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I've recently been consulting for a company that had a minor disaster. At least the disaster was minor in that the corporate building was rendered unusable by an Act of God, but the server room managed to survive without a single drive being lost to heat or uncontrolled shutdown.
I had read the company's disaster recovery plan, such as it was - a copy and paste off a well known Internet template - and I knew there'd be problems if anything ever happened. Then lightning struck, literally, late on a Friday night.
Essentially, the Help Desk is a central point through which problems/issues are reported and subsequently managed/co-ordinated.
SMA recommends six steps in selecting an IT help desk system.
Designed to ensure that each client gets the most from their Help Desk/Customer Service Centre, NetWorld UK's Training & Implementation services cover all aspects of the Help Desk project. These range from managing and carrying out the Help Desk/Customer Service Centre implementation, through a range of training courses to annual support and maintenance.
HEAT® Self ServiceTM is an easy, intuitive and convenient self-help tool. This powerful module allows your employees and customers access to the problem-solving capabilities of your HEAT® Service & Support system from any computer with a Web browser 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
Even if you're not given any real money to reward your employees and the company next door is paying $10,000 more, your can still retain your employees. There are a whole host of do's and don'ts when running a help desk or call center and we cover the top items. The help desk manager is the key to the whole operation, and any successful manager will not have trouble retaining help desk staff.
Why did the employee leave the help desk in the first place? You may not be aware of it, but money is usually the last reason someone leaves their job! Lack of self worth, participation in help desk events, and playing a part in the development of the help desk is the major reason an employee leaves!
For every employee that leaves the company, the manager will have to undergo an expensive and time consuming selection process, followed up by extensive training and understanding of the company rules and processes. Even if a new employee seems to know their help desk software, they still must understand the laws of the land and steep learning curves.
Good training is another element that keeps employees longer with the same company. Some companies will have help desk employees sign a contract before receiving training. The contract basically says that the company is investing $10,000 of training into the employee and that should the employee leave within two years of the help desk training, they have to pay back a portion of the training. This protects the company's investment in the employee and locks the employee into the position for a specific number of years. Good training not only tells the employee you're investing in their future, but helping them grow as well.
The single most important aspect to keeping help desk staff content is for the manager to set the long term goals and let the employees participate in the development. Managers are not buddies, but professional leaders that are flexible, understanding and down to earth. All of us need to feel that what we do is important, that it matters and micro managing help desk staff most certainly will not achieve that goal. Employee trust and finding the right place within the team is by far the best employee retention plan possible.
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