Every call center in the Philippines has its fair share of employee attrition, subjecting the management not only to additional expenses, but also pressures them to hire better employees. This means that as an agent leaves, the management must spend time, energy, and financial resources to place ads, screen candidates, and train the leaving employee’s potential replacement.

As a high attrition rate equates to low employee satisfaction, frequent employee turnover reflects poorly on the call center.

What some may not know, however, is that turnovers don’t always depict the negative. There is such thing as “good turnovers” wherein an employee leaves his position and gets replaced because he’s bound for a higher position, better pay, and bigger responsibilities within the same company. A good turnover happens when someone is promoted, and it happens even more often in call centers that implements an efficient employee retention strategy.

Here are some management practices that maximize employee stay:

• Offer competitive wages and medical benefits

A typical call center in the Philippines offers some of the highest salaries in the country, which gives representatives a big reason to stay loyal to their employer.

• Lead by example

Team leaders, supervisors, and managers who merely oversee, discipline, and enforce rather than mentor or develop agents foster an environment of apathy. On the other hand, leaders who build positive relations and encourage teamwork empower employees and give hopes of someday becoming a mentor themselves.

• Give reasonable work schedules

Agent demographics show that call centers are sources of employment for students and single mothers—people who need schedule flexibility for their outside responsibilities. Having scheduling options, paid time offs, or telecommuting positions strengthens their hold on their job.

• Recognize accomplishments

Rewarding accomplishments encourages repetition of good behavior, improves productivity, and makes employees feel valued. Various studies even reflect high satisfaction levels among call center representatives who receive rewards in the forms of cash, verbal praise, or no-nmonetary incentives.

• Set clear expectations

One of the biggest reasons behind employee attrition is a mismatch between the employer’s job requirement and the employee’s work expectation. By clearly setting responsibilities right from the start and providing regular training, employees will not be quickly overwhelmed with the call center culture and environment.

A contact center’s ability to retain top performers reflects its stability as an organization, which consequently invites opportunities to expand and lead its industry. Indeed, every call center in the Philippines must value their main growth driver, the employees.

Being one of the fastest growing call centers in the Philippines, Open Access BPO lives up to its reputation by only hiring competent individuals and training them according to industry benchmarks.