Your Customer Service Representatives are not only the face of your company to your customers. It’s important to keep in mind that they control the beginning of your service delivery process. Thus, they are instrumental in determining the ultimate success of each transaction, relationship, and ultimately, your company reputation. We are seeing high demand for Customer Service Representatives throughout the North East region and the competition for the best remains tight. It’s essential for you as a hiring manager to understand how to find, screen and attract the best Customer Service Representatives for your team and your unique requirements.
Finding your best hires
Because of the competition for top Customer Service Representatives, it’simportant to follow these guidelines to tip the balance for successful hires in your favor.
1. Invest time into your Job Description—Your job description is not just a formality. It should serve to define the purpose for the Customer Service position, the essential functions, necessary abilities, and the attributes needed in a candidate. Consider your requirements carefully. We recommend starting with a broad list. Then, narrow down the list multiple times, each time, focusing on what is truly essential. Over-screening can be as detrimental as under-screening, particularly in a pool of candidates that is in high demand. While a narrow list of requirements will serve best, the scope of the job should be defined as broadly as possible. In this way, candidates can clearly see the big picture and their contribution to the overall company. This sets the stage for them to understand the all important “why” behind the work they do and the they way they do it. Lastly, be as clear as possible about how success is measured and what performance standards look like.
Here’s how to attract more job candidates (and faster)
2. Tap your network—Your current team is usually the best place to start when looking for new hires. Hiring employee referrals also encourages engagement among your team which helps your retention. The only exception to the rule to seeking referrals from your current team is in the event that you have a team that needs overhaul. In this case, we recommend searching outside of the company as a first resort.
3. Assess thoroughly and uniformly—Many managers make hiring decisions based on their impression of the candidate in an interview. In order to get a thorough assessment that is unbiased both positively and negatively, we recommend establishing a process where candidates are interviewed by multiple parties who are each evaluating the candidates on the pre-established requirements. Additionally, using technological assessments such as the DISC can help provide a more well-rounded picture of the candidate. One word of caution; do not rely solely or too heavily on the technical assessment tools. It’s best to think of them as a supplement to the assessment process. They should not stand alone.
4. Don’t waste time—Don’t allow your hiring process to drag out. You will lose the best candidates if the process takes toolong. This will cause waste of time and energy for your team and it generally leads to frustration for the candidates which can hurt your employer brand. Once you have identified the candidate you want to hire, make the offer swiftly and keep in close contact with them until they are on-boarded to your team.
One of the easiest and most effective ways to find Customer Service Representatives is to work with a staffing agency. A staffing agency who specializes in placing Customer Service Representatives in your area will have candidates already known to them and ready to get to work.
