Did you ever hear the story of the starfish? It is a parable about a person who finds thousands of starfish stranded on the beach. The person begins to throw starfish back into the ocean one by one, hoping it will make a difference. After a little while, another person comes along, observes the scene and voices dismissively that the effort provided won’t make a difference. Finally, after a moment of silence, the person throwing the starfish looks at him while throwing another starfish back into the sea and says: “It made a difference to that one”. We often forget that even the smallest actions can have a significant impact. This story is a powerful reminder of how important it is to create an environment where making a difference, even the smallest one, counts.
How does this translate to ‘leadership and high staff retention rates’?
Leadership, such as through team leaders or managers, can profoundly affect staff retention rates. Staff who feel appreciated, understood and empowered by their leaders are likelier to remain loyal to the organisation and contribute to its objective. To reach high staff retention rates, the leadership team can implement and apply a variety of strategies:
- Develop and share a clear & inspiring vision and set goals: The development and sharing allow every team member to understand what success looks like on a personal, department and organisational level.
- Create an open communication & collaborative culture: This strategy encourages two-way conversations and enables team members to take the initiative and share their ideas, thoughts and feedback.
- Create a transparent environment: Appropriate and correct information is shared with the relevant people at the right time.
- Establish a continuous learning & development culture: Providing team members with the opportunity and relevant resources to develop their skills and abilities.
- Recognise excellence: Recognising and rewarding the success of the individuals and the wider team allows employees to feel appreciated and motivated.
- Use organisational core values as a foundation: Organisational core values provide a framework for team members to work towards a shared vision and motivate them to strive for excellence. The values also create a sense of unity, helping to create a culture of mutual respect and collaboration. Our 24/7 Contact Solutions leadership team is committed to making a meaningful difference to our agents. We understand that every gesture, no matter how small, can contribute to creating a culture of support, appreciation, and motivation. Therefore, we regularly monitor feedback and analyse retention rate data to ensure our efforts remain effective.
Here are some insights:
- Our frontline staff understand that they can be leaders in their own right. When interacting with customers, they utilise the leadership skills they are honing or have gained by working with our team leaders and managers. As a result, their call control is high as their confidence in leading the call bolsters them. They empower customers, are considerate & hold the space, develop a strategy collaboratively, are transparent and provide constructive feedback. The ‘leaders in their own rights’ approach enabled agents to find handling calls, even challenging ones, rewarding. They also voiced that their confidence makes them less likely to feel stressed and, therefore, do not seek employment elsewhere.
- Through analysing staff feedback, the 24/7 Contact Solutions leadership team has gained valuable insights into how their leadership style is perceived by frontline staff. The insights include:
- “They encourage collaboration which I like.”
- “They have created a great work environment. Regularly checking in.”
- “They have provided excellent training and opportunities for career growth.”
- “I find the team leaders to be problem-focused and specific, which is great.”
- “They give praise where it’s due.”
- “They are sincere, and I feel heard.”
- Our frontline staff are passionate and dedicated to delivering exceptional service. Through 1-1 and team sessions, they have expressed appreciation for our transparent culture as we continuously provide them with the necessary information and training to succeed in their roles. Despite the rapidly changing contact centre work environment during the past two years, the 24/7 Contact Solutions frontline staff remained loyal. This loyalty has allowed 24/7 Contact Solutions to quickly adapt to the ever-changing contact centre landscape and scale up or down according to service level agreements (SLAs).
- In the year 2022, our retention rate was consistently high. For example, our retention rate over the six months between 01.01.2022 to 30.06.2022 was consistent at 92%.