10 Ways to Attract Fresh Talent Into Your Contact Centre

Is your recruitment strategy becoming stale, attracting the same type of not-quite-right applicants, or even failing to get people through the door? Then it’s time for a refresh!

To provide some much-needed inspiration, our Editor, Megan Jones, spoke to our Call Centre Helper readers to put the spotlight on some great real-life examples of contact centres getting it right – all to help you attract fresh talent into your contact centre.

1. Tailor Your Roles to Appeal to Different Groups of People

Tailor your roles, shift patterns, and job ads to think about what will best fit the different targets you’re trying to reach. For example, what will appeal to people over 50 vs. local students.

Sarah Hunt, Head Judge for the North East Contact Centre Awards — Sarah Hunt

“I remember a great organization that offered 25 different shifts named after people’s interests.

There was a “football shift” for those who wanted to watch a game, and another for working parents who wanted to finish by 3pm to pick up their kids. There were also shifts for people with regular activities, like a music or drama club.

This meant employees were guaranteed shifts that not only fit their lifestyle and helped with staff retention but could be promoted in job ads and on social media to help attract fresh talent too!” – Sarah Hunt, Head Judge for the North East Contact Centre Awards

Recruitment is tough and competitive right now, but there are changes you can make to your job adverts to help your roles stand out. For advice, read our article: Are Your Job Ads Holding Back Your Contact Centre Recruitment?

2. Get Creative on Social Media to Expand Your Reach and Authenticity

Investing time in your social media presence can really help with your recruitment efforts. For example, the team at Ocado manage their own TikTok channel called OcadoCustomerHub to open a virtual door to their culture and opportunities.

You could also try hosting LinkedIn live sessions, interviewing people across your contact centre about what it’s really like to work there.

Another approach is to lean into your employees’ networks on LinkedIn by asking them to share your job listings – as it can really help to strengthen your reach and authenticity when your own people are saying “come and join us”, as you can see in this example:

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, so have fun with it!

Dull and repetitive company posts quickly become stale, so be creative and challenge yourself to think outside the box and do things differently.

Here is a great example from ASOS:

3. Highlight How Easy It Will Be to Get to Work

If you can highlight just how easy it is to get to your contact centre, it could be the tipping point that sets you apart from your competition!

Whether you are near a reliable bus or tram stop (and display live timetables in your lobby) or have free car parking for all employees, make sure it gets a mention – as it could give a potential recruit the peace of mind that you’ll be a good lifestyle fit.

4. Connect With Schools and Colleges to Promote Contact Centre Careers

Have you thought about what you could do to engage with your local schools and colleges?

“We’re not talking enough about contact centre careers in schools! Recently, I was invited to a school in Rochdale, where I participated in a “speed dating” career event to talk about contact centres.

What we sometimes forget is that a contact centre career is not just about being on the phones and speaking to customers.

There are many roles, from planning to digital, complaints, claims, and more. It’s a diverse field, and I think we should start promoting it that way.” – Sarah Hunt

5. Shout About Your Wellbeing Initiatives

Wellbeing initiatives are fast becoming a staple of contact centre life and featuring on the list of company benefits for many roles.

For example, our Call Centre Helper research highlighted further investments in wellbeing in the past 12 months – including mental health first aiders (up from 44% to 48%), wellbeing rooms (up from 27% to 34%), and yoga classes in the working day (up from 18% to 19%).

It doesn’t stop there, as some contact centres are taking this a step further with free counselling services when required, inviting guest speakers in to host workshops, appointing wellbeing advocates, and more!

So… If wellbeing is part of your core employee benefits package, make sure you’re shouting about it in your job ads too!

2024 Survey Graph Mental Health and Wellbeing Support

6. Introduce Volunteer Days – A Win–Win for Attracting Talent AND Giving Back to Your Local Community

Some contact centres give their employees the opportunity to complete a handful of volunteering days per year, which can be fulfilled in a variety of ways – from local gardening or decorating projects to getting involved in charity walks and litter picking, or even organizing in-house fundraising activities such as bake sales.

This is a win–win! Not only does it genuinely help people in your local community and make your employees feel good, but it looks great on your job specs and social media feeds too! All helping to make your contact centre a more attractive place to work.

As Emma Wilson, Audiology Operations Manager at Specsavers, recently shared on LinkedIn, “It’s incredibly fulfilling to step away from the office and contribute positively to my local community.”

7. Be Clear About What Flexible Working Looks Like in Your Contact Centre

It’s no longer enough to just put ‘flexible working’ on your list of employee benefits, as this has a very different definition across every business.

To avoid potential candidates making assumptions (good or otherwise) make sure you explain what flexibility means in your organization – whether that’s remote working, hybrid working, flexible start and finish times, and even flexible breaks in the working day.

Julie Mordue, Head of Marketing & Partnerships at greenbean, Contact Centre Recruitment Specialists — Julie Mordue

As Julie Mordue, Associate Director of Marketing & Partnerships at Greenbean, comments, “A lot of employees are viewing a certain level of flexibility as non-negotiable, so companies wanting to attract the best talent should consider their flexible workforce policies.

Employees who feel trusted by their employer and empowered to create their schedule in a way that suits them and their life will more than likely produce the best results for the company and show up as the best version of themselves.”

8. Cast a Wider Net by Championing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Another way to attract fresh talent into the contact is to embrace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion! For example, adapt your processes to attract neurodiverse candidates, as seen in our Leeds Building Society site visit:

“Getting the recruitment and onboarding process wrong can have a detrimental impact on individuals who are neurodiverse.

Across a single week, unintentional mistakes and oversights can lead to a candidate becoming withdrawn, calling in sick, and even resigning. However, proactively making reasonable adjustments can make a world of difference.”

You could also think about how you adapt your roles to suit different generations of workers, as Sarah Hunt explains: “Many people nearing retirement don’t want full-time work any more; they want something different from what they did in the last 20–30 years.

They bring life experience that suits these roles, but you need to be flexible enough to attract this talent. When looking to widen your talent search, it can really help to stop and think ‘Are we offering flexible options and reduced hours to help cater to this group?’”

For advice on how to adapt to neurodivergent people and widen your talent pool, read our article: An Introduction to… Championing Neurodiversity in the Contact Centre

9. Showcase All of the Perks You Offer (And Add Even More!)

If you’re just listing a salary on your job spec – you’re falling short!

Lots of fun initiatives make appearances on job specs these days (take a quick snoop on a few job sites if you don’t believe us!) and your list can look very short and uninviting to candidates looking for their next role.

Here are just some of the add-ons we’ve seen out there:

Birthday off work
Social / charity fundraising events
Additional buy and sell holidays
Generous company pension scheme
Cycle to work scheme
Free eye test vouchers
Health cashback plan
Money-off scheme for retail outlets
2 free stays in company properties per year
Clearly defined progression paths with training and support

How does your list of perks compare?

10. Look Beyond Traditional Contact Centre Talent Pools to Travel, Leisure, and Retail

Another approach is to look outside of the traditional contact centre talent pools.

“Industries like travel, leisure, and retail have people who already talk to customers and may not realize their skills are highly transferable to a contact centre role. We should be onboarding these individuals and giving them a pathway to succeed in the contact centre.” – Sarah Hunt

★★★★★

Get Your Compensation Package Right

And last, but not least, get your compensation package right! As Julie Mordue says, “First impressions matter: communicate about salary ranges, bonus structures, and promotion criteria to create trust and loyalty.”

Remember No One Size Fits All

We hope you enjoy these great ideas from our readers and industry experts, but whatever you decide to try next in your contact centre, remember no one size fits all!

It’s important to adapt your recruitment processes as you go, learning from what works and what doesn’t for your unique contact centre and local talent pool.