‘It’s the money that’s important’, say agents

MONEY takes top place in a survey of pay and benefits in Scottish call centres.  It scored 8.3 out of 10 - much higher than other factors - among 500 respondents to a survey by a recruitment agency, Rise Group.
This appears to destroy a common HR perception, says the company, that "total reward" is more important than hard cash. 
The figure was almost as high for career development, prompting Rise to suggest that employers consider the way they structure teams and design them to encourage career development opportunities."
Ease of access gained a high rating.  This did not necessarily "middle of town" – one of Scotland’s most successful call centres is out of town, but offers free bus transport from the city centre.
Dining facilities and (worryingly) pensions did not rate particularly highly.  And childcare, at 2.7 out of 10, was a very low priority. 
This, says the company, is simply because many workers are under 28, and less likely to have young families, whereas once it would have been a factor for employees in their early 20s.
Much more important was the working environment - factors including furniture, lighting, noise levels and space between desks.
"Making friends" scored 6.6 and the concept of a "fun atmosphere" (7.3) earned one of the highest scores

See also salary survey in this issue