A DEA approach for performance assessment of call centre agents

Mendelová, Viera, Roháčová, 1985-

A DEA approach for performance assessment of call centre agents / Viera Mendelová, Petra Strnádová. -- The paper focuses on a relatively new and prospective application of the data envelopment analysis (DEA) in the employee performance assessment. In the paper, a novel DEA approach is proposed for evaluating the performance of call centre agents, based on their relative efficiency. Since call centres handle a majority of customer-company interactions, performance of call centre agents largely influences the future success or failure of a company. To ensure the quality of customer service, permanent evaluation of call centre agents' performance is essential. The proposed DEA model consisting of two input variables (wage and working time) and five output variables (quick-answer calls proportion, customer satisfaction, net first contact resolution, call quality and inbound contact handle time) has been tested on 55 call centre agents working at the call centre of one of the largest telecommunications operators in the Slovak Republic. After measuring the performance of each agent, based on the DEA models, the call centre agents' performance was evaluated in the DEA matrix format. As a result, the call centre agents were divided into four groups: Stars, Cash Cows, Question Marks and Poor Dogs. Finally, based on the proposed approach, recommendations for call centre managers on how to improve or maintain the performance of each of these groups were drawn. The proposed approach provides a practical framework for call centre managers to assess the performance of the agents, and to plan and take steps to improve the quality of call centre services.

In E+M Ekonomie a Management. -- Liberec : Technická univerzita v Liberci, 2020. -- ISSN 1212-3609. -- ISSN 2336-5064. -- Roč. 23, č. 3 (2020), s. 173-190