Many companies do not really understand how call centres work let alone the intricacies of:
Call centre dynamics
Service levels
Agent occupancy levels
The effect of caller demand
The random nature of call arrival
Call-queuing theories and the number of trunks/lines required for call volume
All these have an effect on the caller; call wait times and the stress experienced by the call centre agent.
If we do not get the staffing numbers right, we end up beating up call centre agents because they are not working harder or fast enough, despite the majority probably giving all they have got.
In a nutshell the poorer performing companies are not resourcing adequately, either due to:
The cost implications
Lack of understanding of call centre resourcing requirements
At the end of the day it is this, which is the driver of the 'sweatshop', which means we have created this new call centre phenomena ourselves.
Poor Management Skills
The rapid growth of the industry means we are running faster than the skill set behind it - we are running short of call centre management and supervisory skills - staff are being promoted ahead of time without the appropriate skills of leadership, coaching and call centre dynamics, the latter of which must not be underestimated.
UK and Ireland