Irontown Inc. formed a separate, centralized customer service department 10 years ago

Background
Irontown Inc. formed a separate, centralized customer service department 10 years ago. From a beginning with 40
employees, the customer service department has grown to over 80 employees currently. This expansion has roughly
paralleled the growth of the company, which has occurred organically and through acquisitions.

Historically, all customer service representatives (CSR) have been located in an office in a suburb of Pittsburgh, about
20 miles from the corporate headquarters. There is limited diversity representation in the CSR team, due to the limited
geographical range for recruiting. There has been ongoing tumover of CSRs due to high workloads and frustration
caused by perpetual short-staffing. The staff planning has been fairly accurate in terms of number of CSRs needed and
hired, but absenteeism and resignations have led to the short-staffing. Leaders are hesitant to staff additional full-time
positions due to costs,

CSR Job Overview
‘There are three levels of CSR:

Probationary trainee (trainees work under the direct supervision of CSR 2 for two weeks initial training). The company
has experienced turnover for employees who complete their probationary period in the range of 24% per year, which is
‘ot unusual in this type of work. Almost half of the trainees do not complete their probationary period

CSR 1 — can resolve any issue within the boundary of the CSR script. CSR 1s promote to fill CSR 2 vacancies after
completing a two-week training course.

CSR 2— can supervise trainees and resolve issues beyond the CSR script up to $100.00 cost.

‘The hours are split between two shifts, 7:00 AM ET to 3:30 PM ET (thirty-minute unpaid lunch break), and Noon ET to
8:30 PM ET, Monday through Friday. The staffing on the shifts is split about evenly. The pay and benefits package is
competitive for this type of work in this region.

‘The pandemic forced the customer service department into a distributed work arrangement, with CSRs being given
laptops and cell phones to continue to serve customers from their homes. Most CSRs expressed greater satisfaction
with their jobs as a result. However, a few resigned, as their home environments were not conducive to the high volume
of calls per shift. Irontown leaders are planning to call employees back to the office, but they have been told that doing
this may lead to many resignations