Noble Systems’ Survey Reveals Importance of Agent Training

Employee training is the single greatest ongoing cost to contact centers, according to results of a new survey by Noble Systems.

Of the almost 700 independent contact centers throughout North America involved in the survey, more than 35 percent listed employee training as the single greatest ongoing cost, leading all other categories, including marketing, customer retention, and technology. In addition, 33 percent of all managers surveyed indicated that a lack of training was the most significant contributing factor to inefficient agent performance.

“Putting agent training under a microscope can often reveal hidden flaws in a contact center operation,” said James K. Noble, president and CEO of Noble Systems. “Technology and agent workflows that are outdated, inefficient, or both are difficult to explain and require extra time to master.”

Conducted in the fourth quarter of 2010, the survey sought input from contact center managers about their businesses and the state of the industry as a whole. The survey was aimed at 670 companies from locations across North America that service a variety of sectors, including collections, travel, healthcare and more.

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