Reducing Staff Absenteeism

Students discuss ways to reduce stress at a call center, improve working
conditions, reduce staff turnover, and minimize absences among employees. 

In this case study, students discussed and came up with ways to improve staff morale and reduce absenteeism at a call center of a car rental company. Facing steep competition and rising costs, the company needed to motivate staff and improve productivity. Students read a report enumerating the reasons why staff were unhappy at work. The main reason for rampant absences was minor ailments including migraines and colds. Based on this report, students worked in groups to brainstorm ways to reduce stress and improve the work environment as a whole. 

The following proposals were submitted by representatives of each group.

This first report was submitted by Sue Moon, who worked with Jung Hwa Kim, Hanbyeol Ju, and Samir Bouka.

Currently, the call center for a major rental car company has been facing high levels of staff turnover and absenteeism. This means the call center has to spend a lot of money to recruit, select and train new agents. This high cost spent on its workforce could place them behind the competition with other call centers. Our group is going to propose some suggestions.

First, this company should adjust its strict performance targets. According to the staff feedback, workers think 5 minutes is not enough to deal with each caller. When they cannot make a customer satisfied within the time limit, they get stressed out. The company should give the staff more time or enforce more flexible regulations. If the staff are allowed to manage their time with every case, they can be happier.

Secondly, the company's way of conducting e-mail should be stopped. The staff are displeased by rude e-mail from managers. Sometimes staff need pressure to improve their job efficiency by showing them how much the team leader has concern for them. However, rude e-mails are another story. Someone once said "a happy plant can have good fruits." A nice word makes employees happy and happy staff members could touch customers the right way. If the team leader wants to encourage their staff, they should do so politely.

Thirdly, our policy of monitoring and recording phone conversations should be explained to staff. Monitoring and recording could be good for staff and customers both. If there is a problem between staff and customers, it could provide clues to solving it. The staff are stressed about being monitored and recorded because they do not know exactly how these recordings can work for them.

Finally, the company should create a lounge for staff and give staff regular breaktimes. Working at a call center is one of the most stressful jobs. If staff can rest for 10 minutes after every 50 minutes of work, it could work well. In addition, the company could provide resources to help staff create clubs for sports and other hobbies. These could also help relieve stress. 

We talked about how to improve staff morale in a call center. Giving staff enough time for decision-making, putting a stop to rude e-mail, educating staff about company policy and creating lounge facilities for staff are our suggestions. The company should keep staff morale its top priority. If so, staff will try to understand the company and they will work for the company longer.
     -- submitted by Sue Moon


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The following report was submitted by Daphne Dadino, who worked with Cecile Descamps, Stan Lukoki, and Gjergj Aliu:

- Make the office more comfortable, with plants.
- Open a cafeteria, a space where employees can relax on sofas, take breaks, drink coffee from a coffee machine made available to staff.
- Reduce the number of breaks to only 2 a day with one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
- Install a network for office use only to enable staff to speak directly to each other on an instant chat, instead of sending emails. People don't always read their mails as soon as they receive them. However, with instant chat, their accounts are always open, and they cannot avoid reading them.
- Take a percentage off employees' salaries if they have too many absences, and give them a bonus if they are always present and on time.
- Require staff to justify long absences with a note from a doctor
- Make Friday a casual day, where employees can wear less formal and more comfortable clothing.

     -- submitted by Daphne Dadino