What is the result of excellent call center software? Simple: Happy customers and happy employees. However, what many call center managers should keep in mind is that customer satisfaction is equally as important as customer satisfaction. Think about it – can unsatisfied employees offer the best possible service? In Contra Costa County, that wasn’t the case.
Contra Costa County recently won the right to run a health care call center that would implement President Obama’s Affordable Care Act; however, recently, news on the operation pointed out that half of the jobs will be part-time and offer employees no health benefits. This ironic shock led to huge media coverage and turned out to be a huge disappointment to those who imagined the positions to be full-time.
Many wondered why a business that provides healthcare would reject to provide their very own employees with health coverage. “The battle for the call center was over jobs with good working wages and benefits; I never dreamed they would be part-time,” explained the Contra County Supervisor, Karen Mitchoff.
“It is very disappointing. I was under the impression these were going to be well-paying, well-compensated positions,” added fellow County Supervisor, Mary Piepho. “We were really hopeful these would be jobs meeting the unemployment needs in our county and offer them the ability to make a living and support their families.”
As mentioned, employee satisfaction is vital to keeping your call center operations successful. In fact, a 2012 employee satisfaction and engagement study conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 81 percent of U.S employees reported overall satisfaction with their current work conditions, while 43 percent reported being “somewhat satisfied” and only 38 percent being “very satisfied.” With such a low percentage for high satisfaction, can employees really offer great customer service? There’s ample room for opportunity in this area. With Contra Costa County’s situation in mind, it is important to keep employees of any business top-of-mind.
