Customer service employees risk burning out every day for a gamut of reasons — whether it’s from too much demand or too little variety. Here’s how to keep them out of burnout trouble.
On the bright side, service professionals hear from a variety of customers and get the satisfaction of helping people every day. On the other hand, much of their work is routine and they might get bored, and lose interest after a while.
Watch for signs that employees are bored or burned out — lack of focus and interest, tardiness, absenteeism and declining performance — and try these job swaps to re-engage them:
1. Job enlargement
Increase the range of tasks agents perform. Remove some lower-level tasks and ask them to try some tasks that require more decision-making and independent thinking.
2. Job rotation
Invite employees to take on different jobs and tasks on a temporary basis. Some companies allow employees to rotate between departments. When reps step outside their usual scope of work, they learn new skills, understand how the whole organization works together and increase their value to the company as they are trained to do more than one job.
3. Job enrichment
Increase the responsibility of contact center staff — not just the amount of work. New challenges and stretch goals help agents use their creativity and test their commitment. For instance, ask them to take charge of a training session or certain tasks when you are out of the office.
4. Flexibility
When employees have some say in and power over when they work, they can focus on the quality of their work when they’re on the job. When possible, work with employees to help them strike the balance they need between work and life.
