[Webinar] 5 Proven Methods to Optimize Agent Productivity and Reduce Attrition, with Five9
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Forrester recently announced that remote work will rise to three times pre-COVID levels. Many enterprises managed to work through the logistics of having a remote team, and as they adapt to a more remote environment moving forward, unique challenges persist. How do companies ensure that their teams remain efficient, productive, and satisfied while working from home?
Recently Greg Hanover, CEO of Liveops, joined Tricia Yankovich, SVP of People & Human Resources at Five9, to discuss CX strategies enterprises can leverage this year to maintain success.
A 2021 Enterprise Blueprint for Remote Work: 5 Proven Methods to Optimize Agent Productivity and Reduce Attrition
1. Give your agents time to adapt
“It really starts with the right individual. How are attracting and identifying the right talent that can succeed in a remote environment.” – Greg Hanover
Remote work isn’t a 1:1 replacement for an in-office environment. A year ago, businesses got through the transition to send their teams home. Now the hard part is managing the engagement and productivity of those team members. In a remote environment, people that tend to succeed are self-motivated, organized, and experts in time management. Having the right person in place sets the foundation for a successful work-at-home environment.
For Five9, Tricia said the key is to create a listening culture and be empathetic for team members that need flexibility. Remote working requires different competencies and it’s important to give employees time to level up their skillset as needed. In time, you’ll learn how to shorten the time needed to bring employees up to speed.
2. Measure engagement & productivity
“It needs to be a two-way street. You need to provide them with tools to share feedback with you on their level of engagement.” – Greg Hanover
Measuring engagement and productivity is not a one-size-fits-all model. There are many routes to take and many platforms to leverage. An important piece to integrate is real-time feedback. Engaging with your team on a regular and frequent basis allows you to get a pulse check on their productivity and overall sentiment. Quarterly surveys are very common, however, they tend to be lagging indicators.
Try not to align employee happiness with employee engagement. Tricia said it’s important to keep in mind that team members can be promoters and recommend their place of work while still being disengaged because they don’t have the right tools or support to help them be successful.
3. Equip your team with the right technology
“We use tools that can help foster community because community represents connections that employees can make.” – Tricia Yankovich
Technology in the remote environment is crucial, yet there is no secret formula for what works for each business. Creating engagement may require several tools, so it’s important that they complement each other to reach your company’s goals.
To help nurture emotional intelligence and prevent potential burnout, building a virtual community allows team members to connect in a remote environment. Tools like Slack mimic real-time engagement so co-workers have the opportunity to build and nurture relationships while at work. Liveops leverages a social network platform that includes gamification, events and networking among agents.
4. Provide professional development
“This is a new competitive advantage in a hybrid model. It’s not about location or office environment, it’s what employees find most valuable.” – Tricia Yankovich
Effective distance learning is needed to help maintain competencies and upskill in a virtual environment. If employees aren’t growing in their position, they tend to leave. It’s vital to encourage constant professional growth.
Having a platform that provides short digestible sessions can really help individual development. This can also be helpful to support emotional intelligence, such as how to provide feedback to team members and how to improve communication with each other.
“The shift to virtual work and the shift to distance learning go hand-in-hand.” – Greg Hanover.
The Liveops distance learning solution blends self-paced and instructor-led sessions to cater to the ways adults like to learn. This model provides agents with flexibility, and also allows agents to continually access their sessions.
5. Create a virtual community
“People are in isolation – you have to work twice as hard to engage with employees, make sure to have a strategy in place.” – Greg Hanover
Creating a virtual community in a remote world is a challenge many enterprises are facing since the shift to virtual working. Brick and mortar offices have organic culture and community, where you are able to roll over to your co-worker and ask them about their day. In a virtual world, you need to have the right tools and technology in place and be intentional about fostering community.
“Empower employees to formulate what they want, and how to seek it out.” – Tricia Yankovich
A successful virtual community involves more than having great collaboration software. Hosted events can merge fun and networking and encourage buddy systems within the organization. Employee-led groups foster relationships.
Five9 is the leading provider of cloud contact center software. They are driven by a passion to transform contact centers into customer engagement centers of excellence, coupled with a deep understanding of the cost and complexity involved in running a contact center. Learn more at five9.com.
Liveops is a virtual contact center offering an on-demand agent network for customer service and sales needs. With more than 20 years of experience offering flexibility, scalable talent and meaningful work, Liveops has been improving the lives of its agents, clients, and employees by facilitating endless opportunities.