4 Ways to Create a Culture That Supports Call Center Agents’ Mental Health

Working as a call center agent tends to be stressful. Agents tend to deal with high call volumes, frustrated customers, and constant pressure to meet quotas. Mental health often can suffer in high-stress conditions.

 

Continuously working in a high-stress environment can adversely impact agents’ mental wellbeing. This is why call center managers and supervisors need to monitor agents’ work performance and look for signs of distress. If an indication of a problem becomes apparent, the manager or supervisor needs to take immediate action.

 

The following are four ways to provide support for call center agents’ mental health.

 

1.    Promote Open Communication About Mental Health

Encourage agents to regularly talk about mental health topics. Emphasize the importance of getting help when needed.

  • Ask supervisors if they want to be mental health champions that promote well-being among the agents.
  • Communicate the fact that anyone can experience anxiety, depression, or other mental well-being issues.
  • Talk about the impact of stress on mental well-being.
  • Create a safe space to discuss mental health issues, questions, and concerns.
  • Encourage the sharing of personal mental health challenges.
  • Remind agents that seeking help is a sign of strength.
  • Regularly email company newsletters with videos, personal stories, articles, and resources to support mental wellness.
  • Remind agents of any counseling services or other sources for mental wellness support covered by the company.
  • Display in the break room mental health information with helplines and healthcare resources.

 

2.    Encourage Self-Care

Point out specific actions that agents can take each day to promote mental wellness. This shows you care about their well-being.

  • Bring nutritious meals and snacks to eat during breaks.
  • Drink water throughout the day to stay energized.
  • Practice deep breathing to reduce stress.
  • Stretch and walk around during breaks.
  • Get at least 8 hours of sleep each night.

 

3.    Reduce Work-Related Sources of Stress

Cut down on the amount of stress that agents face while working. Do what is possible to alter the problem areas.

  • Keep physical spaces as open and well-lit as possible to promote feelings of safety and comfort.
  • Train managers and supervisors to look for signs of anxiety, depression, stress, and other mental wellness issues among agents.
  • Signs of mental health concerns include regularly coming in late or missing work, struggling with job demands, and withdrawing from coworkers.
  • Encourage discussions about agent well-being at the end of each one-to-one or team meeting.
  • Empower managers and supervisors to privately talk with an agent who appears to be dealing with a mental health concern.

 

4.    Monitor Workloads

Reduce agents’ workloads whenever possible. This can prevent agents from feeling overwhelmed by their already stressful jobs.

  • Encourage experienced agents to help out newer agents.
  • Remind managers to help agents who appear to be struggling.

 

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