Contact Center Trends
Are CX leaders ready to engage the contact center workforce of the future?
By David Gardner
0 min read
New data highlights key insights for contact center leaders as they navigate the rise of the hybrid workforce.
The latest report from Talkdesk Research™ offers a preview of how the workforce is likely to take shape in the contact center once a return to the office is considered safe. The future of workforce engagement in the contact center outlines key data points that describe the evolving landscape of contact center work and employee engagement.
The report presents major findings of a global online survey of 650 CX professionals, representing companies with more than 200 full-time employees, spanning all major industries.
Key predictions included the report are:
- Contact centers will embrace the hybrid workforce.
- Organizations will prioritize investment in workforce engagement management tools.
- Employee collaboration is essential but challenged by cultural barriers.
Navigate to topics of interest by selecting from the list above, or download the full report here.
Organizations will embrace the hybrid workforce.
Despite some ongoing debate over the prospect of returning to the office full-time, a recent survey by Talkdesk Research™ indicates that six in 10 organizations plan to implement a hybrid work model for their contact center (which blends remote and in-office work), even when a return to the contact center is deemed safe. Only 4% of organizations plan to employ a fully remote contact center workforce, while the remaining 36% expect to resume fully on-site operations.
Within the hybrid contact center workforce, an average of 45% of employees are expected to be working remotely on any given day. Given this relatively sizable volume of remote work, CX leaders will need to prepare carefully to ensure consistent levels of employee engagement and collaboration across dual modes of working.
Asked about the top challenges expected from the hybrid workforce model, leaders answered as follows:
- Technological challenges (40%).
- Communication or collaboration challenges (32%).
- Greater difficulty in performance assessment and management/difficulty training or onboarding new employees (30%).
REPORT
The future of workforce engagement in the contact center
Investment in workforce engagement management tools will be a priority.
Given the challenges associated with hybrid work all directly impact the employee experience, it comes as no surprise that 78% of CX professionals say investing in workforce engagement management (WEM) tools is a priority for their organization. In particular, collaboration tools and technologies will be of interest, as leaders attempt to build effective employee connections in a remote environment.
Between 2021 and 2025, organizations are planning to invest in WEM tools and technologies that improve:
- Team collaboration (43%).
- Compensation and benefits (41%).
- Agent enablement (41%).
- Career development opportunities (40%).
- Scheduling flexibility for agents (37%).
With the above-mentioned investments, CX leaders are expecting to reach as primary outcomes:
- Greater efficiency or productivity in the contact center (57%).
- Higher customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores (48%).
- Increased profit (46%).
- Higher agent satisfaction/engagement scores (43%).
- Reduced cost (37%).
- Decreased agent attrition (30%).
Employee collaboration will be both challenging and essential.
Enabling employee collaboration is one of the most common hurdles anticipated by organizations planning to leverage a remote or hybrid workforce. This is both a cultural and technological challenge, as tackling the issue of employee collaboration in a remote environment requires both effective communication tools and the active engagement of employees.
In fact, CX professionals report that internal cultural barriers are among the greatest obstacles to creating streamlined, effective channels of communication and collaboration across the organization. One leader described the situation by lamenting, “In a bit of tragic irony, we can’t collaborate on collaboration tools.” But the case for mastering remote collaboration continues to build, as CX professionals widely recognize the impact it has on critical business outcomes.
