How One of the Largest Answering Services in the U.S. Cut Its Turnover Rate in Half and Improved the Client Experience Through Employee Engagement
by Dan Kilday
The Covid-19 pandemic had an adverse effect on the call center industry. Businesses were forced to go remote, which created some good and bad results for everyone involved. TAS United operates under strict security guidelines to maintain HITRUST and PCI standards, so working remotely could only be a temporary option. Once employees returned to secure facilities, the company found it difficult to keep turnover numbers down to acceptable levels.
In late 2022, TAS United president, Kevin Ryan, decided to take drastic measures to improve employee morale and reduce the company’s turnover rate. A committee was formed by nominating department leaders to discuss ways to solve problems related to TAS United’s culture.
Step one was sending out a company-wide survey. It was important that this survey was kept completely anonymous to ensure the feedback was honest. The results were not often pretty, but it was necessary to hear this feedback to understand what the primary concerns were so solutions could be orchestrated.
Step two was creating a rewards and recognition program to highlight accomplishments and reward high achievers. This platform also acted as a social media network that employees could use to gather together virtually and recognize each other for achieving their goals and objectives.
Step three was improving training techniques and offering a better career path. It became clear that training was being conducted with new hires and low achievers to improve performance and get employees up to an acceptable level, as well as high achievers who were being upskilled for higher positions. But the employees who fell in the middle were being ignored when it came to training exercises. A system was created to give everyone an opportunity to fine-tune skills and stay sharp, regardless of talent level or objectives.
Step four was improving communication. For a communications company, TAS United was not doing a great job of communicating. Employees did not know what was happening with the company or where the organization was going. Core values and a concise mission statement were developed and shared with every employee. A monthly newsletter was created to highlight accomplishments and allow everyone to hear from executives about exciting new initiatives. This was quite possibly the most impactful element to the turnaround.
TAS United is still nowhere near where it wants to be as a company from a morale standpoint but has made great strides since the beginning of the pandemic. In less than a year, the company has cut its turnover rate in half and there are signs to indicate that the trend will continue. This success could not have been possible without the efforts of every single employee. It takes getting the entire company on board with the plan to make it a success.
Through these initiatives, TAS United now has more experience on the network which has improved the service levels across the board. The future is very bright at TAS United.
