Projections for job growth may look gloomy overall, but companies that have sizable call center operations may be able to expand them without incurring large capital expenditures — and they might be able to hire better-qualified people.
The business model for accomplishing this is called a home agent program, and it’s growing in popularity, according to a study just released by CB Richard Ellis’ Phoenix-based Labor Analytics Group.
Home agent programs are expected to grow during the next several years, for a number of reasons: They allow a company to hire better workers from a larger geographic pool; they help employees manage commuting costs and other work-related expenses; and they allow a company to build its work force without having to invest in additional office or warehouse space.
“We deal with a lot of clients where labor is really driving their operation,” said Kara Burns, LAG’s associate director of consulting. “One of our clients asked us, ‘Who is using home agents, and should we be using home agents?’”
Thus, the study was born. Surveys were sent across the country to hundreds of CB Richard Ellis clients. Fifty-eight responses were received.
Although the company is predominantly associated with its real estate brokerage division, it has invested in various lines of research to help clients make better real estate-related decisions. Labor issues are an intrinsic factor in deciding whether to lease, purchase or sell land.
When the information was collected late last year and synthesized during the first quarter of 2009, it became clear to Burns and her team that home agent programs are growing and are likely to continue.
That might sound like bad news for CBRE, which makes the lion’s share of its money transacting real estate. But Craig Henig, the firm’s senior managing director in < ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />
“With more companies considering virtual operations and looking for implementation strategies, CBRE’s knowledge of this growing trend will help our firm become the leading adviser on labor and real estate strategies,” Henig said.
In fact, the recent Home Agent Survey indicates that allowing call center personnel to work from home is more of a human resource issue than a real estate expense.
Nearly 66 percent of the respondents said they are using home agent programs. Of those with active programs, nearly all plan to grow them by 10 percent to 25 percent during the next three years.
Of those companies not using home agents, about 42 percent said they might do so within the next two years.
According to the survey, nearly 60 percent of home agent programs are implemented to increase employee satisfaction. That’s followed by improving employee retention and increasing the labor pool. Real estate savings was a factor only 50 percent of the time.
“We just started last year, and we’ve created a hybrid model,” said Mark Skoog, director of global marketing for eTelecare. “We have people who work primarily from home, but not exclusively from home.”
It’s a small segment of the work force, though, and much of the impetus came from gas prices topping off at more than $4 a gallon last summer.
“We’ve got 1,500 employees in the metro area, and most of them are call center agents, but not even 100 work from home,” Skoog said.
Nevertheless, the company probably will increase the number of home agents here and throughout the
“The home agent business model is something we could roll out in other locations if we need to,” Skoog said.
Another company with a large component of call center agents is
Companywide, fewer than 10 percent of call center agents are allowed to work from home, but spokeswoman Erin Mohan expects that number to jump dramatically during the next three years.
“We’re very consumer-driven, and we believe we could achieve more cost savings,” Mohan said. “We also believe the home agent program will help us attract and retain high performers.”
Researcher Burns is hoping the home agent model brings additional benefits to the nation’s work force.
