BH Associates® Case Study

Call Center

Our client, a global HR consulting firm advising leading companies on benefits, risk, and talent management, needed to expand call center operations to accommodate high volume open enrollment periods as well as surges in call center activity when working with new customers.

Challenge

In order to provide first-class customer support, our client was prepared to invest significantly in their national call center operations, but needed to determine where and how to make the investment; they wanted to identify existing locations or potential new cities that would offer the best opportunity for cost-effective expansion, while still attracting an expanding pool of talented, highly-skilled employees at competitive wages. In addition, although they needed to hire hundreds of interim employees to support high-demand open enrollment periods, they were also interested in developing a large pool of full-time talent to support their consistent growth. They were not only interested in our staffing services, but they wanted us to ensure long-term retention of employees.

Solution

Leveraging our strong geographic footprint, we provided market data, wage information and examples of effective delivery of call center talent in multiple markets. Our client had earned a world-class reputation as one of the best places to work and we advised our client to treat our temporary contractors as well as their full-time employees and to invest in further training at the beginning of assignments. We suggested a performance management program where we received and shared weekly feedback with call center managers. As an incentive to sustain outstanding customer service and be fully committed to a 13-week assignment, we recommended that the client offer the potential for full-time employment at the beginning of every class, converting only the most effective contractors to full-time employees.

The Results

Our client decided to open a new center strategically located near their largest customer and invested significantly to expand one of their call center locations in an affordable market, adding multiple floors while designing a state-of-the-art call center. The selection of interimtalent and integration into the call center became the same for contract and full-time employees. Prospective temporary employees/contractors interviewed with former contractors who became call center managers to get a sense of what it takes to be successful. In the end, a much greater percentage of our contractors were satisfied with the work site and the company and a much greater percentage converted to long-term full-time employment. Our client consolidated their vendor list, choosing two primary vendors, and we were named one of them.

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