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So Do Remote Agent Programs Really Work? Three Testimonials… Bluegreen Corporation In 2005, Bluegreen Corporation, which provides vacation ownership plans and an exchange network along with planned residential and golf communities, launched its At-Home program for 25 of its 150 Indianapolis agents. Initially, this was done to increase seating capacity to accommodate the rapid growth of the service center without increasing facility costs. However, additional benefits were also realized. Agent productivity, morale, motivation, and retention soon increased since selection for the At-Home program was established as a non-monetary career path opportunity for tenured, high performing agents. In our experience, the most successful agents have established dependable attendance patterns and above average performance; many possessing traits of being self-motivated, highly productive, and self-directed, which has proved to be key in successfully maintaining a non-traditional work environment. At-Home agents are required to establish a dedicated workspace, free of noise and interruptions as set forth in our signed Telecommuting Agreement. Since only experienced agents are eligible for At-Home deployment, most on-going training, meetings, and counseling can be successfully conducted using webinar sessions. Work schedules for At-Home agents do not differ from those who work within the center, unless they are serving as part of our business continuity efforts in the event of weather or other disaster recovery efforts. The overall success of our At-Home program has not come without learning opportunities, but with the experience and knowledge gained, Bluegreen is now looking to deploy another 20 agents near its center in Florida by year end 2008. – Kimberly Newkirk Medco Health Solutions Medco Health Solutions, a leading pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), with the nation’s largest mail order pharmacy operations, has used work at home agents successfully for over 3 years. Currently, approximately 35% of Medco’s roughly 2500 call handling employees work from home. This program has been successful for Medco in many ways including:
The remote agents at Medco are handled the same as onsite agents from a scheduling and call routing approach, and the differences between the groups related to handle time, quality and productivity are minimal. – Sandra McFatridge KP OnCall At KP OnCall, a nurse triage service in San Diego, our remote agent program has been a huge success! Of our 224 registered nurses, 96% work from home. Satisfaction remains high without a single nurse requesting a return to the office. When we completed the pilot and made working from home available to all nurses, our turnover rate went from 20% in 2006 to 4% in 2007. By deploying the best technology and training, we are able to keep our remote program a success. – Corina Rust Copyright ©2008 Society of Workforce Planning Professionals. All rights reserved. |
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