5 Skills And Qualities Needed In A Successful Call Center Supervisor

A top-tier call center supervisor can be the most important part of delivering an exceptional customer service experience and promoting a culture of high employee retention.

A supervisor requires many skills to run a successful call center. But between managing company expectations, leading a team of contact center agents, generating results, and ensuring customer satisfaction, you have a lot to do.

In addition, call center supervisors are often challenged to motivate and promote a culture of agent retention. In fact, according to a Gallup study, at least 75% of voluntary turnover can be attributed to the influence of contact center management.

How To Identify The Qualities Of A Good Call Center Supervisor?

While there is no single set of criteria for all contact center leaders that ensures employee retention and quality of service, research by FurstPerson has shown that the longer a supervisor has, the lower the turnover rate of your team.

So how do you find a supervisor with the skills to perform your job optimally and handle the challenges of the call center culture over an extended period of time without burning out?

Ideally, start by identifying the qualities and characteristics necessary for success in a specific organization before placing a person on the job and ensuring that they have the required skills. FurstPerson has identified five essential competencies to consider when hiring supervisors for a call center.

5 Skills And Qualities Needed In A Successful Call Center Supervisor

1) Critical Thinking

When it comes to customer service management skills, critical thinking is essential, as it requires an objective approach to assessing situations and taking action. Critical thinkers are capable of making important decisions from an objective point of view and possess the emotional intelligence necessary to deal effectively with angry customers, leadership, and your team.

According to Brandon Hall Group, critical thinking is the most important skill for leaders and managers in all organizations, because the pace of change in today’s business climate is rapid and global expansion is on the rise. Therefore, the need for this skill, especially among supervisors working in difficult, stressful, and high-volume conditions, enables leaders to respond quickly and strategically to sudden changes and new challenges.

2) Decision-Making

Instead of wavering or delegating responsibility to others, good leaders act decisively, effectively communicating their goals to others. Also, good supervisors know when to act quickly and proceed with the information available, rather than when to take more time and gather additional information.

3) Problem Solving

In essence, great leaders are excellent problem solvers, taking steps to be proactive, reduce call spikes, and resolve conflicts before they arise.

Problem solving is a very important characteristic of a good leader. Skillful supervisors have the patience to step back and see the problem at hand from a broader perspective. They see way beyond the obvious. Therefore, the most effective leaders approach problems through the lens of opportunity.

In an environment dominated by customer, agent, and senior management problems, having the ability to assess and solve problems is a crucial characteristic.

4) Reasoning

Closely related to problem solving and decision-making, reasoning requires going beyond the information provided to draw conclusions. Call center work requires dealing with a wide variety of problems that require both verbal and numerical reasoning, that is, interpreting numerical and interpersonal data and information provided both by technology and by employees, customers, and leadership.

In fact, according to research published in Human Relations magazine, a leader’s level of reasoning is clearly linked to team performance.

5) Multitasking Ability

FurstPerson’s research has not only shown that multitasking is important, but it generates a variety of business results. Assessing the ability to multitask in both agents and supervisors can help increase early-stage retention and improve the overall job performance of new hires.

Since call center supervisors are responsible for dealing with customer call spikes, answering agent questions, using technology to monitor and track user interactions, and ensuring service standards are met with satisfactory customer resolutions, being able to accomplish all of this effectively requires a high level of multitasking aptitude.

The Solution: Finding Supervisors With The Right Mix Of Leadership And Contact Center Skills

Preparing call center agents for success depends, in large part, on supervisors. Talent assessments that identify the basic skills of a team leader make it easier for organizations to find people capable of handling the technical and interpersonal aspects of the position. Although every organization needs a solution that is tailored to its own culture and operational goals, these five characteristics form the foundation of any call center supervisor talent assessment solution.