Call volumes can skyrocket, wait times can infuriate customers, and every minute of the day is recorded and analyzed. Micromanagement is the excessive oversight and control of employee work by a manager or supervisor. It's incredibly common in the workplace. In fact, a recent survey indicated that nearly 80% of employees felt that they had experienced micromanagement at work.
A recent survey revealed that 89% of employers viewed their wellness programs as part of their overall business strategy, an increase of 5% over the previous year's survey. Mental health and emotional well-being are one of the main objectives of employer wellness programs, according to the study. Don't let your agents be overwhelmed by heavy workloads that never seem to diminish. Help reduce your load by realistically scheduling your call center hours, and be prepared to adapt your schedule if workloads accumulate.
Creating scores for each call gave MoneySolver agents an instant morale boost, knowing that 100% of their calls were being reviewed, rather than a small sample, and that any human bias when it came to qualifying was eliminated from the equation. The commitment of the company's employees has also improved, as all scores are published in a friendly competition leaderboard. Stressful work environments often cause high turnover in customer service, with annual rates ranging from 30 to 45%, according to Nextiva. Sometimes, agents have trouble coping mentally, emotionally and physically with the high level of stress that usually accompanies their work in a call center.
An effective technique for managing stress in call centers is for managers to communicate with employees regularly just to “take the pulse” of how they're feeling. A heavy workload can be a source of stress for any employee, but call centers are among the workplaces that focus most on results. A sign that an agent is suffering from stress syndrome in a call center may be to complain more openly about the tasks they previously performed without any problems. Call center agents spend long hours sitting at their desks looking at computer screens, so accessories, such as blue glasses or filters to reduce screen glare, combined with adjustable, ergonomic chairs and padded headphones, can make the agent experience in the workplace much more comfortable and less stressful.
Research shows that call centers typically experience an annual turnover rate of 30 to 45 percent, suggesting that employees in this field may experience high levels of stress. Toister encourages companies to develop a simple statement to boost the customer experience, whether they call it a vision statement, mission statement, or brand promise. Managers can play an influential role in helping to minimize the causes of stress in the call center environment by keeping an eye on the behavior and attitude of their employees and addressing potential stressors. To simply “get away from everything (and everyone)”, agents with stress syndrome caused by call centers may start skipping social events after work, avoiding team-building exercises and reporting that they are absent from work due to illness.
If left unaddressed, call center stress syndrome can lead to call center burnout, which is a serious mental health condition. If you're a call center manager, you should be aware of whether call center stress syndrome is affecting your team and their well-being and performance. You can reduce the level of stress in your call center work environment, increase team morale and job satisfaction, and help keep call center burnout at bay by focusing on what's happening in your agents' daily work lives. Perhaps the biggest impact on a company due to call center stress syndrome is the low customer satisfaction.
Providing a reasonably quiet workplace, adequate fresh air and natural light, and easy access to bathrooms, break rooms and other services can also reduce stress on all call center equipment. So what's the secret to managing stress in a call center? It all starts with recognizing that call centers are naturally very stressful workplaces and that many agents will succumb to stress and exhaustion if they don't count. with the right support.
