CALL CENTERS

Call Centers Attrition and Performance Measurement

Call Centers Attrition and Performance Measurement

Problem Statement 1: Attrition in Call Centers

Attrition is a major problem in some of the sectors. The employees get better opportunities or get bored from their job and start seeking a better job in which they get more benefits and facilities. Some jobs are so stressful that the employees decide to leave due to the deteriorating of their health (Raychaudhuri, 2010). The attrition rate is high in those companies or sectors in which there is no job satisfaction, less career growth, stressful work, poor facilities and benefits, long working hours etc.

Figure 1: Attrition Rate in Different Sectors (BPO includes call centers)

Percentage of Attrition in Different Sectors

Sectors

Percentage of Attrition

FMCG

17%

Manufacturing

20%

Capital Goods

23%

Construction

25%

Non-voice BPO

25%

IT-ITES

27%

Telecom

30%

Pharmaceuticals

32%

Biotechnology

35%

Services

40%

Financial

44%

Aviation

46%

Retail

50%

Voice based BPO

50%

The call center tradition has swept the world around. This is the business unit that purely targets customer satisfaction. Call centers are mainly established either to sale a product of service, to provide after sale service or for the purpose of trouble shooting. The philosophy of call centers is very simple yet sophisticated. Almost all of the call centers provide daily targets to be achieved by their workforce. This tradition of the call centers welcome strict management and measurement processes. In call centers managers and leaders often have to take critical steps, which are not, viewed as favorable to the workforce. Ultimately this process deteriorates the motivation of the workforce and also affects their performance (Wilson, 2002). The environment of the call centers is followed by the targets set by the top management which are to be achieved by the workers. The call centers follow the traditional hierarchal system where decisions flow from top to bottom. There are very few call centers that provide an open environment; however, they also have certain targets that are to be achieved. Hence, strict and shrewd management is often observed.

Figure 1 shows that call centers (which comes under BPO) has the highest attrition rate. Call centers are facing a major problem of attrition. Call Center Attrition has long been recognized as a leading worry of call center management. However, even with the focus on attrition, many managers do not understand the true cost of attrition. Attrition, simply defined as the total number of agents leaving the call center during a 12-month period, divided by the number of seats during the same 12 months, is a key metric in monitoring the health of your call center. Industry data show large call centers average 49% annual attrition, but more strikingly, call centers focused on outbound dialing average more than 60% annual attrition. With self-reported attrition rates over 60% in some cases, calculating what this means to your company's bottom line is critical (Taylor, 2011).

There are several reasons for the high rate of attrition. Generally, the perception of a job in call center is that it is good for making money and once an individual has enough money or gets bored he leaves the job. There are many calls centers that have now opened around ...