Skill/Work Ethic traits – combined with their “Train Ability” – and competence speaking & understanding Business English - that delivers value when it comes to the kind of service customers demand - and the kind of performance your business requires.

And just because someone has the “Right Stuff” to be a CSR in a Bricks & Mortar Contact Center – it doesn’t necessarily follow that the same individual is also cut out to do the same job well in a Virtual Work@Home position.

Some CSRs are a better fit to work onsite alongside coworkers in a Bricks & Mortar Call Center – while others are a better fit for solitary Work@Home assignments. 

The levels of self discipline/self motivation/energy (among others) needed by Work@Home CSRs are higher.

Since these job fit/work ethic traits can’t easily/quickly be taught – employers need an accurate way to identify who would be a ‘Best Fit’ for their Bricks & Mortar and/or Virtual Work@Home positions – both telephone & text based.

With a 90% Predictive Ability – the legal/proven/cost effective SPAS Call Center Agent Pre-Employment Screening Software Psychometric Personality/Job Fit/Soft Skill/Work Ethic Assessments do just that.

Message me if you would like a Demo/Trial.

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