Qualities to Look For in Hiring Supervisors to Lead Your Customer Service Representatives

Agents deserve all the kudos for being on the frontline of call center operations. Without them, businesses won’t be able to maintain a good relationship with their clients.

That said, supervisors deserve equal merit for their significant contributions as well. They are, after all, the ones responsible for motivating and inspiring call center agents.

Being a call center supervisor is a difficult job. For one, the job title comes with many responsibilities.

Hire a supervisor that isn’t equal to the job and chances are your agents will feel unmotivated, directionless, and generally disillusioned about their work.

To bring home the point, a Gallup study shows that at least 75-percent of employee turnover can be traced to managerial influence.

If you want your business to thrive, you have to ensure that the supervisors you hire have the following key characteristics:

1. Has a strategic mindset

The call center industry’s business climate is dynamic, fast-paced, and at times unpredictable, and for operations to run smoothly, you will need supervisors who can think objectively amidst all the chaos.

As such, you need supervisors who have the emotional intelligence, the mental clarity, and the derring-do to make the right decisions for every business challenge.

To manage employees in a way that drives competitive advantage, supervisors have to take into account each agent’s unique personality and be able to bring out the best in them.

2. Personable

For a leader to be effective, he or she has to be personable and approachable. After all, the responsibility of motivating and inspiring agent falls on him or her.

This is why you need supervisors who can foster an environment where employees are encouraged to ask questions and voice out their opinions without fear of ridicule and judgment.

If you hire leaders who tend to intimidate others, your business will lose out on opportunities for coaching, mentoring, and positive reinforcement.

3. Ability to think outside the box

As mentioned earlier, the call center industry is unpredictable. Things may be running smoothly, but there will come a time when you have to prepare for the proverbial curveball.

A supervisor not only has to deal with the daily tasks of managing call center agents, but he also needs to solve problems when new or unlooked-for challenges arise.

The manager has the resources to act on unique challenges and opportunities that contact centers regularly face.

When you have supervisors who can think of creative solutions when the situation calls for it, employees are always put in the best position to make a difference themselves.

4. Good multi-tasker

Supervisors have a lot on their plate, and if you want your call center operations to run smoothly, you need to hire managers who can juggle many balls all at once.

A call center supervisor’s typical workday involves coaching agents, tracking performance metrics, answering escalated calls, reporting to account managers, and more.

If you hire supervisors who can handle all these tasks but are still able to keep things in proper order, the more likely you’ll be able to accomplish your company’s business goals come hell or high water.

What’s Next?

Every organization has to face its own unique set of challenges and therefore has to do business in ways that can deliver positive outcomes.

To accomplish this, you need people who can lead and bail your business out of tough situations. Better yet, you need people who can motivate and inspire.