Home

Here Are Three Ways That Won’t Cost A Dime

By Janell Scott, Vice President of Brand Engagement & Talent Acquisition at Gold Mountain Communications, LLC

A major takeaway from the global pandemic was how critical of a role contact centers can play in keeping the economy flowing. Consumers were leveraging online marketplaces in record droves to do everything from booking travel and buying clothes to scheduling doctor appointments and doing their banking. It became absolutely vital to maintain an engaged and well-run contact center to address the needs of consumers. However, the contact center industry is notorious for high turnover - about 33% attrition each year. As we emerge from the pandemic, what steps can be taken to boost employee retention?

Schedule Flexibility 

A major life lesson the pandemic taught us was to prioritize what’s important in life. Whether it’s spending time with family, friends, pets or pursuing a hobby, having the ability to have a flexible work schedule can make it all the more rewarding and fulfilling. 

A 2021 study from Flexjobs found that 41% cited not allowing flexible schedules as the reason they quit their job. For many, child care is a major reason for needed flexibility. A recent Care.com study revealed that 51% of parents say they spend more than 20% of their household income on child care, and 72% of parents report spending 10% or more. Having the schedule flexibility to take care of children and work can be game-changing for families. Because contact centers often operate 24 hours a day, there is ample opportunity to offer a flexible schedule to team members. At Gold Mountain Communications, LLC, we realized that scheduling flexibility is an opportunity to acquire and retain talent. In additional to schedule flexibility we offer work at home opportunities as well as positions in office to meet the needs of our employees. For our sales and customer service professionals, we strive for a healthy work/life balance and as a tribute to this belief, we schedule our team members for 6.5 hour shifts. This allows time through the week for appointments, family, fun and rest which we believe brings and keeps the best version of people in our business.

Workplace Flexibility

Prior to the pandemic, there was a stigma around working from home. However, when millions of workers turned their living rooms into boardrooms during the global pandemic, we collectively realized that technology has enabled so many of us to be able to work from anywhere. And that certainly holds true for contact center employees. 

In fact, Stanford University studied 16,000 remote contact center representatives over nine months in 2015 and found that working from home increased their productivity by 13%. In addition, work-from-home representatives also reported an increase in job satisfaction, and attrition rates were cut by 50%. On a similar note, a 2020 survey by FlexJobs, the company found that just over half (51%) of respondents reported a productivity boost when they began working from home. Those being studied cited fewer interruptions and quieter work environments as notable reasons for the improvement. Having the ability to work from home for contact centers workers can truly be a win-win for the employer and the employee. In addition to the win-win of working from home, we continue to drive focus to team member satisfaction, and culture engagement in creative and remote ways! Just in the month of February, we had a digital Valentine Card contest. Team members created a digital Valentine and sent it to their peers. Votes were cast, and a winner was declared – plus everyone got a little extra love that day!

Pay Flexibility

In a recent study by Ernst & Young, over 8 in 10 (83%) of American workers believe they should have access to their earned wages at the end of each workday or shift. Contact centers nationwide can now offer on-demand pay as a financial wellness benefit to employees, at no charge to the company. 

This is where Gold Mountain Communications takes the Gold Standard to another level! Not only does the organization pay an hourly rate, they also pride themselves on a competitive and lucrative bonus structure. Daily bonuses, weekly and monthly are the prime earnings and they pair nicely with referral and sign on bonuses that the company offers as well. To level up on the earning potential, Gold Mountain Communications partners with DailyPay to offer team members on-demand access to these funds… GAME CHANGER! 

With access to the money you’ve already earned, you can pay bills, spend, save, or invest on your own schedule - not an arbitrary payday. The benefit empowers employees with choice and control over their pay and can significantly help avoid financially crippling options such as payday loans to make ends meet. In fact, in a study from The Aite Novarica Group, 95% of those previously reliant on payday loans in any way either stopped using payday loans (81%) or reduced use (15%) after using DailyPay, a leading on-demand pay provider.

Flexibility…Flexibility…Flexibility…

Contact centers have been around since the 1960’s. And in the 60+ years since their establishment, technology has helped innovate the industry to serve millions and millions of customers every day. Now it’s time that we, as employers, take a look at how we can innovate the employee experience to keep our teams engaged and productive and most of all…happy. 

CLICK HERE to Return to the 2023 End-of-Year Newsletter