How to Avoid Burning Out Your On-Call Help Desk Employees

Retain highly skilled employees and maintain your organization's excellent reputation when you partner with an outsourced IT help desk.

Articles published April 18, 2018

Kelly is a skilled IT professional who works at a help desk. Like most people, Kelly seeks a proper work/life balance, but because of the required weeklong on-call responsibilities she has every month, that balance gets thrown out of whack. Recently, she turned down a weekend camping trip with friends because the campsite was in a rural area that gets spotty cell reception, meaning if an emergency call were to come through, she might miss it.

While Kelly is simply a fictional example, the real-life on-call IT help desk professionals at your organization also experience the struggle of a proper work/life balance. When they’re on call they must take their work home, to the grocery store, to their child’s baseball game or school play, to the movies, and anywhere else life takes them when they’re “off the clock” yet still “working.”

Even your most dedicated IT help desk employees need a little R&R or they’ll burn out. In an age where businesses count on technology for day-to-day operations, a 24/7 help desk is critical to remain competitive. Without the proper help desk structure though, your on-call IT help desk employees face burnout. 

Employee Burnout Affects Your Brand

The Kellys of the IT help desk world are the customer-facing representatives of your brand, a position that carries a lot of responsibility. Warren Buffett famously said that it takes two decades to build a reputation and only five minutes to ruin it. When Kelly begins to suffer from burnout, she isn’t as focused on maintaining the good reputation that you’ve established with your brand, but rather, what she’s missing out on, how quickly she can resolve the issue, how tired she is, or any other number of preoccupations. When your employees are simply going through the motions, they might be jeopardizing your organization’s hard-earned good reputation.

If your help desk employees are experiencing burnout, they risk being part of the problem. One burned out employee can cause a snowball effect. A customer who had a bad help desk interaction could share their experience on social media channels where the message can reach a massive audience and do additional damage to your reputation. Burnout causes turnover and turnover can cost your business thousands of dollars because you lose a valuable asset – your highly skilled employee. But there’s one way to help your team and avoid burnout — by partnering with an outsourced IT help desk.

Make the Contact Center Your Help Desk Solution

Utilizing a third-party call center with 24/7 availability can help you avoid all the negatives associated with a burned out employee who has no motivation to provide quality customer service. With an outsourced IT help desk solution, you don’t have to put Kelly, or your other help desk professionals, through the brutal on-call cycle. Organizations that outsource to a call center will see a boost in their employee retention numbers.

Partnering with an outsourced solution, like Aureon’s Contact Center, will allow your customers to reach you when and where they want to connect. Whether an outsourced help desk works side-by-side with your own employees or simply fills in the off-hours gaps, a third-party solution helps your organization provide excellent customer service 24/7 and gives your IT help desk employees the work/life balance they need.

Dealing with IT issues is expensive, time-consuming, and frustrating, especially when on-call employees are tasked with taking calls on their days off. An outsourced solution with a comprehensive suite of IT help desk services will let your employees enjoy their days off while the contact center professionals deliver outstanding service. 

Utilizing an multi-channel customer experience approach, Aureon’s Contact Center includes phone, live chat, SMS, and web ticket services. We know the value of customer service, which is why we develop an in-depth understanding of our clients’ needs and customize our approach to every relationship. We’re committed to helping build your brand loyalty.

Could your organization benefit from an outsourced IT help desk solution?

Contact the Aureon Contact Center