2011_ContactBabel - Syntellect

ABSENCE
In a tightly-run operation like a contact center where costs and performance are closely managed, significant levels
of staff absence can cause major problems with contact center performance and the customer experience. Even
just a slight increase in absence rates can mean a major difference to how well the contact center performs on that
day. Staff end up over-worked and stressed, and more likely to take time off as a result. Morale suffers, which
increases staff attrition, overwork and thus, further absence.
Absence has many reasons – a poor working environment, workplace bullying, an unoptimized schedule which
makes impossible demands on staff, lack of leadership, low morale, repetitive and mundane tasks - the list goes
on. Staff absence is a vicious circle, each part of which feeds into another, usually leading to higher attrition rates,
greater costs and poor service.
There are many causes of absenteeism, including:
• The absence of a recruitment process that allows operations to identify unreliable applicants
• Poor front-line leadership - many team leaders are just not able to manage their teams and help
prevent absenteeism, a fault of incorrect training and/or recruitment at this level
• Low morale in the contact center, meaning the workforce think that missing work is acceptable.
There are also other factors that influence absence, including:
• Mandatory overtime
• Lack of schedule flexibility and choice
• Insufficient mentoring or supervisor support, especially during the transition period after training
• Large team sizes (20+ per team)
• Cancelled team activities like 1:1 coaching due to heavy call volume.
Short-term (no-show) absence - this is the average number of agent days lost through short-term sickness and
unauthorized absence as a percentage of contracted days annually. This is included in this year’s report.
Long-term absence - this includes long-term sickness, maternity leave, sabbaticals and other long-term absences
where the business is able to expect and plan for the absence. This is not included in this year’s report.
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