A long time ago, in a faraway land, I started my working life as a French fry chef in a fast-food restaurant. Frying fries was the only job I was qualified to do at the time and, oddly enough, it was considered an easier task than mopping floors. Yet I proved that a person could screw it up, and did so quite handily my first day on the job.

In one short shift, I learned that customers do not wish to wait for their fries, nor do fellow employees appreciate the fry cook holding up the chain of service. One simple role in a restaurant, performed inadequately, held up an entire operation. As a result, people became hungry, unhappy, late getting back to work and noticeably stressed. My ineptitude caused everyone else in the restaurant to work harder.

I was reminded of this lesson after visiting an agency that had trouble keeping receptionists. Its front desk might as well have been a revolving door.

An agency's receptionist position often is considered one of the easiest to fill. However, a poor receptionist can wreak all kinds of havoc by upsetting clients, companies, producers and owners, creating E&O exposures, and increasing the workload for the rest of the staff. In most agencies, the receptionist position is fairly uncomplicated, at least relative to the other positions. But, much like my French fry position, “simple” jobs often have a significant impact.

Failure to understand this may cause agencies to underpay their receptionists, and perhaps other employees too. Underpaying people in a tight job market often leads to hiring unqualified people.

Poor hires cause problems while they work at an agency and also when they leave or are fired. Someone inevitably must undo the mistakes that person made, and everyone in the agency must shoulder more responsibilities until a replacement can be found. The extra work is especially burdensome to CSRs, who usually have to answer and route incoming calls until a new receptionist is hired. The last thing most CSRs need is additional interruptions. Also, unless your agency is large enough to have a human resources department, someone within the agency must take time out of selling and managing to interview applicants. Overall productivity is diminished when an agency fails to value the role of the “simple receptionist.”

So how does an agency hire an all-star receptionist and then retain him or her for the long term? Pay more. This is one position where the quality of the person hired depends heavily on the compensation paid. Interestingly, it does not cost much more to hire a high-quality person than to hire an underperformer. Is a good receptionist worth an extra $1,000, $2,000 or even $3,000 per year? My experience says yes. Some agency owners balk at paying more than what the market suggests for receptionists. But one could argue that having a competent person who stays for several years is well worth the extra dollars.

The receptionist position is a great example of a relatively simple position that nonetheless can become an agency's weakest link. And most agencies have other weak links that are not always related to low wages or relatively “simple” positions.

Training can help here. We know intuitively that education is important-it's why we encourage our kids to go to college. Many agencies, however, still offer limited-and sometimes no-training to CSRs, staff and even producers. Establishing a formal training process is a great way to improve an agency. Consider a newly hired CSR with prior agency experience. Even an experienced CSR requires some training because every agency does things differently. Few agencies have exactly the same automation system or the same procedures. Bringing in a CSR without properly training him or her will surely disrupt the effectiveness of the entire agency.

Consider again a fast-food restaurant. Its employees all perform fairly simple jobs, yet the fast-food chains offer significant training for each one. A commercial CSR's job is fairly complex, but many agencies offer CSRs no training. How does that affect an agency's strength?

Some agency owners do not even license their CSRs, thereby creating a weak link that can reduce productivity and increase E&O exposures. The good news is that agencies can easily eliminate it by making sure every employee is properly trained.

In an agency, all positions are linked, and the impact of the weakest link ripples throughout. It pays to hire, train and manage the best people available for each position in your agency-even if it costs a little more. Unless, of course, you like revolving doors.

Special Reports /

For The Manager: No position is so minor it can't become a major problem

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