High turnover is one of the biggest hurdles call centers face. Rising hiring costs can lead to wasted training investments, declining morale, and operational inefficiencies if left unchecked. Temp-to-perm placements reduce this risk by allowing call centers to assess skills, cultural fit, and performance before making permanent hiring decisions. By leveraging temp-to-perm solutions, call centers can seamlessly scale their workforce, evaluate candidates in real time, and ensure long-term stability. Learn how temp-to-perm staffing can help you build a more efficient call center.
Enhance Recruitment Flexibility
Recruiting for call centers is an ongoing process as employee turnover tends to be higher in call centers than in other industries. With this in mind, hiring temp-to-perm employees can increase hiring flexibility. Because hiring is constant, it can result in increased operating costs. Working with a recruiting agency that provides temp-to-perm staffing services reduces hiring costs. The call center can reduce the number of permanent job postings it uses, the number of interviews it conducts, and the number of training classes it holds. The overall cost of recruiting declines, helping the call center to have lower operating costs.
Having an ongoing relationship with a temp-to-perm staffing agency helps call centers plan workforce needs. The call center can test workforce volume at different levels to determine the best staffing levels for maximum productivity while also streamlining costs. If there is a sudden spike in demand, the call center can quickly respond by hiring more temp-to-perm employees without the risk of overstaffing when the demand declines.
Bridge the Gap Between Temporary and Permanent Staff
It’s important to foster an inclusive and supportive team environment. When hiring temporary staff, it is easy for call center employees to fall into a “use vs. them” mentality. The permanent employees may not make an effort to get to know the temp hires because of the temporary nature of their employment. It is important to foster a cohesive work environment between the two employee groups. That way, the permanent employees can provide effective support, helping the temp employees perform better. Provide equal training opportunities to all employees. Establish a mentoring program where permanent employees mentor temporary ones. Host events where all call center employees can mingle and engage with each other outside of the call center environment.
Align Staffing With Business Cycles
When a call center has busy seasons, it needs to increase its workforce during peak season to handle the increased demand. However, during the off-peak seasons, the call should reduce its workforce to reduce employment costs. Temp-to-perm staffing is a perfect solution for this. The call center can begin building its workforce leading up to the peak season. The temp employees can train when demand is not at its peak. By the time peak season arrives, the call center has a strong workforce ready. Then, when peak season begins to decline, the call center can reduce its workforce. If there is a temp employee who impressed, the call center could make an offer for permanent employment.
Streamline Onboarding Processes
The benefit of hiring temp-to-perm employees is the ability to quickly grow call center teams. To further this benefit, streamline the onboarding process. Many of the training modules that permanent employees go through are not necessary for temporary employees. By sticking to the core job functions and responsibilities, you can quickly onboard temp employees and improve productivity. To streamline the process more, consider training temporary employees on the essential tasks first. Then, filter additional training in the following days, after the employee has already started working.
Optimize Training Investments
Training can be a significant operating cost for call centers as they focus on delivering the best possible experience for the customer calling. Hiring permanent employees and putting them through extensive training can become a sunk cost if turnover is high. To address this, temp-to-perm hiring can be the solution. The call center can provide a streamlined training process to ensure the temp-to-perm employee can perform in the role. The call center can provide additional training once the employee is offered a permanent role. That way, the call center can invest in employees with the highest likelihood of staying long-term. This additional investment shows the temp-to-perm employee that the call center is dedicated to their success. This support is motivating, encouraging the employee to perform better and stay longer. With a training program in place, the call center can ensure all employees, temporary or permanent, receive the same amount and quality of training. This ensures a consistent customer service experience across the call center.
There is also the possibility of cross-training employees. When a current employee leaves, there are employees ready to take over tasks and responsibilities. Having multiple people trained and skilled in each role minimizes the impact of turnover.
Evaluate Candidate Fit During Temporary Assignments
Hiring temp-to-perm employees allows call centers to evaluate new hire skills in a real-world environment. The temporary contract can be treated like a trial period where the employee can demonstrate their skills and knowledge. They can be placed on a team where a skill gap may exist to determine if their integration addresses the need. Managers can observe their work ethic and reliability. That way, temporary employees who demonstrate desirable traits can be given the opportunity to stay. The call center and professional can amicably part ways with temporary employees who demonstrate undesirable traits. This reduces permanent hiring mistakes by knowing who is being hired before the permanent offer is extended.
Call centers can use the managerial staff to gather feedback about the temporary employee’s work performance and cultural fit. Those that seamlessly integrate into the permanent team are more likely to succeed long-term. Their cultural fit with the current company culture protects the working atmosphere. This is important, as a call center needs to foster a working environment where its best employees will want to stay.
Leverage Diverse Skill Sets
A call center may find that it has skills gaps with its permanent staff. To become its most productive, it needs to hire additional employees who have these missing skills. However, hiring permanent employees right away can be a risk. The call center would have to trust that the newly hired worker has the skills needed. A temp-to-perm hiring solution is a smarter solution because it lets the call center confirm that the new hire has the skills the call center needs. These added skills can make the call center teams stronger.
Enhance Workforce Adaptability
As changing needs bring new challenges to the call center, temp-to-perm employees can bring increased adaptability. A call center can quickly adapt to increased demand by expanding its teams with temp-to-perm employees. The faster hiring and training process means the call center can be more agile with changing call demands without sacrificing service quality.
Temp-to-perm employees are also a smart solution for expanding the call center’s services into niche areas. Developing a new sector for a business is risky as it involves additional investment without immediate return. Temp-to-perm employees are a smart staffing solution because they allow the call center to get new departments up and running without long-term commitment. A staffing agency can provide temp-to-perm employees with specialized skills, such as experience with specific software platforms or multilingual support.
Reduce Hiring Risks
Hiring a new permanent employee comes with risks. The call center must trust that the employee has the experience, knowledge, and skills that they claim to have. It is not until the employee starts working that the call center discovers how the new hire truly is as an employee. If that employee is not a good fit, the call center must spend more resources to recruit, hire, and train a new employee. Hiring temp-to-perm employees reduces the number of bad hires the call center makes by having the temporary period to vet them.
There are associated unemployment costs when the call center fires a permanent employee. The more permanent employees the call center lets go, the higher the unemployment costs. Hiring temp-to-perm employees addresses this, as there are no unemployment costs associated with the end of a temporary contract.
Improve Employee Retention
High employee turnover rates have broad-reaching negative impacts on a call center. Hiring and training costs exponentially increase, as there is a constant need to fill open positions when current employees leave. These operational costs could be significantly reduced if turnover is reduced. High turnover also leads to reduced productivity. As employees leave, the amount of work that can get done also reduces. While the remaining employees can pick up some of the slack, call centers cannot depend on them to maintain the same level of productivity. Even if the remaining employees can maintain the same level, they cannot do so in the long term. Requiring employees to be overworked leads to burnout, which significantly reduces productivity. In addition, working in a call center with contact turnover has a negative impact on the employees who stay. Feeling secure and positive about your working situation is difficult when there is constant change around you. When employees do not feel positive about their work situation, there is a decline in their productivity.
Hiring temporary to permanent employees can improve employee retention and address the issues that come with it. Current employees can feel more secure and confident in their positions and the call center’s stability because they know from the start that temp employees are intended to be temporary. There is an expectation that their employment will have an end date. The temp employee has a chance to see how the call center works before committing to permanent employment. When they decide to stay, they know what they are getting into and are less likely to leave.
As the call center builds out its workforce, it can begin to develop long-term employment pipelines. Employees who begin as temporary and then transition to permanent can then enter a long-term growth plan. The call center can use this program to develop employees with high potential. These employees will go through a more intensive training program designed for growth. As the call center grows, these employees can be promoted into managerial and supervisory roles. The call center then has a more effective managerial team that can better support the newly hired temp-to-perm employees.
Develop Staffing Service Connects
Call centers depend on consistent staffing to ensure their workforce can handle the volume of calls. Working with a temp-to-perm staffing agency allows the call center to establish a strong recruitment network. When a call center works with a single staffing agency, that agency can learn how to best support the call center. Quality temp-to-perm staffing agencies take the time to learn about the call center and its unique needs. They identify skill gaps and call demand fluctuations. That way, the staffing agency can provide higher quality employees with the skills and knowledge the call center needs the most. The long-term relationship between the call center and staffing agency results in better quality temp-to-perm hires and a more consistent workforce volume.
A staffing agency also makes it a priority to comply with state and federal staffing laws. That way, the call center can ensure they do not incur additional costs because of lawsuits or fines for violating employment laws.
Boost Your Call Center’s Efficiency
A strong, efficient workforce is the key to call center success. Temp-to-perm staffing is an essential strategy for call centers looking to enhance efficiency. This hiring strategy reduces costs associated with turnover, ensures employees are the right fit before making long-term commitments, and helps call centers stay agile during busy seasons. By leveraging this staffing strategy, call centers can scale their workforce to meet demand, evaluate candidates before committing to permanent roles, and improve employee retention. The result is a well-trained, adaptable team that delivers excellent customer service. BOS Staffing specializes in providing temp-to-perm solutions tailored to your call center’s unique needs. With our expertise in call center staffing, we help you build a reliable workforce that supports long-term success.
Contact BOS Staffing today to find the right talent for your team!
