Call centre staff losses blamed on team leaders

NEWS Team leaders are the key to staff retention in call centres, according to a survey by management consultancy, Waypoint. The report looks at the satisfaction ratings of call centre agents and claims the results differ according to the team they work with rather than company as a whole. Bill Basham, managing director of Waypoint, believes this is due to the team leader's impact on staff morale. "The team leader is responsible for the differences in staff motivation and satisfaction rather than, as we would have thought, company policies," he said. He added that although the sample size was fairly small, he is "inclined to believe it is typical, as it ties in with a Gallup poll done six months ago". Chris Davis, call centre manager at Auto Bar - one of the call centres to take part in the survey - agreed: "Staff need to be treated differently and managers need to recognise that. We believe it's necessary to have fun in the centre and that there is a high standard of training. It's up to the managers to make sure this happens and that the agents feel motivated."