Let’s talk about the challenge of running a business, shall we? Any organization, large or small, has roughly the same goals: Maximize productivity and revenue while minimizing expenses. Back when labor was easier to come by, this process was a little less cumbersome than it is now. Businesses could easily supplement their workforce by adding headcount and right-size as needed.
These days, things are a little more complicated. With wages creeping up, demand for talent reaching new heights, and pressure to perform at an all-time high, the headcount retention algorithm has reached a complexity that was hard to predict. This is further exacerbated when talking about contact centers. Constant changes to job roles, expectations, customer attitudes, and repetition make contact center agents the forefront of the talent retention conversation.
So, what is the key now? What is the answer that so many leaders have been searching for? This may sound harsh, but how about treating your employees like adults? Most people in their daily jobs have the ability to do things that contact center agents can’t. A contact center agent can’t turn to their co-worker and ask them to “cover me” for a few minutes while they make an emergency phone call to their daycare to check on their daughter. A call center agent usually doesn’t have the autonomy to step outside for a minute to collect their thoughts after a difficult customer. While an executive has the ability to jaunt off to a doctor’s appointment one afternoon, a call center agent has to spend hours planning and making sure that everything is approved before making that decision.
What if we could change that? What if we could make an agent’s job easier by giving them the choice of when to adjust their schedule?
Fortunately, this is where the industry is trending. Recent changes of attitude in leadership have started to really appreciate how important the front-line employee is to the success of the Customer Experience strategy. In the 2022 State of the Contact Center report from Calabrio, there was a large gap in perception on how agents are treated. While 90% of contact center managers believed they treated their agents as representatives of the brand, only 32% of the consumers agreed. That is a pretty large moat to cross for organizations. Cheer up, though, because things are getting better.
It starts with the approach
The first thing that has to change is the approach by leadership. If there isn’t a philosophy that treats agents like they matter, then they never will and the attrition and satisfaction numbers will reflect that. Organizations that adjust their approach will realize the benefits of smarter agent scheduling, employee friendly policies, and competitive wages.
How often are agents surveyed for their thoughts? What frequency is the scheduling policy reviewed? Is the wage offered competitive to the local market? These are all questions that can lead to a solid change to overall policy.
The tools have to support the vision
The next step is making sure that the policies are supported by strong and flexible tools that enhance the vision of the policy. If we are going to implement a policy that allows your agents to take a mental health break whenever they need it, it doesn’t do much good if they have to take 10 steps to get it done. Tools should be smart enough to allow for these ad hoc changes without needing a lot of back end administrative support. Agents should be able to move their breaks, lunches and meetings, as well as adding or removing hours to their schedule, all while ensuring the business is still running.
This has always been the difficult part to balance. How do we ensure that the business is in a good place, but still give the ability for the employees to manage their own lives? Thankfully, the software has caught up to the vision, and this is totally possible.Once the organization has embraced what is possible, the tools can easily support this utopia that has been long sought after.
Now that we have synchronization between the vision and the tools, contact centers can start really focusing on retaining talent. If the goal is to provide excellent customer experiences, smart agents who believe in the mission are critical. When those agents are happy, healthy, and committed, the job becomes easier every day.
