Call Center Recruiting and New Hire Training

The highest hurdle that stands before most call center managers today is the shortage of qualified agents. To help you prepare for booming call center growth and the demands of the emerging multichannel environment, Call Center Recruiting and New Hire Training compiles the best articles, ideas and tools from the monthly newsletter Call Center Management Review to give you the foundation for a forward-thinking approach to agent recruitment and new-hire training.

The increase in call center openings, low employment and intense rivalry for multiskilled agents will add up (if it doesn't already) to a management nightmare unless you have an effective recruitment and new-hire training program in place. Selected for their educational value, practicality and timeless recruiting and new-hire principles, these articles provide innovative practices, programs and strategies to get the right people with the right aptitudes and abilities in place before training commences... and then cultivate those new hires into high-performance agents equipped and ready for the challenges ahead. Paperback, 160 pages, 23 articles

Mark Craig is senior executive placement consultant with TeleDevelopment Services (TDS) Inc., an international call center consulting and recruiting firm located in Richfield, Ohio.

Leslie Hansen Harps is a freelance business writer specializing in customer service and call centers. She is the former president of the Customer Service Institute and author of several books.

Greg Levin is the former editor of Call Center Management Review and author of the "In Your Ear" call center humor series. Greg is currently a freelance writer based in Spain.

Dan Lowe, president of Lowe Consulting Group, is a consultant and trainer specializing in call center development.

Julia Mayben is a freelance write based in Annapolis, Maryland. She is a regular contributor to Call Center Management Review, and is coauthor of Call Center Management on Fast Forward.

Bette Mock cofounded and for many years edited Service Level Newsletter (now Call Center Management Review). She has studied call center management since 1983.

Anita O'Hara is vice-president of Customer Service at Nextel. She has been in call center management for more than 16 years.

Wanda Sitzer is a co-founder and executive vice president of Initiatives Three Inc., a call center consulting company committed to elevating the practice and performance of call centers through branding.

Ann Smith is president of Dallas-based Smith Consulting and Training, an independent consulting firm specializing in call center management. She is a Certified Associate of Incoming Calls Management Institute (ICMI).

Laurie Solomon is president of LKS Training Services Inc., an independent call center training and consulting firm. She is a certified Associate of Incoming Calls Management Institute (ICMI).

Jennifer Wilber is vice president of training and quality assurance for National Service Direct Inc., a call center services provider in Atlanta. She also provides the customized training design and facilitation for the Call Center Management Institute based in Atlanta.