Contact Center Absenteeism Rates
Hello,
I've been searching high and low for inbound call center absenteeism averages. I found several articles that cite an average of 5% to 10%. Is this what one would expect for an inbound call center? Do these numbers take into consideration excused and unexcused absences, or just the latter?
I would really appreciate some insight into this matter.
Thank you for your time,
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Bill Price
Rates differ
Absenteeism rates vary by country/culture, “maturity” of the operations, whether captive or outsourced, and “pressure” being applied by the management team; the standard definition that we use includes excused and unexcused absences. We like to see absenteeism under 7% but in the US we're seeing over 10% as the norm, unfortunately, close to 12%.
Bill Price
President, Driva Solutions
Creating and sustaining highly effective contact center strategies, locally and globally
A LimeBridge Global Alliance founding partner
http://www.drivasolutions.com http://www.limebridge.com
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Simon Kriss
Varies by country
I agree with Bill that this does indeed vary by country, culture and even the season (high absentee in Winter due to flu/sniffles – high absentee in Summer because the beach is SO nice). However, I have found that absenteeism is normally a symptom rather than a stand-alone problem. There is ALWAYS a reason for absenteeism. These reasons vary from bad air-conditioning filters causing actual illness through to unworkable KPIs causing stress or fatigue.
When we work with clients, we split “planned shrinkage” from “unplanned shrinkage”. We do this because, if Service Level is not met then we first look to ‘unplanned’ and if this number is OK, then we look to ‘planned’. One is a measure of who did not want to come to work, while the other is a measure of how well the WFM Manager is doing his/her job!
In Asia, absenteeism rates are all over the place. There seems to be no consistency between countries or between industries. We would like to see centres with an “unplanned shrinkage” of less than 5% but it does not always happen (particularly on Mondays). We don’t put an expectancy around “planned shrinkage” as this will vary based on projected workloads, business requirements, etc etc.
Simon Kriss
Jodie Monger
7-8% absenteeism is common
I generally see confirmation of the 5-10% absenteeism average for inbound contact centers for unexcused absences, such as illness or family emergencies. 7-8% is fairly common which is within the range cited in the articles referenced in the question. If the member has a number that is signifantly higher, he or she should seek some assistance to reduce that percentage.
Jodie Monger, Ph.D.
Mauricio del Rio
Excused absences
I would like to thank everyone for their insightful comments. What would everyone agree is the average percentage of unexcused (call-off) absences in the United States?
Thank you.
Vignesh
Absenteeism
According to me, Unplanned leaves can be curbed by amending the absenteeism policy in which the wmployee would be penalised for atleast one quarter for single unplanned leave. Unplanned whould be treated as sin. Although we have to give sick leave a chance.
Vignesh
Absenteeism
Tolerance level shd be 10%
Cy Edmondson
absenteeism
conventionaly the rate is 7 - 10 % . I understand that this is the "norm" , however dont accept it . The bottom line is that we need to get back to basics with our staff and start working with them. I know alot of this has been done , however it hasnt been done with genuine feeling. Change the perception of have to come to work , to want to come to work....Driving results through people is the answer!
( historicaly i manged to have a shrinkage of 2.3 percent for the year)
www.anotherpointofview.co.za
stavros bozikas
U.S. and EU Industry Absenteeism Rates
Can you please give me the US and EU Industry absenteeism rate?
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