You would expect to see a feature article about trends at the beginning of the year. We did that. But things shift quickly in this digital economy—and when it comes to customer expectations, the pace of change continues to accelerate and affect how businesses adapt and respond.
In this series, we decided to take a mid-year look at five “hot” topics that have been generating a lot of buzz in the press and on social media in recent months. We reached out to industry thought leaders for their insights on why these issues are worth exploring now, how they will affect your operation, what actions you can take to prepare your center, staff and company, and what to expect in these areas over the next year or two.
First up, Ryan Hollenbeck, SVP, Global Marketing, Verint, on employee engagement:
WHY EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IS A HOT TOPIC RIGHT NOW:
Employee engagement is getting a lot of attention right now. Making the workforce more productive and efficient is always a hot topic. However, now, there is an even greater focus on how to make the work more meaningful to employees. This is part of the evolution with an added twist on how to engage employees with unique perks and special ways to become invested in the organization. Expectations have changed a lot—on both company and employee perspectives. Customers expect a knowledgeable, productive person to interact with, which means the organization needs to better motivate and empower their people across the enterprise.
HOW IT’S AFFECTING CONTACT CENTERS:
This is where knowledge comes in. Getting the right info to the right employees so they can make smarter, faster decisions is key. Giving them information in real-time helps to create more personalized interactions with customers. Lots of employees want to self-manage these days. With this as a consideration, it’s important for contact centers to be transparent with staff about how they are performing. Allow them to compare scorecards, participate in self-training and learn how to work individually and also together as a group.
WHAT ACTIONS CC LEADERS NEED TO TAKE NOW:
I think a good starting point for contact centers is to look at their strategy. What are they doing to retract, retain and engage top talent? Are they looking at their metrics? Are they mapping it into an overall customer experience program? Contact centers need to create a holistic plan with these items as considerations. Most organizations want a more modern work environment—one that can adapt to personalized employees. Create opportunities for open shift bidding, mobile schedules and gamification, as well as an employee community so work becomes more meaningful and interactive.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE NEXT 12-24 MONTHS:
Verint expects to see three big themes come to light in the next 12-24 months. These include the following:
- Modern work environment—companies will start to adapt work environments to personalize to and focus more on the employee.
- Automation—robotic process automation will help address speed and efficiency, and also free up employees for more complex work.
- Voice of the employee—collecting feedback from employees will be important, as they want their voice heard and their input can make an make a real impact on company success.
Stay tuned for the next hot topic to be posted soon!
