There is no stopping the constant barrage of customer contacts that flood into call centers on a daily basis, nor the ever-increasing demands and expectations of today’s savvy customers. However, there is much that call centers can do to stop (or at least reduce significantly) the strain, burnout,  injuries and illnesses experienced by agents—the folks who bear most of the brunt of the aforementioned barrages and demands.

Wellness initiatives—which go far beyond mere health insurance coverage and feature such things as fitness memberships (or facilities on site), flu shots, smoking-cessation classes and nutritional counseling—have helped many centers cut not only agent absenteeism and attrition, but also overall healthcare costs. And, of course, healthier agents are happier agents, and, importantly, happier agents mean happier, more loyal customers.

To help gauge what today’s call centers are doing with regard to agent wellness, ICMI conducted a survey on the topic in March 2007. In all, 325 call center professionals representing a diverse range of call center industries and sizes participated in the survey—collectively revealing several key practices as well as a few areas of concern.  (Respondents are primarily from North America, but also include Europe, Africa, India/Pakistan and other regions; they represent many vertical sectors.)

Some of the report's key findings include:

• Of the 325 call center professionals who participated in the survey, the vast majority (86.5%) work in organizations that have either a formal employee wellness initiative in place or that at least offer resources and programs that help promote wellness among staff.
• 47.4% reported that their organization provides discounted memberships to a local fitness center, and 38.7% said that they have their own fitness facility on the premises that all employees can use.
• More than half (54%) of centers surveyed feature agent “recovery” areas—special places on site where staff can go to relax and decompress before, during and after demanding shifts.
• Wellness courses, workshops and training comprise a substantial part of most respondents’ wellness initiatives, with 81.9% of centers reporting that they offer formal classes and counseling to help agents adopt a healthier lifestyle.
• 65.4% of centers make healthy food options available on site in vending machines and cafeterias.
• More than three in four centers surveyed (78.4%) stated that their organization offers free preventive health tests and services to employees as part of the company’s wellness efforts. Flu shots are by far the most common procedures provided at no charge—cited by 81.9% of respondents. Free blood pressure checks and cholesterol checks are also common.
• Only 60.8% of centers seek direct feedback and ideas from agents regarding the organization’s wellness efforts.
• 70% and 60% of respondents reported that their wellness efforts had either a very positive or positive impact on agent health/ well-being and job performance, respectively.
• Only 41.1% of centers promote their wellness initiatives during agent recruiting and hiring to help attract job candidates.
• According to respondents, the top three challenges to getting and keeping wellness initiatives going are:
  • Getting agents to take advantage of the resources and programs offered (67.8%)
  • Measuring the impact that the wellness initiative has on agent performance and retention (54.3%)
  • Making sure that agents are aware of the wellness resources and programs available to them (37.6%)

Click here to obtain the complete report.