For some call center agents, call center hopping has become a way of life. I’ve been to four centers, my poor neighbor have no where to go already since she’s been to each one. How sad. (May ilan na talagang kinakarir ang pagiging call center hopper) but don’t take it the wrong way. Agents do not hop from one center to another just for the fun of it. Some actually do the leap for a better paying center, some actually hop around to look for a place where they feel safe and where they feel they belong.

No two call centers are alike. Some center pays really well, and some just hang you dry. Some centers are really modern and some are… well, forget about it. Some call center feels really friendly and  others are  very professional.  If you’ve been to several call centers then you know what I’m talking about.  If you still can’t dig what I am saying, bahala ka na! Joke, eto na lang, close your eyes and think about the time when you are still working on another call center, every time you walk through its doors every start of a shift, how do you feel? Now think about the center you’re working for right now, do they feel the same? Nope, of course not. Each center has a different vibe, a different personality. Sometimes, even at the very start you’ll know if you belong, you feel it in the air if you are home.

Honestly, high agent retention rate is not solely because of the pay (well at least for some). Yes people on the operation floors always whisper about centers that offer awesome packages offered by other companies. They whisper about allowances, de minimis , HMOs, commissions, bonuses, basic pay, hazard pay and all kinds of pay that you can think of.  Those whispers often stay with you to think about even up to the time when you have to go to bed in the middle of the day. The rumors about this unimaginable wealth ( I exaggerate sometimes) just waiting on the shores of another contact center will be enough to keep you awake for the rest on the day (if you are that unfortunate, you’ll be awake till dusk).  Any agent in their right mind will think about better pay days, it is not taboo to flirt with the idea of applying to another center. You could entertain ideas of other call centers offering better opportunities and wages but still stay with your current company.

Here’s my own short list of why we do the hop:

• BETTER COMPENSATION PACKAGE. Yep, I have said that this is not the sole consideration for a higher retention rate, but compensation packages ranks very high on the totem pole of the-things-to-consider-before-doing-the-hop.  Some centers give a lower basic salary but offers a very generous add on (allowances and other perks).  For example; I’ve heard of rumors that a center that operates along Shaw Boulevard offers a not so high basic salary (around 13 – 14 thousand pesos give or take) but gives up to seven thousand pesos in non taxable allowance, 20 percent night differential.  Now there is this one center in Ortigas that advertises on papers a guaranteed 20 thousand basic salary but what was not mentioned is that the Php 20,000 is all of it.  No allowance and a 10 percent night differential. Are you getting my point? It’s not the basic pay that counts; it’s the amount you take home at the end of the day that matters. HMO coverage is also taken into consideration sometimes especially for agents with children.
• PROXIMITY  A call center job is a stressful job taking in to consideration different factors such as the graveyard shift, call queue, the irate calls, metrics, quota (for most sales accounts) etc. then add the travel time and the mode of transportation- do you need to ride a cab every time you go to work? The travel could take its toll on you. So when a center opens near the place where you live, you leave.
• FRIENDS now this factor is not really considered a big factor by other centers but it is a factor nonetheless. When one leaves the company, he/she usually ask his/her friends to join the new company as well. This is a fact. I have friends like those. And there are some who actually comes to apply in groups.  Sometimes we apply for a job but we stay for our friends.
• FACILITIES a friend once told me, he won’t apply in a company who has crappy facilities. I guess he won’t stay for one neither. With the stress that comes with the job, agents are actually looking for workplaces that are comfy with facilities such a break rooms and sleeping quarters, facilities that could help them relax; a place of repose in the middle of the storm so to speak. They would want better equipments to help them do their task a little easier.
• MONOTONY for some, the longer they stay on the job the more it gets easier. For some the longer they stay, it gets boring. Enough said.
• WORK LOAD  Agents tend to leave accounts with phones that doesn’t stop ringing. Yes, we apply for a job and we got it. We know that we will be taking calls, but no one told us that the queue is this crazy. A thirty second rest after one phone call is good enough. Queuing calls during peak hours is understandable, but queuing calls from log in to log out is a different story, especially if the management is not considering hiring agents anytime soon.

Well, that’s my list. What’s included on yours?