How to Display Lyrics on your Windows Media Player

So you like a particular song, but don't know the lyrics?
And you don't have time to look it up online?

Worry no more!

A cool plugin called Lyrics Plugin can display songs on your winamp/windows media player screen! Even from hard to find songs! I was able to find lyrics from Cannibale Corpse, Opeth, Symphony X, Local Artists, etc..

Just download it here.

After installing, open windows media player, go to Tools--Plugins--Click on Lyrics Plugin. And voila! The screen will show the lyrics of the selected song. Just in case, it doesn't, you may need to rename the said song to it's correct title like, "Track 01" "1.name of the song" to "name of the song".

Now sing your hearts out!

MS Word Trick

1.Open MS Word 2003 and type:

=rand (200,99)

2. Hit Enter.

You're supposed to see something weird.

How to make your PC Talk

This is so cool I have to post it even if it's off topic..

Open a text file in notepad and type:

Dim msg, sapimsg=InputBox("Enter your text","Talk it")Set sapi=CreateObject("sapi.spvoice")sapi.Speak msg

Save the file with a (*.vbs) extension, it will create a VBScript File.It will prompt you for a text when you open the file, input the text and press ok."you will hear what you typed

This works in XP. I don't know about Vista.

The computer speaks perfect English. Albeit in a cyborgish kind of way.

You can change the speech rate by separating syllables.

He said it..

"Lowering your standards and expectations, only breeds mediocrity..."

Philip Salvador

How to Address Language Issues

In this line of business, everything relies on communication. Language issues, are translated into stats, by poor QA scores, low CSAT, low FCR and high ATT. Being a QA for 4 years, I have experienced working with agents who went live, had difficulties communicating, and as a result, had low morale. This is because they are often at the end of customer abuse. They have issues completing resolution because the customer's can't understand the steps. They have long calls because it takes a lot of effort on their part just to discuss a simple point. It was a challenging task at first. I know that the conventional way of coaching won't work. By going through a series of trial and errors (with emphasis on errors), I was able to find a series of steps that worked with most of the agents I have handled. This is a tried and tested formula.

1. Motivate- Excite.Brainwash. Attitude Transplant. They're all the same.

The first issue I have experienced is coaching agents with bleak outlook on self improvement. After all, they spent 14 years, at least, of education trying to work on their ps and fs, th, vs and bs, to no avail. Some of them already accepted the fact that it is impossible to learn. There are different ways to motivate people, but the first step is to let the agent know that there is a NEED for improvement, and that it's not too late to learn a new skill. And that need is supposed to be addressed to as soon as possible.You have to build the confidence.This is because effective communication requires confidence. Without doing this, we can't go to the next steps.

2. Minimize Word Count- Most agents with this problem, fall into a trap. Wherein, to compensate for this perceived flaw, an agent talks more, sometimes out of control, drowning the customer with details, circling around different topics. Sometimes this can be due to enthusiasm of being in a new environment. Or simply because of a notion, that maybe by speaking more, they are practicing more. But this is a common sight. However, what this does is that it makes matters worse, because the language issues have now become more obvious. And sometimes by over talking they find themselves, hitting communication walls. The first thing that we should do is to HIDE the flaw. After all, when it comes to communication, less is more.

Coach agents on:

a. Being clear, concise, and direct to the point. Take note of common sentences that are wordy and come up with modifications.
b. Minimizing fillers.
c. Avoiding run on sentences.
d. Planning the call ahead of time, anticipating possible discussion points.
e. Organizing thoughts and focusing on one topic at a time.
f. Using transition phrases to direct call flow.
g. Being in control of their emotions during the call


This step alone can make a huge difference. In fact, for most agents, I only did this step, and they figured out the rest.

3. Create Audio Scripts- Scripting makes it easier for new agents to handle certain situations like referrals, closing, handling an irate customer, etc. By constantly rehearsing the lines, agents can say it with more confidence in time. The problem is , can they say it correctly?

As people grow old, they become accustomed to their native speech sound, and can find it hard to retain the correct way of pronouncing particular words/phrases. Communication is 100% mental, because when we speak, we retrieve a memory of words into our head before putting it in a sentence.Sometimes, if our mind is cluttered with an abyss of thoughts, our speech is, well, cluttered. If we hear our neighbors, talking in bad English for years, we unconciously retain it. When we retain it, it manifests itself when we speak.

To create audio recorded scripts, we must write down the scripts that the agent frequently uses during the course of a call. Record it using windows recorder, and have the agents listen to it before shift and even at home. By doing this, we are re programming their memory, and this time with the correct data.


4. Improve Speech Techniques-Intonation is the speech music. Each language a genre. Even if we pronounce all the words correctly, we would still sound awful if the intonation is incorrect. For example, in our native tongue, every syllable is pronounced, whereas in the American Language, sentences are treated like sound groups. This contrasting characteristic is one of the challenges when coaching these agents. Voice modulation exercises can be beneficial in terms of sounding clearer, more confident and more mature.

5. Think in English- When we think in Tagalog, we find it hard to construct sentences in the middle of a conversation. By thinking in English before shift, we are conditioning our mind for this activity.Thus, we are avoiding incorrect transliterations and will sound more spontaneous, less strenuous when we talk.

6. Speak English-

Exaggerate.

Most often, even if agents have the skill, they are often shy to display it. We must exaggerate , stressing on twangs, intonations, inflections, etc. Even if it sounds embarrassing at first, this is an essential part of this development. Through this way, we are conditioning our mindset that speaking English is something that comes naturally. And it will.

Agents should listen to their call recordings and must take notes of commonly mispronounced words. There are a lot of websites that can be used as a reference. (i.e., encarta.msn.com, then go to dictionary, etc.)

I'm not a big fan of English only Policies because it can be compared to forcing a basketball player to keep on shooting even if his mechanics are wrong. It lacks creativity and displays short understanding of the agent's psyche. The previous 5 steps must be achieved FIRST before enforcing such policy.

7. Improve on Grammar- Agents should notice patterns between correct grammar usages. Most often, the same rules apply. There is lot of grammar related sites. The best one for me is Englishpage.com.

8.Develop Conversational Skills- Cultivate good phone savvy/personality by listening, turn taking, avoiding dead air, building rapport, spontaneity, and expressing one's point with clarity.

Overall, this completes the package.

Metrics Troubleshooting part 3- FCR

There is not enough words in this blog, that can capture the significance of FCR to the operations of a contact center. And it would be euphemism to say, that I am someone who can speak his mind.FCR is the only metric that balances and measures customer service effectiveness and operating cost efficiency.

Here are 5 reasons why FCR should be the key iniatitive for a center's success.

1.It reduces operating cost- Customer's calling for the second time about the same issue constitute additional cost. For example, if we have a 70% FCR rating this means, that 30% of our call volume comes from the same customers. And then, what if half those issues are still unresolved? Then what we have here is a snowballing effect, creating a heavy toll on the operating cost.

2. It improves Customer Satisfaction- It is a known fact that FCR is highly correlated to customer satsfaction. Some might say, that it is it's highest correlated measure. Some might argue, that FCR, or its lack of, is the biggest driver of customer dissatisfaction.For instance, a study conducted by research consulting firm Customer Relationship Metrics found that “caller satisfaction ratings for the company in general and for the CSR will be 35 to 45 percent lower when a second call is made for the same issue.” Another study, conducted by Service Quality Measurement Group (SQM), revealed that for every 1 percent improvement in FCR, you get a 1 percent improvement in customer satisfaction.

3.It increases Employee Satisfaction- an organization with low FCR often has low employee satisfaction and high turnover. The stress is very high on the employee who handles the second and third call from that customer whose issue wasn't resolved the first time.

4. It increases opportunities to sell-when a customer call is resolved youincrease the customer cross selling acceptance rate by 20%. SQM’s research shows that customers’ needs must be resolved before the CSR has earnedthe right to move on to any sort of sales activity. If the CSR cross sells beforethe inquiry or problem is resolved, the customer is irritated and feels that theorganization is pushing its needs, rather than serving the customer. As aresult, the fundamental customer relationship is undermined.

5.Reduce customers at risk – SQM research shows that if the customer’sinquiry or problem is resolved in the first call only 3% of those customers areat risk to go to your competitors. Conversely, 34% of customers who did notget their inquiry or problem resolved are likely to go to your competitors. Customers that are at risk of going to competitors are a result of unresolved customer inquiries or problems and have the biggest impact onthe call center’s financial performance. Most call centers are not aware howmuch revenue they are losing as a result of the customer’s inquiry or problemgoing unresolved.

There are several key tactics and tools you can implement to achieve — or at least approach — your center’s true FCR potential.

1. Two plus calls- We must track calls that are usually not resolved on the first contact. There should be a pattern.We must identify the call types and probable causes and the practice its' most efficient resolution. Then align it with the training materials, QA Scorecards, and coaching workflows.

2. Align FCR/AHT targets.-Even with the right training and tools in place, FCR will suffer if agents are confused with performance objectives. Asking agents shoot for a high FCR rate while at the same time rigidly requiring them to have low talk times will likely result in rushed calls, a high incidence of errors and rework, and increased agent burnout and turnover.

3. Train, empower and retain- Training and QA should be focused on issue resolution and confidence building activities. Then, through coaching, data must be gathered to identify knowledge gaps so that action plans will be implemented to narrow it down. Employee turnover must be reduced. This means that the agents on floors are agents armed with knowledge, confidence and experience, the qualities that contribute to issue resolution.

4. Awareness and Accountability- FCR must be viewed as the most important metric and everyone (from agents to Account Managers) should be held accountable. And it most be known, that the only judge of FCR, are the customers.

5. Process Improvements- Rework, wastes and delays should be minimized so that the agents can focus their energy on resolving the customer's issues. Process Flow Charts, Process Diagrams,Scripts, must capture the most efficient ways of resolving a particular issue and have it implemented. The most important catalyst for such process change, would be the agents. Top organizations recognize that agents are the true customer contact experts in the call center. These organizations actively solicit suggestions and feedback from agents on what they need to do to improve the process. Furthermore, through this, agents know their role, and their importance to the process. This is because THEY are the process.

6. Specialization- Skill Routing is a common practice by organizations that aim for FCR. Through this, customer and/or call type are matched with the CSR’s knowledge and skills.We can have roaming tier twos ready to assist CSRs on the floor or through phone. If issues are so complex and diverse that most of the time spent is on research, we can have a research specialist per subject, product, or per call type.

7. Technology- Tools and resources must be available and accessible at all times to the agents. They must have access to all customer information and history to assist in resolving customer’s issue. There must be an Online Knowledge Base that is constantly improved to pursue FCR. Pop up screens that instructs. Voice Message Box where callers can leave messages when agents are not around, or even when they are on hold-(just kidding about the hold thing).

8. Customer Empowerment- there are times when issues may be resolved, but the customers don't know it. The agent must verify this with the customer by asking, " have I resolved your issue?", or "would there be anything else?" or by narrowing down parameters, "so the reason for your call, would be.."

By establishing support FAQs, we are empowering the customer closer to FCR. What better way to resolve an issue with help from the customers who can vividly describe their issue, know what caused it, and would just like a few info on what to do next?

9. Rewards and Recognition- Agents who contribute to a center's FCR must be recognized.

Deming Quality Chain Reaction (applied to a contact center set up)

0

1.Improve Quality

Quality is the focus. Everything starts and ends with quality. Without it, improvements will not be sustained in the long run. For example, if an account bills client on a per call basis, then focuses on getting calls without providing any quality help to customers, then it is bound to fail. Because, in today's market of intense competition, someone will always provide better service,by providing better ways of meeting the customer needs. Management should always be at the forefront whether by iniatitives on establishing quality metrics, or through process improvements.

2. Reduce Costs-

As quality is improved, costs are reduced because of less delays (long calls) and defects (customer dissatisfaction). One of purposes of quality is to have less rework, with this, agents know what is acceptable and what is not. Thus, operational definitions are clear. By chopping off redundant steps through process improvements, calls are more efficient because of less rework and delays. Agents can focus more on issue resolution and improving the customer experience. By focusing on quality, agents are less prone to mistakes, leading to customer satisfaction. Time, machine and materials are economized.

3.Improve Productivity-

As costs are reduced, the company have better use of the agent's time and energy. As much of it is no longer spent on defects.They are now more devoted to work that only adds value. As a result, billable utilization increases, getting more value per employee.

4. Reduce Prices

We now have MORE products (calls) that have a higher quality. These are created with lower costs. We now have savings. Savings are now passed to the market by reducing prices to our clients.

5. Capture the Market

We now have more calls, with a higher quality, and at a lower price. This provides us a great competitive advantage compared to competitors. We can now create markets that provides calls to the changing needs of its clients.

6. Stay in Business

Once the contact center has stayed ahead of competitors, and has captured the market. The long term prospects of the organization have been ensured.

7. Provide jobs and more jobs-

Companies that focuses on quality realizes the value of continous improvement. Thus, opportunities for new jobs are created.

8.Improve ROI-everything gains.

It is recommended that the internal customers ( steps 1-3) were satisfied first before the external customers. Or else the chain breaks.

Metrics Troubleshooting Part 2-Average Handle Time

AHT

AHT is a not only a measure of performance but also a measure of profitability (for accounts that bill clients on a per call/per minute basis). Not to mention its direct impact on Service Level and Billable Utilization.By improving quality, leadership and innovation, we can make sure calls are handled efficiently, leading to less talk time.

1. Process Improvements- identify wastes, and redundancy of steps within the process. Look for steps that can be done while multitasking and remove steps that do not add value to the customer.

2. Scripting- create scripts for every situations in a call where agents are not confident to handle. (i.e, closing the call,referral, handling product limitations, inc). Through this you can also eliminate sentences that agents make that are too wordy thus, decreasing the average words per call of every agent.

3. Identify trends and common issues- post and send steps to the team

4.Check Standard Deviation-If there is large variance in terms of agent AHT then there is definitely an issue. Monitor your low AHT agents as well as your high AHT agents. Look for how the low AHT agents process the calls, and if the quality of the call is good, then implement the process to the rest of the floor. If there is low variance then you need to send the analysis to the client and re-adjust the SLA.

5. Empower agents- The number of escalations must be tracked. Agents learn best through experience, and sometimes through process reistrictions, wherein they need to call their supervisors for approval, the talk time is compromised along with the quality. Agents should know where to access information, and should have the decision on what to do next based on the information gathered.

6.Check for scope creeps in ACW and hold. Are the agents over documenting? Are the agents multi tasking?

7. Train- some skills that could have a huge effect on handle times are:

a.Knowledge of Support

b. Analytical Skills

c. Probing

d. Instructional Skills

e. Listening

8. Check staffing- due to a large call volume, agents are more prone to human fatigue, increasing stress levels, resulting to futility in handling calls.

9. Client standards may be too high- Conduct a time and motion study if pre assessment includes small variation of handle time.

The Futility of Call Center Coaching

One-agent-at-a-time coaching is the go-to method in call centers for trying to improve center-wide output measures. But it is less valuable than many believe. Through the use of mathematical modeling and simulation, it is possible to see that coaching, even in moderate turnover environments, does not offer a return on investment (ROI). More-effective improvement strategies aimed at lifting the performance of the whole system, such as task consolidation and prerecorded call flows, should be used instead.

Coaching in Error
Dr. W. Edwards Deming, a 20th century quality guru, warned managers about an inference error pertaining to the performance of a team, unit or organization. This is the error: Because coaching may help an individual improve and because the performance of the system is the sum of each worker's performance, coaching each worker will improve the performance of the system. Deming believed this was faulty logic

In Deming's view, most coaching efforts are a form of tampering because they try to make improvements to individual components of what is largely common cause variation. He argued that the overall performance of a unit was much more a function of the quality of materials, process design, specs and machine performance – in other words, the “system.” Deming went on to demonstrate that the result of an improvement strategy based on coaching each employee would be no system improvement; rather, it would simply be increased variation in performance. He encouraged management to find ways to lift the performance of the whole system.
There is another practical reason there can be no ROI from investments in coaching: turnover. When turnover is high, every month and year workers that may have improved from individual investments walk out the door. As these people quit, they are replaced with new, lower-performing employees.
But many managers still believe in the efficacy of coaching, especially in the call center industry. Centers pay to record phone calls and do sample monitoring for use in sporadically coaching agents – despite the high rate of employee turnover.
Background for the Model
A mathematical model can be used to show the inefficiency of coaching individual call center employees. To understand the model, it is important to be aware of the variables that were in place when the model was formed.
This model starts with 100 new agents in a call center. Performance is measured by the percentage of customers who give an agent a 5 on a 5-point scale (referred to as “percentage top box for customer satisfaction” in the model). Because no agent can be perfect and because agents must occasionally give an answer the customer will not be satisfied with, the top performance used in the model is 85 percent. The 100 agents start with a mean performance of 66 percent, with a standard deviation of 2 percent. No new agent starts at less than 60 percent; if they ranked lower than this on customer satisfaction, they would not have graduated from the initial training program.
The model is measured over 72 months, or iterations of the system. During each iteration, some agents improve because of coaching and some agents quit and are replaced with new agents. For the agents who stay, if their tenure is less than six months, they improve by 2 percent each month. If their tenure is greater than seven months but less than 12 months, they improve by 1 percent each month. The amount of improvement continues to halve every six months, following a declining exponential function. In my experience as a call center leader, long-tenured agents are not very responsive to coaching. Their approach and work habits are too ingrained and the amount of coaching available for these experienced agents is too limited.
The turnover rate in the base model is 36 percent annually, or 3 percent per month. This turnover is random, such that each month a new agent and an experienced agent are equally likely to quit; few make answering calls a career.
The variables used for top performance, mean performance and turnover rate can be adjusted by different centers using this model.
Constructing the Model
With the variables in place, it is time to look at the math used to construct the model. The distribution of tenure at month M, with a monthly turnover rate of T, was found using a Markov chain. The following matrix works on the assumption that turnover is constant and is not a function of tenure:

The “percentage top box customer satisfaction” (CS) of an employee with t months of coaching is the sum of the contributions from coaching (Ce), which can be expressed as follows:
where H is the half-life of the effectiveness of training, and CL is the limit of coaching.
The limit of coaching is the best possible customer satisfaction rating that the given employee can reach, which can be set anywhere. If turnover is set to 0, the system will approach CL as the limit.
CS can also be expressed in terms of the employee's initial performance, M0, as follows:

where H is the half-life of the effectiveness of training, and CL is the limit of coaching.
The limit of coaching is the best possible customer satisfaction rating that the given employee can reach, which can be set anywhere. If turnover is set to 0, the system will approach CL as the limit.
CS can also be expressed in terms of the employee's initial performance, M0, as follows

Plugging the fourth equation into the second equation gives the following:

Thus, this is the performance vector of the system:

This vector contains the performance of employees at any given month of tenure. The contribution of any group of employees to the overall customer satisfaction of the system is the number of employees in that group, multiplied by their performance. The vectors of tenure and performance have been constructed such that, when multiplied, they will result in the call center's employees’ average “percentage top box customer satisfaction.”

Examining the Results
The model ran through the 72 months, or iterations, under numerous different starting conditions. No matter how the starting conditions were manipulated, the shape of the curve describing the performance of the 100-agent system looked exactly like the graph below.

Clearly, the system improves rapidly at first. This is because the coaching effect is strongest for new agents. After about a year, however, the system stopped improving at a level well below the system maximum because the effectiveness of coaching diminishes for experienced agents and the turnover eats up the effect of improvement from coaching.
This result is also reflected in the distribution of the performance of individual agents in the system. A negatively skewed distribution took shape after about 12 iterations of the system and remained stable through all 72 iterations. There is constantly a big group of high-performing, experienced agents and a trailing group of new agents growing in experience and performance. Because experienced agents continue to quit and are replaced by brand new agents, the shape of this distribution never changes.
One could argue that the coaching investment is holding the system in place and keeping it from regressing, but it is, without question, not improving the system; after about 18 months, there was no discernible increase in system performance. Although coaching may be helpful for the new agents, the system's performance rate stays the same due to continued turnover.
Improving System Wide
The conclusion from this modeling effort is that coaching in systems with a broad mix of tenure and even a modest level of turnover will have little effect on the performance of the entire system. To improve the outputs of a system, managers must find an approach to process improvement which lifts the performance of all the agents at the same time, not one at a time. Task consolidation and prerecorded call flows are two options.
Task consolidation involves studying what agents do and looking for ways to make what they do on the phone more accurate and efficient. An example: Finding a way to turn a process that involves cutting and pasting, and opening 15 different systems into a one-click step that causes all the work to be executed behind the scenes.
Another systemic improvement strategy is to engineer what the agents actually say during the call. In this approach, call flows are built to respond to customers' needs and inquiries and executed by agents using both prerecorded audio files and their live voice when needed. This solution can help eliminate accent barriers, deliver greater process adherence and achieve significant reductions in talk time, without the need for monitors to listen to calls. (Note reference to a related article that provides additional details and data on this approach.)
Both solutions involve actually engineering and error-proofing sections of the call. These are the type of approaches that can transform a manufacturing environment, and they can do the same for a call center.
An Old Lesson
Although the lights went out in Vaudeville a long time a go, one of the standard gags was about the guy looking for his keys under a street lamp. Another guy stops by to help and asks, “Where do you think you lost them?” To which the man replies, “About a half of a block away over by my car, but the light is better here.”
To improve live call handling, start looking where the keys are likely to be (system-wide improvements), not where the light seems good (trying to improve agents one at a time).

Written by: Dennis Adsit

About the Author: Dennis Adsit was most recently the senior vice president of contact center operations and process excellence for Intuit. Prior to Intuit, Dr. Adsit was the Six Sigma practice leader for Rath & Strong Management Consultants. He is currently the vice president of business development for KomBea Corp. He can be reached at dennis.adsit@kombea.com

Metrics Troubleshooting Part 1-Attrition and Absenteeism

ASA...ATT.. CSAT..FCR..QA..BU..

No.. they are not alien language.

They are perpetual niblets of motion constantly measured for future reference.

Or what we simply call as metrics.

Call Centers have a ton of metrics.

Metrics exist not only because they are an effective measure of performance, but they also play a vital role in decision making. Every call center employee knows this. However, a few people seems to know that by understanding and managing metrics, you could also expose it's diagnostic capability.

Today's problem metrics are called attrition and absenteeism. I first experienced attrition when my dog died. But nowadays, I feel that good team managers feel the same way when their agents leave. As one former agent turned client, told me, "it feels like you lost a part of your body". Some actions should be:

1. Track/Isolate attrition data
-Do most of the agents that leave belong to the same team?
(Management Issue) This could be due to a possible incompatibility

between the supervisor's management style and the team members' work style .
Do most of the agents leave at particular period of time?

(Company Issue) This could be due to perceptions pertaining to an account's rumored EOL or a
company's stability. Or the company is a bad company period.

Do most agents transfer to the same company? This is could be due to the fact that some former co workers recruit your employees. Or that company is a better company period.

2. Set expectations in recruitment and training

Some call centers have a highly structured set up. Rules are implemented for everything, like using cellphones at work, taking CR breaks, quality monitoring, chasing ATT targets, etc. Aside from learning this new culture, agent must also develop new sets of skills. This can be doubly tough especially if agents have no call center experience.

- During hiring, make a realistic description of an agent's shift cycle. Discuss how the call center culture is different from the traditional work set up. Do not oversell the job so that the negatives are overlooked.

- During training, invest in a lot of time for confidence building activities.Have new agents sit beside seasoned agents and listen to their calls. Allow agents to make mistakes while in training. Structure tasks for quick wins. Discuss calls.Make sure new-hires have all the necessary tools to hit the ground running and succeed. Track the effectiveness of your initial training process and try to customize it as much as possible to each new-hire. Remember that training becomes an expense if attrition is not controlled.

3. Build a value proposition in terms of learning and career growth

If supervisor positions or promotions are scarce in your company, then perhaps you can offer the opportunity to work on or lead a project. Senior-level agents want to be in a role where they can feel empowered and responsible. Con­sider delegating some of your managerial tasks to veteran agents to provide them with new challenges — ask them to run a team, represent a training session, create a contest, lead the team for a day, etc.

4. Make your team managers equally responsible for attrition

a. Relationship coaching- Develop trust and friendship.Focus on opportunities to create an environment where our employees enjoy coming to work each day (should not only be our goal, but our responsibility).Encourage agents to do the best they can. Remember to praise your staff frequently and find ways to keep motivation levels high.Create an environment in which agents feel that they can speak their concerns directly with their manager without the fear of retaliation. Don’t let the stress and worries of your job filter down to your agents.

b. Retention Road Map- Create a tracking system/process so that it will be known which managers have the ability to make agents stay.

5. Incentivize
Create a bonus structure that will keep agents focused on reaching their goals. Continuously encourage and motivate your employees with small but meaningful gestures to let them know you care and appreciate their hard work.

6. Fix the Job
If you can't find the right person to fill a job and people consistently leave the job, the problem lies in the job, not the people. Consider re-organizing the job, break it down into smaller parts and reassign certain tasks so that more brains could be applied to the various challenges.
In the call center industry, we tend to do the opposite. We script the job, micro-manage it and apply a withering array of metrics to track.

Absenteeism

One of the trends that managers has to look out for, when it comes to Attrition, is unscheduled absenteeism.

In addition to ensuring that work is appropriately covered during the employee’s absence, there are a number of other critical actions that supervisors need to take to manage absenteeism.

They should:
a) ensure that all employees are fully aware of the organization’s policies and procedures for dealing with absence,

b) be the first point of contact when an employee phones in sick,

c) maintain appropriately detailed, accurate, and up-to-date absence records for their staff, (e.g., date, nature of illness/reason for absence, expected return to work date, doctor’s certification if necessary)

d) identify any patterns or trends of absence which cause concern,(if this is only for 1 team, investigate if issue is due to low morale)

e) conduct return-to-work interviews, and

e) implement disciplinary procedures where necessary.

f) Recognize agents with perfect attendance-Some examples could be: splitting health bonuses into two, so that the agents can immediately reap the rewards at an earlier time.