Too Long On The Job Can Sabotage Productivity & Customer Experience
David Filwood
CEO | TeleSoft Systems | People & Process Improvement For Contact Centers
Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) are often the only human connection consumers have with your business – and the quality of those interactions are generally one of the most significant factors in determining the level of trust & satisfaction they’ll have with your brand.
Yet in study after study – year after year – if there’s one word that sums up how customers feel about speaking with CSRs – it’s ‘Apathy’.?
Apathy Is The Opposite Of Empathy
In Contact Centers – the human connection of Empathy / Rapport / Trust is essential for effectively handling complaints – avoiding or diffusing conflict – reducing churn / retaining customers – developing solutions – and winning new business.
Empathy in the Contact Center is when CSRs exert the emotional labor to be ‘In Sync’ with the customer – actively listening to sense / understand / respond to a caller’s thoughts / feelings / experiences during the service encounter.
Telephone based customer service delivered with high levels of Empathy / Rapport / Trust generates real & measurable positive impacts on Customer Experience (CX) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) – and it’s this human connection and emotional satisfaction that is especially important for increasing brand loyalty and the lifetime value of the average consumer.
Apathy Is Defined As ‘Indifference’ – A Lack of Interest / Enthusiasm / Emotion / Concern
CSRs who fail to deliver the emotional labor required to create Empathy / Rapport / Trust with callers instead deliver Apathy.
These people are either new hires who should never have been offered the position to begin with – the product of a flawed hiring process – or more commonly – burned out / emotionally exhausted too long in the job CSRs.
In some Contact Centers they're rare – in others they swarm everywhere.
Demoralized / cynical / unhappy CSRs displaying ‘I Don’t Care’ Apathy & a ‘Slacker’ attitude.
Burned out / emotionally exhausted too long in the job CSRs tend to hold hostile attitudes toward management – actively undermine supervisors and engaged coworkers – sabotage callers / damage brand – are the strongest and most powerful resistors of change – and exhibit high levels of Lateness & Absenteeism.
Their negative ‘Slacker’ thoughts & feelings have a toxic effect on coworkers – infecting them with their poor work habits and attitudes.
The negativity they trigger in customers & coworkers are far larger – and longer lasting – than the positive responses generated by top performers.
Working As A CSR Causes Stress / Depression / Compassion Fatigue / Emotional Exhaustion / Burnout
Imagine being treated abusively at your job on a daily basis.
Jammed call queues – long hold times – billing issues – price increases – product / service failures – a recent study from the University of San Francisco School of Management of 1,500+ CSRs across various industry sectors reported:
Retail employees can refuse service and call security if a customer becomes threatening or belligerent – for the most part CSRs can’t.
CSRs are generally required to stay on the line in order to try to ‘Save’ even the most abusive & hostile calls.
Working As A CSR Ranks High On Lists Of ‘The Unhappiest Jobs’
CSRs are required to only express socially desired emotions – to always appear happy & eager to serve – to only display positive emotions and to suppress negative ones – while remaining resilient to the anger / hostility that often comes their way – hiding their true feelings in order to do what the job requires.
‘Surface Acting’ – displaying inauthentic emotions throughout the workday – often feels bad after months of dealing with disgruntled / dissatisfied / rude / angry / abusive callers – and is a leading contributor to CSR stress / depression / compassion fatigue / emotional exhaustion / burnout.
The Negative Stressors Of Contact Center Work Can Be Slowed Down – But They Can’t Be Eliminated
Job design / work environment / hiring practices / supervisory + management style / time & attendance policies are all factors that with modification or redesign can potentially contribute to mitigating / slowing down the negative stressors of a CSR position.
But over time CSR stress / depression / compassion fatigue / emotional exhaustion / burnout are statistically inevitable.
That’s the key reason why the ‘Average Lifespan’ of an in house company CSR is about 2 1/2 years these days – and for those working for 3rd party TeleServices / Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firms – it’s just 15 months or less.
Peak Service Performance (as rated by customers) Is When CSR Job Tenure Is Between 9 to 11 Months
After that – CSR service performance plateaus – and then shows a steady decline.
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In spite of their additional knowledge & experience – the longer a CSR works in a Contact Center – the more likely it is that their attitude / job engagement has begun to diminish – putting productivity & customer relationships in jeopardy.
It Can Be A Mistake To Assume That Low CSR Turnover Indicates Great Management & High Employee Job Engagement
That might sometimes be the case – but a low Turnover Rate can be a warning sign that the Contact Center is becoming a ‘Refugee Camp’ for burned out / emotionally exhausted / too long in the job CSRs.
It's important to develop a culture that doesn't tolerate burned out / emotionally exhausted / too long in the job CSRs.
The best Contact Centers make explicit their intolerance – viewing their CSRs as a team – not a family – and there’s a big difference between the two.
In a family the last thing you want to do is to get rid of a member.
Not so with a professional sports team – which hires & develops talent – keeps the stars – and quickly lets people go when their performance no longer fits – no matter how valuable their contributions may have once been.
If your Contact Center has burned out / emotionally exhausted / too long in the job CSRs on staff – and they’re impossible to salvage – don’t be afraid to swiftly let them go.
The rest of your team will thank you for it.
Ignoring burned out / emotionally exhausted / too long in the job CSRs only sets the stage for even your most skilled & motivated people to fail – which in turn further damages the growth / profitability / brand reputation of your business.
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