Case Study I
The Challenge:
The voluntary attrition rates among employees in the six largest client call centers across the country were running as high as 50% at a time when the unemployment rates were at historic lows. The employee morale was down, the customer service and quality was poor, and the not-so-hidden costs were unsustainably high. The total cost to the business was estimated to be more than $3 million annually.
Our Action:
We scrutinized the employee attrition data using a sophisticated statistical technique to generate profiles of employees who were leaving at a much faster rate than the average. We crafted specific action plans addressing the "hot spot" groups in three key areas: selection, engagement, and leadership effectiveness. We rolled out these insights with the help and buy-in of the local leadership teams in an actionable format via employee retention workshops.
The Result:
The result was a dramatic 40% improvement in employee retention in less than six months. There was an equally dramatic upsurge in customer satisfaction and in quality scores of 10 percentage points. Most importantly, the enhanced retention was responsible for slashing more than $1.5 million in recruitment, training, quality, and productivity costs. We were invited to present the breakthrough approach at the executive leadership meeting hosted by Ken Chenault, Chairman and CEO of American Express. The project also won an “Excellence in Practice” award at the ASTD International Conference and Exposition in the Workplace Learning & Development category.