Help your service desk employees find new challenges

Have your service desk employees hit the top of their learning curve? And don’t you want all these talented service desk employees to leave for another employer? Then help them find a new challenge within your company.

It’s an everyday problem. One of your employees is no longer satisfied with his job. After years of doing the same job, there’s nothing left to learn. He’s bored and looking for a new challenge. A bore-out is lurking. It’s easy to browse the job market nowadays. And before you know it, he’s applied for a job somewhere else.

Is this a problem? If you’re satisfied with that employee, it is. In his current position he might be all learned out, but probably not within your department or company. Another position could offer him a lot of learning possibilities, and he can be of great value to the company. So don’t just stand there looking helpless when an employee leaves. Stay one step ahead: help him find a new position within the company.

In some cases you can’t find a suitable new position for an employee. They leave. And this is fine. Just make sure you say goodbye to them in the right way. You can read how in this blog.

Why should you help your employee find a new challenge?

At TOPdesk we’re open to applications for other positions within the organization. There are four reasons for this.

1. It saves time and money

It saves a lot of time and money if an employee stays. Does an employee leave for a new employer? Then you have to invest time and money in a recruitment process and in training the new colleague. Does a colleague transfer to another department? Then he already knows the organization and it takes much less time to show him the ropes in his new position.

2. It promotes cooperation

When a colleague switches from one department to another, this strengthens the cooperation between these departments. Think of a colleague from FM who goes to IT, or vice versa. Suddenly, the employee knows colleagues from two departments, which means that he can contact different people more quickly.

3. You learn from each other

Colleagues who go from Sales to IT know exactly what frustrations customers have. They also have experience with customer experience: they’ll talk to a colleague who drops by with a question more quickly and ask whether they can help.

4. Employee doesn’t reach their full potential

Sometimes you have to stimulate a job change for another reason: an employee isn’t functioning well. You recognize the employee’s potential, but this potential isn’t reflected in their current role. Even then, it’s good to look for a new role within the organization together with the employee. This also happens in football teams. What if the striker doesn’t get a chance to score? But he does make a perfect pass? Chances are he’ll be playing as a winger next match.

A good example of a job change within TOPdesk is a colleague who started at Consultancy and noticed his interest in the technical and IT side of things. He applied for the role of IT coordinator, and liked this so much that he moved on to team leader and eventually to IT manager. This way, the demand for more challenge was met more naturally.

These are the secret ingredients of a successful organizational culture

A job change does not always have to be a promotion

When changing jobs within the same company, many people automatically think of a promotion. A service desk employee, for example, might expect that the only other position for them is the role of service desk manager. And if you can’t go any higher, then at least a similar position in another department. A step down, from manager to employee, is often seen as a demotion. Too bad, because it’s a very healthy move!

At TOPdesk, it’s often the case that colleagues leave their job as a manager and go back to their old job. The reason? They miss their old job, or miss contact with customers. Or both. Almost all of our colleagues who took such a step were visibly happier when they were back in their old roles. Even if it was ‘a step back’.

Make it clear to your employees that it’s okay to step down. Is a team leader considering going back to his old position? Compliment him that he’s considering this step and help him. Discuss this at his desk, for instance, and not in a separate room. The more often colleagues see you complimenting and helping someone when they’re considering another job, the more likely it is that other colleagues will follow suit.

Let employees do an internship

Is an employee considering a new job? Ask him what he expects from the new position and then let him discover what the job really entails. How? Let him do an internship.

And if the internship takes place in a different department? Discuss with the team leader of the other department which tasks the trainee has to perform. Someone who wants to do an internship in the IT department, for example, has to learn how to reset a password, but also has to become acquainted with more complex problems such as the granting of rights.

After the internship period, talk to your employee. Is he still interested in changing jobs? Then it’s time for a proper job interview. And if they don’t fit in with the new role or department? Or if the candidate no longer wants to transfer? That can happen. Both you and the employee have done your best to find a new role. If the employee is still looking for a bigger challenge, it’s up to them to continue to look for something that suits him or her better.

Reach out in time

Do you have employees in the department who no longer feel sufficiently challenged? Then take action before they leave, and help them find a new position within the company. What do you do when employees complain that they’re bored? Let us know in the comments!

Looking for new service desk employees? This is the most important personality trait to look out for.