Job Diversification for Call Center Agents



By Kathy Sisk

An agent’s job diversity is as important as salary and is vital for long-term employee commitment. Additionally, advancing qualified agents gives recognition to those who deserve it and leads to higher levels of job satisfaction.

How can you achieve advancement within an agent’s current position? By increasing responsibilities and diversifying job functions. Here are several tips:

  • When appropriate, allow agents to conduct public relations with a client.
  • Have agents contact previous clients and ask questions to determine how the company performed.
  • Each week offer clear objectives on something new agents can spend designated time
  • Allow agents to contact clients and ask for referrals or upsell and promote other products or services.
  • Rotate agents into the QA department to monitor and evaluate other agents. Then discuss how they would handle the calls differently. This helps determine if they are ready for more challenging tasks, but it’s also an excellent training tool to help them perform better.
  • Provide advanced training opportunities to prepare agents for higher-level positions.

These activities achieve three key benefits. First, by offering agents variety and empowering tasks helps them have greater self-worth. Second, the company improves its relationship with clients. And third, agents feel supported when the company offers training for advancement opportunities.

When a company provides rewarding opportunities, it increases the agent’s motivation and reduces burnout. This also improves the attitude of employees toward the company and its customers.

Many opportunities exist for agents to have more challenging roles and help stimulate career opportunities within the company. This is especially important for a company that wants to provide staff with clear direction and achievable goals. In turn, agents become more dedicated, and the company improves its retention rate.

When a company extinguishes their agents’ motivation by displaying a lack of interest, support, or potential advancement, it is essentially spending its dollars to train capable employees to advance themselves just enough to work elsewhere, including for the competition.

Kathy Sisk, founder and president of Kathy Sisk Enterprises Inc., is a trainer and consultant, contributing thirty-five years of expertise to the telemarketing, sales, and customer service industries.