Raising the bar on customer experience (CX) requires a specific set of enablers. While it’s easy to get consumed by strategy, process and technology, the fact remains that CX improvements multiply when you bring your people with you. Repeated studies show that organisations with highly engaged staff are more successful. They enjoy greater profitability, productivity, customer satisfaction and staff retention; and less absenteeism, safety incidents and quality defects.

 Yet, sometimes things can be very different. Contact centres are renowned for high staff churn rates. Why is that? And what can we do to turn things around?

 Boredom fuelled by monotony, stress and feeling under-valued

Estimates by Temkin Group suggest that on average only 33% of staff feel highly engaged. More worryingly that number drops as low as 26% for 18 to 24-year-olds, the age group most likely to be serving in contact centres or other customer-facing roles.

A study of the customer service profession by CVLibrary found that one in four (19%) of workers admitted to feeling bored. When asked why, the top reasons were lack of variety (27%), tedious daily tasks (21%) and simply disliking their jobs (18%).

Add to this rising stress and burn-out among agents and there’s a clear message for CX leaders: you better make sure employee engagement is front and centre in your plans or prepare for underwhelming results.

Improving motivation with job enrichment and fulfilment

It’s no coincidence Genesys designed PureCloud from the ground-up to address exactly these challenges. This starts with an omnichannel desktop, placing information at agents’ fingertips and removing the need to constantly toggle between systems, one of their biggest time-wastes and frustrations. Also, with simple collaboration tools they’re able to pool knowledge and support each other better using video, screen sharing and IM chat.

 Coaching becomes intuitive and less onerous

Huge spreadsheets are replaced by automated processes and interaction analytics, enabling managers and supervisors to listen to live and historic conversations, not just on calls but across all channels. So, they’re better equipped to tell agents what they do well and address training needs with targeted personal development plans.

 Best of all, because customers get served more efficiently, interactions become less stressful and more rewarding. It’s also easier for agents to multi-task and switch between calls, emails and other channels, adding much-needed work variety.

So, the technology’s ready. What’s stopping you?

 Discover more about the hot CX trends for contact centres and advantages of PureCloud