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Managing Telephone Staff Burnout in an Ideal World
Chapter 4 of the Telephone Staff Burnout Workbook
We have been fortunate to observe how some of the world's most successful companies deal with the effects of burnout, and seeing their efforts from a small business perspective, one must admit to some jealousy.
Companies with more resources are able to apply very creative solutions to the problem. Here are just a few of the more popular ones.
Whatever the size of your organisation, it is worth encouraging telephone staff to take some leave when you project that burn-out is likely to occur. This helps the agent by removing him or her from the call centre for a period.
In an organisation with multiple sites, it is sometimes possible to move the employee so that she or he takes on a new lease of life.
It is easier for telephone staff to reinvent themselves at new locations.
One company moved two jaded staff from the Midlands to Luton and found their productivity rocketed to levels higher than anything they had ever delivered before.
Despite showing clear signs of burnout at their original location, the agents seemed to have something to prove to their new colleagues, and because they were already up to speed on th eproducts and the job, they were able to turn on the power.
Interestingly, this got them over the hump of the next projected burnout period. None the less, the agents still suffered burnout at the third projected stage.
Some organisations have the luxury of being able to organise temporary job swaps between agents in different countries.
This is most practical where there are no language barriers and has been used successfully in Benelux and North America. It is similar to the relocation idea proposed above, except for its short duration.
Oddly, the biggest potential fear seems unfounded - telephone staff returning from foreign engagements do not become disaffected and slump immediately to the bottom of the burnout curve.
Surprisingly, such agents come back at the top of their form and even seemed to suffer fewer burnout effects at the second and third stages.
Many large companies use corporate events such as paintball to try and obviate burnout but it seems that while these are great for team building and motivation, they don't help individuals within the telephone team that are burning out.
Some companies can promote first-line telephone staff to supervisors or coaches in order to move them away from their situations.
This is different from the employee value chain because it doesn't require the employee to earn the right to apply for the next vacancy. There is no data to support this, but it does appear risky - close to the Peter Principle.
What happens when everyone has been promoted?
On a more mundane level, larger organisations may employ experts in call centre environments to suggest colour schemes, furniture styles and room layout to create an environment that should reduce or delay burnout.
While there is scientific evidence to validate the value of this approach, we must look at the situation from the perspective of the agent.
And no matter how attractive your workspace, once emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and reduced personal accomplishment have set in, the office can start to feel like a prison.
However, there are some tools that are available even to those of us with small budgets.
