Hiring and Onboarding Work-at-Home Agents

An estimated 60% – 80% of contact center agents are currently working at home, and at least 30% of those agents are expected to remain working from home even after there is a vaccine for COVID-19. For years, contact centers leaders have voiced frustration about their inability to find and recruit the quality and number of resources they needed. DMG believes that the pandemic will usher in new approaches and practices for contact centers, some of which are in the areas of hiring, training and onboarding, that will enhance their operations.

Below is a list of practices for hiring work-at-home (WAH) employees for contact centers. All of these practices have been proven in the field, although what works for one company does not always succeed in another. So, please try these out and select the ones that facilitate your hiring process, and modify the ones that are less successful. 

Once your new employees are hired, they will need to be trained. A surprisingly large number of contact centers that employ WAH staff require them to come into the office to be trained. As this is not currently possible, companies need to come up with new practices to fully train their staff remotely. It’s likely that providing remote training will improve the success of your WAH program, as it is likely to expand the geographical market for your labor pool. Here are some best practices for onboarding new contact center employees. Again, each company should give them a try, select the ones that work, and modify others, as needed. 

The benefits of hiring WAH employees is that they can be located in any place, domestic or international. And while the lack of geographical boundaries opens up new labor markets for companies and opportunities for prospects, it also presents legal and practical challenges that companies will need to take into consideration. However, on balance, the benefits appear to far exceed the challenges, and companies can focus their hiring on the states or countries where they want to operate, limiting their risk exposure and regulatory constraints.

For more information, please review the additional content at our WFM solution page https://workforce-management/.