How to Enhance the Agent Experience for Your Hybrid Contact Center Team
With the Pandemic, employees have become more independent by having more choices and flexibility about where and when they do their jobs. While working from anywhere has its advantages, it also means that leaders need to think about agent experience and how to keep their teams engaged.
What is Agent Experience?
Agent experience refers to the journey an employee takes with your company. It starts with being recruited by your organization, progresses through time on the job, and concludes with the exit interview when departing.
Agent Engagement refers to an employee’s mental and emotional connection to your company, it also includes an employee’s willingness and ability to contribute to the company’s success.
While the employee experience is impacted by the broader organization, agent engagement is largely influenced by an employee’s manager through job assignments, trust, communication, and recognition. Agents who are engaged in their work are more focused and operate with a sense of urgency that drives customer satisfaction and loyalty.
A great way to determine if your contact center team is engaged is to watch for behaviors commonly displayed by disengaged employees. These include:
- Distracted and unmotivated at work
- Negative attitude toward managers and colleagues
- Disinterested in promotions or stretch assignments
- Unresponsive to emails and chats
- Contributing the bare minimum during meetings
How to improve the Agent Experience?
Try these tips to keep your contact center team engaged. Your company will reap the rewards that come with a better employee experience, including higher staff retention rates, happier team members, greater customer satisfaction, and a more enjoyable work environment for all.
- Communicate Consistently and Clearly
The successful leadership of a hybrid workforce starts with clear, consistent communication. This will definitely provide a positive employee experience and ensure your team feels connected, informed, and engaged.
It´s easy when your team is located in the same building. But when your agents are scattered across different locations, managers have to be diligent about communicating regularly.
Be sure your team meetings involve the full team. Conflicts inevitably arise so if you must miss a meeting, reschedule it as soon as possible, and don’t forget to send follow-up emails to recap what was discussed and the key deliverables. This will ensure everyone knows the expectations and next steps and it will clear up anything that may have been misunderstood during the meeting.
- Equip your Team
Another important piece of the employee experience is making sure your agents have the tools they need to do their jobs. A cloud-based workforce management solution (WFM) is a must-have for hybrid teams. It’s critical to provide agents with tools that address every channel, reduce complexity, and help advance your organization and KPIs.
- Reward and Recognize
A lot of us would gladly accept a raise or a bonus for a job well done. But there are other ways to let your agents know they’re appreciated. Don’t underestimate the power that a simple “thank you” can have on the employee experience.
Consider sending your team members messages that deliver positive feedback on client interactions, recognize an agent’s strengths, or simply express appreciation for their contributions to the team.
Another fun way to recognize your team is through gamification. You can foster learning, collaboration, creativity, and healthy team competition with these types of tools. Agents can earn rewards for successfully completing challenges. Another boost to engagement is achieved with public recognition. Kudos for agents going above and beyond to provide outstanding customer service can be viewed, shared, and commented on by others on the team.
- Train Regularly
Research shows that the most reliable driers of job satisfaction are tied to the training and coaching employees receive and whether there’s an official process in place for career growth.
Training takes time away from an agent’s customer-facing job function, but your organization will see the payoff when these employees provide enhanced customer experiences and are more engaged overall.
- Ask for Feedback
Your agents will likely feel valued when you ask for their opinions, plus they’ll have a unique perspective that may not be apparent to you as a leader.
If you’re not sure where to start, ask agents these five questions to find out what they think is working well and what could use a little work:
- Do you have the tools you need to do your job?
- How often do you and your manager meet for one-on-one meetings?
- Is your supervisor flexible with your work schedule?
- If you work remotely, do you think you receive the same consideration from your manager as your in-office team members?
- Do you feel like you’re a part of the team? If not, what improvements could be made?
When you’re diligent about how you interact with, train, and recognize your entire team – whether they’re in the office or remote — your organization will realize the benefits of having happier, engaged agents that deliver great customer service.
Taken from: https://www.playvox.com/blog/how-to-enhance-agent-experience/
