How to Spot Call Center Absenteeism and Fix It

Call center absenteeism refers to agents who do not arrive at work and do not give prior notice of their whereabouts.

This phenomenon also extends to tardiness. When agents arrive at your contact center later than scheduled, all your planning quickly goes out the window.

Absenteeism doesn’t just have an impact on that agent’s earnings but also affects the rest of your business. Problems arising from call center absenteeism include:

• An insufficient number of agents to handle calls
• Extended customer wait times
• Agents handling questions beyond their scope
• Replanning of work schedules
• Arranging temporary cover at short notice
• Lower than usual customer satisfaction rates

All these issues have long-term implications. If a customer calls in on a day when your call center suffers multiple unplanned absences or they’re unfortunate enough to keep experiencing this problem, they’re likely going to find another provider.

So, let’s do something about it. First, we’re going to examine the reasons why agents take unplanned time off. Then, we will look at ways to resolve and manage the problem.

Note: Some problems are simply unavoidable and that’s okay. Factor in a tolerance for these during your workforce management planning.

Why Call Centers Experience Agent Absenteeism

It’s important to remember that agents are humans, too — they will get ill, and they will have things come up in their personal lives.

Common types of absences your call center agents will experience include:

• Illnesses (common cold, flu, etc.)
• Bereavement (parent, close friend, etc.)
• Injuries (broken leg, concussion, etc.)
• Household issues (leaks, break-ins, etc.)

Real people live real lives. Accidents happen. Children get sick. Traffic is sometimes unavoidable. Make sure you plan for sick leave when building your work schedules. This might mean keeping an on-call team, offering a day off in lieu for last-minute cover, and overstaffing ever so slightly.

Outside of these unavoidable employee absences, there may be other factors in play, for example:

• Lack of motivation
• Stress or burnout
• Incorrect staffing levels
• Bullying in the workplace
• Toxic or negative people in the office

Call center employees may use an unavoidable absence to cover up something like stress or bullying.

Note: Stress is one of the most common causes of unplanned absence, with 53% of call center agents reporting stress-related symptoms.

We must also point out that planned absences, like jury duty or vacation, shouldn’t be included in this area of planning. Your attendance policy will likely include X number of personal days any employee can take, assuming they give enough notice.

Deciphering between fact and fiction can be a challenging part of your role as a call center manager. All these unplanned absences will have a ripple effect not just on the rest of your department but on your entire business.

The Link Between Absent Agents and Poor Performance

When agents don’t turn up to work or arrive late, several problems arise.

As a supervisor, you start rearranging shifts as your call volumes spike. It can be unpleasant to hear phones ringing without anybody there to pick them up. Not only is it noisy and distracting, but you also need to understand the wider impact.

Increased workload

During periods of high call volumes, the colleagues of the team member who couldn’t make it in that day are under pressure.

You balanced that shift for a reason. If you assigned 10 agents to the support line, it was because that line needed 10 agents. Now that you are down to eight or nine, you’re exposing those agents to an onslaught of never-ending calls.

This is where mistakes happen and agents try to cut corners. But you can’t blame them. They’re under pressure to hit their targets. And with a wallboard for everyone to see, no agent wants to finish at the bottom of the table.

Poor performance is directly related to cutting corners and overworking agents. Customers will call back when they realize you only provided a temporary resolution. Your first-call resolution (FCR) rate will plummet, and customers will start to complain.

Low motivation

As a result of having to pick up their absent colleague’s work and being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of calls, it’s easy for call center agents to fall into a slump.

Low motivation can have an impact on mental health. One sick day may seem okay on paper, but when you’re continuously asking agents to cover for other team members, it’s a downward spiral. These agents will then start taking sick days due to stress and burnout.

Several factors contribute to employee morale and motivation, with teamwork — including simply showing up for work — being top of the list.

Poor customer experience

In extreme circumstances, businesses experience high customer attrition rates linked to employee absenteeism. When you can’t maintain the service level you’ve promised customers, they have no choice but to take action.

Customers leave businesses due to customer service–related issues 48% of the time. If you don’t have sufficiently staffed teams, your customers will find an alternative.

Temporary costs

The cost of unplanned sick leave eventually begins to add up, whether through loss of business as customers start to leave or through hiring temporary or replacement staff.

Temporary relief may come in the form of overtime or offering a day in lieu. Either way, this is a lossmaker for your business.

In extreme cases, where the unmotivated agent leaves your company in search of a more enjoyable job, you must also add on the cost of finding their replacement (around $2,500).

How to Calculate Call Center Absenteeism

Several call center metrics and KPIs can help you determine whether you’re suffering from a high absence rate.

Metrics like low FCR, high average handle time, and poor average time to answer could indicate that you’re understaffed despite your best intentions.

In this case, there is no better metric to track than the absence rate.

To calculate the absence rate in your call center, pick the time (week, month, or year), and then collect the following data:

• Scheduled work hours/days
• Number of hours/days absent

From here, you can calculate individual absence rates and your overall rate.

Use the following formula for the individual rate:

And use this formula to get the overall rate:

For example, if one agent is scheduled to work 160 hours per month but has two eight-hour days off, their absence rate is worked out as follows:

• 16/160 = 0.1
• 0.1*100 = 10

That agent’s absence rate is 10%.

If, however, you have a call center with 10 agents, and your nine other agents have four days worth of unplanned absences, your overall absence rate looks like this:

• 304/1600 = 0.19
• 0.19*100 = 19

When combining one agent who has two days off with nine who have four days off, your overall absence rate is 19%. This would indicate a problem when compared to industry benchmarks.

It is generally accepted that a call center agent has three unplanned absences per year. If your rate is above this, you need to start working on reducing your call center absenteeism.

How to Reduce Call Center Absenteeism

So, it’s time to nip this absenteeism problem in the bud. While every agent’s reason for absence will be different, there are a few things you can do to help motivate staff to come in every day.

1. Enable remote working

Many studies have proven that offering the option to work remotely improves work-life balance. In fact, 77% of employees suggest remote or hybrid work has improved their overall well-being.

When you remove the commute or allow an agent to work in an environment they feel more comfortable with, the chance of them not turning up will decrease. Sure, they can wake up a little later, and it’s still bright outside when they finish, but it’s also more manageable when it comes to things like making lunch, posting a parcel, or collecting the kids from school.

As long as agents are logged on at the correct times and can conduct their work to the same level (or better), enabling remote working can greatly reduce absenteeism.

If an agent is genuinely sick and doesn’t want to spread their germs around the office, having the option to work remotely — while being able to blow their nose in private — is an excellent way to ensure continuity.

2. Allow flexible scheduling

If you can offer flexibility around work schedules, call center employees will thank you by turning up for work more often.

It’s not uncommon for agents to be creative with their rationale for unplanned absences. It might just be that they need to get something done in their personal lives. But if management previously shot down the mere suggestion of flexibility, their only viable option is a sudden mystery virus that means they can’t come to work.

By offering flexible work patterns and allowing agents to swap shifts, you stand a chance of reducing unplanned absences. 

Note: While flexibility and swapping may sound like a lot of admin, the best workforce management tools will allow for self-service shift swaps and ensure you’re always covered.

3. Offer incentives and gamification

It’s important to set the tone for your employees. While rewarding strong attendance may sound overly simple, it could be a good way to go if you’re suffering from high absenteeism.

A reward for a 100% attendance rate at the end of the year could come in the following forms:

• Cash bonus
• Paid time off (days
• Gift vouchers to local attractions

By employing contact center gamification across your department, a few days off could be detrimental to staff going after a hefty prize. While not everyone will be super competitive for the top award, nobody wants to come last.

4. Take disciplinary action

For repeat offenders, you’re left with no choice but to take action. If agents have high absence rates, ask them why this is the case.

You might uncover a reason you can work on. For example, if they’re struggling with childcare, there are several options to explore.

However, if your agent can’t provide a valid reason, follow your formal warning procedure. If the absenteeism continues, explain that there may be severe consequences like unpaid leave, final warnings, and termination of employment.

5. Nurture a positive work environment

Call center operations extend beyond making sure everyone turns up. If agents aren’t coming into the office, it might be because of certain people or a lack of comfort in their workspace.

It’s your role as call center manager to ensure your work environment is safe and productive for everyone.

While it may not be evident if something or someone is causing staff to avoid the office, try gathering anonymous feedback to truly understand how your staff feel about their work.

When reviewing attendance records, look for patterns. One agent might regularly take Mondays off. Something going on during Sunday evening might be causing this, or it could be the dread of coming into a workplace they don’t enjoy.

6. Offer sufficient healthcare

Working in a call center isn’t easy. Agents are the sounding board for customer issues, and every time they get a good result, there’s potential for something else to go wrong.

This can hurt employees’ mental health. Stress and burnout are serious factors that impact call center agents more than most.

You can mitigate (or at least control) this by offering several things:

• Regular staff check-ins
• Discounts or free access to mental health apps
• Access to health services
• Regular training
• Flexible work schedules with personal lives in mind

7. Have the right call center software

Ultimately, if agents cannot use the tools they are provided with, they will not have a good experience.

If your call center software is slow or crashes, it will only add to agents’ stress. Likewise, if they often have to switch between apps, causing them to lose their flow, they may feel like slamming their laptop shut.

To help alleviate some of your agents’ pain, ensure that your software provides the following:

• An intuitive user interface
• Intelligent call routing
• Multichannel support (SMS, email, live chat, and social media)
• Screen pop
• CRM integration

These are the bare minimum features for the modern call center agent. Then throw in the features you need as a supervisor:

• Call recording
• Coaching tools like whisper and barge
• Quality monitoring
• Workforce management

Nextiva Is Your Call Center Solution

Nextiva provides all those features (and more) in a single app. Your agents get access to everything they need to handle any customer transaction. And you get everything you need to plan a productive call center, safe in the knowledge you’re doing all in your power to prevent absenteeism.