Abstract
I set out on the journey of creating a hiring, training, and retention
program for the NCAA Eligibility Center Call Center (hereafter known as EC
Call Center) because when I was hired as a Call Center Assistant in September
2007, I had no prior customer service background, especially as it is applicable
in a call center environment, and was hired based on my prior experience of
service; a year and a half later I joke, although there is truth to the joke, that if
the EC Call Center had proper hiring techniques in place, I would not have
been hired. Working in a call center requires certain predisposed attributes of
the potential employee that have been proven to make the prospective
candidate more apt to succeed in the unique call center environment, but these
skills alone will not guarantee the success of a person in a call center position:
through primary research, supported by secondary data, I have been able to
create best hiring practices based on pinpointing the needed characteristics of
applicants, a training program influenced by the findings of top call centers
and researchers, ideas for maximizing retention produced from surveys
administered to the EC Call Center employees and supported by secondary
research findings aimed at decreasing employee turnover and increasing
customer satisfaction, and recommendations to improve and sustain the EC
Call Center.
