Contact centers are still scrambling to find ways to support work-from-home (WFH) agents in the face of the coronavirus and rapidly spreading COVID-19 outbreak. This move to WFH is imperative to the health of your agents, and the only way to do it quickly and effectively—long-term—is through a cloud solution.
With Serenova’s CxEngage Rapid Response program, contact centers can leverage a cloud solution within 48 hours. Agents will be able work from the safety of their homes while still handling the exponential increase in call volume happening across industries.
Serenova’s CxEngage cloud contact center solution goes beyond simply moving agents from a seat in the contact center to one in their own home. It provides tools and features that keep your contact center agents working safely and productively long-term. As a result, you can maintain business continuity amid the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.
One of those features, CxEngage Scoreboard, provides contact center supervisors with a tool to effectively manage a remote workforce by keeping agents focused and engaged. Doing so helps deliver positive customer experiences during this time of stress and uncertainty.
Leading a WFH Team through Uncertainty
The transition to working from home will require major adjustments for agents and supervisors who are accustomed to working together under one roof. Agents will look for responsive leadership, and CxEngage Scoreboard can help.
Real-time performance dashboards create a direct link from the executive level down to agents. These dashboards display familiar performance indicators that provide guidance to agents about how they are contributing to the health and future of the business. The analytics provide a better agent experience with a sense of control over their environment and make them feel more secure about the future and their own contributions.
Managing the Performance of a Remote Team
A workforce that is used to meeting and receiving feedback in person will struggle with the loss of connectivity that comes with working from home. Regular meetings are cancelled. Supervisors can’t stop by an agent’s desk with a quick comment. Agents can’t track down a supervisor in their office or flag someone down for immediate help.
CxEngage Scoreboard includes automated coaching features that can meet this challenge. These tools prompt supervisors when performance dips below the targets set for an agent. Analytics tell supervisors exactly where an agent is falling short so that feedback is both timely and individualized.
Real-time, immediate and personalized course corrections build a skilled contact center team that can deliver a better customer experience through consistent contact center training, no matter where they are located—and despite a global crisis.
Mitigating the Toll Isolation Takes on Health
Employee engagement has long been discussed in terms of costs associated with recruitment and retention. While cost is still relevant, engagement plays an even larger role in the long-term health of your workforce as you navigate this global crisis.
Agents who were going into the contact centet now find themselves isolated at home. Perhaps they are trying to juggle the needs of a family in addition to meeting the obligations of their jobs. Combined with the need to work more hours due to increased call volume, many agents struggle to balance this new work structure with anxiety about family well being and their personal finances.
Burnout is as real a danger for at-home employees as it is for those who work on-site, and with entire families being told to stay home, that potential increases. No longer are employees able to separate work and personal lives. The news blankets them with the very thing that causes them stress, and the disconnection from their old normal has thrown coping mechanisms out the window.
Organizations that cannot find a way to help employees navigate the stresses associated with sudden isolation will face increased attrition, poor customer satisfaction or both. And in some industries, this will have catastrophic effects on both customers and the business. Now, more than ever, it is crucial to find ways to keep agents engaged and motivated.
Connecting a Remote Workforce
It is important to help agents focus on the behaviors that lead to success. By utilizing real-time performance dashboards in CxEngage Scoreboard, managers and supervisors can compare agent performance to see the impact of changing conditions on established metrics. Adjustments can be made immediately where needed, reassuring and connecting with remote agents while keeping them productive.
Gamification is another way to keep agents motivated and engaged. The gamification tools in CxEngage Scoreboard involve agents in much the same way as a video game or social media. Agents see how their performance compares to others, and adjust accordingly. Competition, customizable avatars and task focus help agents find a flow in their work, providing lasting satisfaction and engagement.
Messaging tools allow agents to chat with one another, and while it isn’t the same as meeting in the break room, it can reduce the feelings of isolation and improve the well being of your at-home workforce while maintaining a positive customer experience and business continuity.
There is no doubt that the safety of your workforce necessitates a shift to a cloud-based contact center solution. But the change will create a new set of challenges for your organization. Tools like CxEngage Scoreboard can help you weather the storm and build a stronger organization with engaged agents poised to deliver an exceptional customer experience now and well after COVID-19—regardless of whether they are back in your contact center or working from home.
