Devoted to the call center industry, the agents on the phones, and their managers

It’s your first break after a few hours on the phone and you only have 15 minutes!  Oh my! What a dilemma.  You want to just get out of your chair and do more than just stretch.  Are you hungry?  Are you a smoker?  Perhaps you want to check your personal email? Do you have time for a quick game or chat with a friend?  A quick nap would be nice too.  What do you do?

It is obvious to say that it is dependent on your current situation.  But, let me give you some suggestions to make sure you feel you’ve used that break wisely.

Eat and Drink
Running out of energy and taking phone calls with a dry throat is a horrible feeling.  You can’t think straight.  You make mistakes often and it screws up your handling time.  So grab a bite at the cafeteria and refill your mug (spill proof please).

It is a strategy that most companies adopt to keep people in the company for at least 3 to 6 months.  This assures that training hours weren’t wasted and is a way to cut down “No Call No Shows” during this stage.   It is sometimes referred as a retention tool.  In spite of this, attrition numbers are continuously rising.

The most common form of the training bond is having an employee sign an agreement stating that if they leave the company before “x” amount of time then they have to pay a nominated amount.  This is usually equivalent to the training costs that the company has invested.  A new one now is to hold a portion of one’s salary for a certain period; usually the time they want the employee to stay to recoup the costs.