Onboarding contact centre agents is vital! It’s the first step to a long and fruitful relationship
Getting new agents up to speed on the culture, processes, and knowledge base of your company is an expensive undertaking, but there are some cost effective approaches you can use to which will also create a more social, fun environment for your agents.
When a new starter walks through the door on day one, you have two main objectives – make them feel like part of the team, and get them to a high level of efficiency as quickly as possible.
The companies who are able to consistently improve and maintain high levels of employee engagement and satisfaction are the same companies who nurture internal communication, flexible working hours and the human element. This is especially important where the people you rely on are the voice of your company with the closest relationship with your customers.
To get the most out of any onboarding process it needs to be engaging and fun. Here are some tips that will help:
• The human brain is far more likely to retain information when it is visual and the environment is engaging
• Create an informal area where new starters can walk around and look at press cuttings on the wall, watch TV ads or company videos.
• Choose creative inspirational people to welcome new starters to your organisation.
• Take the time to create engaging material
• Use your visual communications technology, such as wallboards, to ensure there are continuous reminders of what your company and brand is all about.
In the case of call and contact centre environments there are a few things you can do to ensure your agents feel part of the team:
• During the onboarding process ask all new starters to make a short video to introduce themselves to the rest of the company, set up a simple area with a web-cam and ask the new starter to introduce themselves, where they are from and any other information they are comfortable sharing such as pets or hobbies. Use your visual communications software to include this video as part of your contact centre wallboard.
• Try to introduce the new starter to their immediate team when these people are on a break, this will help create social bonds and hopefully start friendships.
• Keep them informed of coming social events, so they can sign up and join in.
Efficient, well thought out onboarding, supports your recruitment processes and helps your new starters quickly become effective members of your organization. Researchers have found that a well-executed employee induction process leads to positive outcomes such as higher job satisfaction, better job performance, and greater organizational commitment.
