The onboarding process of an agent in the contact center is key to optimal incorporation. You must have a plan prior to the employee’s first day, and continue up to 90 days after, depending on the company. In this way, we ensure adequate accompaniment during its early stages.
You can even have a pre-onboarding, which is the moment in which we have already selected the employee and they receive the first messages with information about the company or what their first day will consist of, who their colleagues and superiors will be, etc.
Aspects to take into account during onboarding:
- Logistics: Informing the new employee in advance and adequately what day and at what time he/she must be in the new job, as well as what must take with him/her is important.
- The host: Having a good host who knows how to accompany the new employee, help them get to know the team and inform them of processes, important places or administrative procedures. Typically, this is someone from the Human Resources team. The important thing is that this person will make the first impression and represent the company, so let’s think about who is suitable for this initial role.
- Helpdesk: Whether you telecommute or not. The new employee must have all the mechanisms, tools and resources necessary to do the job. That is why including the IT team in the onboarding is essential so that they know their tools and the people in charge of helping them, in case they have problems with the use of tools and platforms.
- Getting to know the team: Integrating the new employee with the team and getting to know the rest of the department is important, not only for networking, but also to facilitate communication between everyone.
- Detail: Sending a detail to the new worker is a way of knowing how the company is going to relate to him/her, promoting a pleasant and more relaxed experience.
- The manager: It is recommended that the manager be with the employee from the first day and be in charge of the introduction to the colleagues. He/She will also give you the first guidelines on objectives, KPIs and campaign assignments, values, mission and vision of the company, etc. This information should be spaced out over time to avoid overwhelming the employee on their first day.
Why it is important?
Having a good Onboarding process in the contact center helps the employee to know the processes, mission and goals. In addition, we will also get him/her to meet the team and feel part of it. During the first week they should know much of this information and have a relationship with several of the colleagues.
To help they feel included in the company from the first moment, it is ideal that the company has created an employee journey map, especially for the onboarding phase, so that both human resources and your manager can plan each step, know who acts, what goals we achieved and what needs and expectations the employees have in these first days.
It is also important not to overwhelm the employee. We have a tendency to over-report on the first day and this is a mistake. Everything must have its process and moment, we must remember that we are people and that sometimes giving too much information causes the opposite effect.
Communicate the new additions to the rest of the staff
Communicating is just as important as the onboarding. This avoids surprises and promotes better bonding between colleagues, especially if they are teleworking.
We must bear in mind that onboarding in the contact center does not end after the first week. It is a continuous process in which we cannot ignore the new employee. Many companies forget about it after the first week, but this process should last more than a month, in fact, there are companies in which it lasts 90 days. And it’s normal, since the first month is the month of questions and of really assimilating what your job is on a day-to-day basis, what the company is like and who your colleagues are.
Therefore, having a well-defined onboarding process and including all those people who should have a role in it is essential. That will lead to the rewarding experience that will ensure the retention of the new addition.
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