Getting the top talent from the labor market is hard, and so is hiring the best call center, agents.
As a business owner, you would want to be prepared for the tough competition ahead by knowing the many things to watch out for in recruiting the cream of the crop.
Here are the top 6 challenges in acquiring highly qualified call center agents for your company.
Labor market competition
The first challenge in hiring the best call center agents is the competition in the area where your business is located.
When many companies are hiring the same agent profile as you, you will have difficulty in filling in your vacancies.
Applicants will have many options to choose from, making it hard for your company to stand out.
The size of the talent pool
Another difficulty you might have in attracting the best call center agents is the size of the talent pool.
Even when there are a few competitions in your area, you may still be faced with the shortage of qualified applicants.
In the process, this situation can contribute to increased cost of talent acquisition particularly when you are forced to entice applicants from far-flung areas and relocate them near your business.
Skills mismatch
One other challenge is when there is a clear mismatch of skills.
This occurs when the best call agents have the right set of competencies, but the nature of the business process that you are supporting is not a match.
For instance, your candidates might have great sales and communications skills with customers, but they have no experience dealing with business-to-business clients.
While hiring them is no problem, you will be forced to increase the training period as well as invest in updating your training program in order develop the desired skills of candidates.
High salary expectation
The best call center agents that you have shortlisted are asking for the compensation package that’s quite steep.
This can be a challenge especially if you are running on a shoestring budget but will need to hire the right people to bring your business to the next level.
If it is too hard to give them an offer that is agreeable to them without costing you too much, you might be forced to look for candidates who aren’t as skilled.
Contented with current employer
Additionally, you might also be having a hard time attracting the right prospects because your ideal candidates are happy with where they are.
Most of the best call center agents stick with their current job where they flourish.
Enticing them to jump over to you will take a lot of resources from your end as you will not only match their current salary, you will also need to make your business attractive to them.
Career switch
Finally, your biggest challenge in hiring the best call center agents is when they no longer want to be a call center agent.
They may wish to move up the corporate ladder, looking for a different challenge, or want to switch to a different career path.
Striking a balance
When hiring highly-talented employees, prepare to meet challenges along the way. Check how you can position your company to become the employer of your choice so that you can attract the best call center agents without breaking the bank.
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