In 1992, we ran an experiment in Inverness ¨C inventively named the ¡®Inverness Experiment¡¯.
Eleven valiant volunteers from our contact centres (then called operator services) worked from home for a year. And it was a success. Customer satisfaction went up, and so did employee satisfaction.
However, in those days there was no broadband or wi-fi, no cloud, and very few collaboration tools (beyond email and a video conferencing unit the size of a small fridge). Ultimately, the technological limitations made working from home too expensive.
Turning to cloud, connectivity and collaboration tools
Flash forward 30 years and a monster of a more microbial variety forced many physical contact centres to rapidly lift and shift operations.
This time, working from home had the ¡®holy trinity¡¯ of cloud, collaboration tools and connectivity to rely on, making it easier and cheaper than in 1992.
As well as the technology, there were other significant differences. This time, agents, team leaders and managers were not volunteers for this mass virtual working experiment. And although there were many positives, some people struggled.
Why were UK workers more stressed and less satisfied?
Our Autonomous Customer¡¯ research conducted with 300 agents in late 2020 showed that UK agents and managers were more stressed, less satisfied, and more critical of their technologies than their counterparts in the US and India.
The big question was whether home working itself contributed to this general feeling of malaise and, if it did, what could be done to make it better.
To find out, we followed up the initial research by interviewing UK based agents, team leaders, and managers throughout 2020 and 2021. We wanted to build up a picture of how they had coped.
Finding balance with hybrid working
The worst of working from home
Cake and camaraderie: missing the contact centre
Metrics, monsters and maintaining morale
Contact centres have one big advantage over other knowledge working organisations when it comes to boosting morale: work demand and productivity metrics are visible no matter where agents are working.
Queues, call handling times, time in wrap, time available and recordings of contacts are all available to team leaders and the broader team, helping them to see what¡¯s going on. And ensuring that these stats and measures are equitable wherever the agent is working is essential to maintaining morale.
The trust, autonomy, and choice available under a hybrid model are all things that can improve both the employee and customer experience. But it¡¯s easy to create a hybrid monster.
In the spirit of the Inverness Experiment, it¡¯s good to admit that we don¡¯t have all the answers, and that trial and error might be the best way forward.
For a start, we need to answer some difficult questions about what productive and healthy contact centre work looks like. We also need to stop designing work around location and start designing it around people. We need to make the work work.
To find out more about the challenges and opportunities hybrid working holds for the contact centre, and strategies for making it a success, take a look at our Taming the Zedonk whitepaper.
