You enter the contact center on Monday morning after a restful weekend and all seems right with the world. You begin your day by reviewing the weekend performance statistics. “Not bad,” you say. “Revenue is up. Average hold time is down.” You clear your phone messages—nothing pressing here. There’s no one at your door declaring the sky is falling. You had cleared your “in” box over the weekend; those reports due this week are finished. You take a deep breathe and enjoy a fresh start to the week.

After your computer boots, you check your e-mail. It is here that the day begins to go wrong. Six of your top performers have been recruited by the new call center opening across town. You stare at the screen trying to comprehend the loss to the center. Then, you think about what you can do to stem the tide of defection.

It’s probably already too late to take action. Employees don’t leave on a whim and usually can’t be wooed back easily. Any plan you put together now won’t reverse what has already happened; however, you may be able to change what could become a trend.