This blog post is a recap of our recent webinar titled ‘How to Engage Contact Center Agents’. The webinar was conducted by guest speaker Jeff Toister, the bestselling author of four books, including the popular Service Culture Handbook. Jeff also has 12,000+ customer service professionals subscribing to his customer service tip of the week, and over 3 million people who have participated in his LinkedIn courses.
To get access to this webinar and learn more about engaging remote agents, be sure to watch the webinar on-demand here.
Engaging remote agents has its own set of unique challenges as contact centers adapt to new working models. According to Jeff Toister, an expert in the field of customer service, issues with agents working remotely begin to arise if leaders overcomplicate the process.
For instance, Jeff highlights that onboarding a remote contact center agent follows the same process as onboarding an agent who is working on-site; On the first day of work, their equipment needs to be ready with access to the relevant tools. As such, the remote working process remains similar to on-site, with only an extra step of planning required to ship the equipment to the agent’s home office.
This example highlights how contact center leaders simply need to keep doing what’s already successful in an on-site environment and adapt it for remote work. With that in mind, here are 5 key areas where leaders in contact centers can effectively adapt their on-site workflows and processes to keep remote agents engaged.
1. Communication
Engaging remote agents means getting them involved in achieving the contact center’s goals and executing day-to-day activities. An engaged employee is committed to the organization’s growth as they understand how their role helps gain overall success. To provide remote agents with this understanding, leaders need to regularly communicate how they can contribute to the business and offer clarity on what is defined as a win.
To ensure that communication keeps remote agents engaged, the information must be clear and easy to understand. An example of providing clear communication frequently can be seen when a business’s mission and KPIs are shared during monthly or quarterly online sessions where remote agents can ask questions and discuss further.
2. Training
Jeff offers the sentiment that learning and training can be even better when it’s held remotely compared to on-site — especially for contact center agents. This is because agents interact with customers who are also not available in a face-to-face, physical space. As such, remote training sessions effectively enable agents to get familiar with a virtual environment that relates directly to their daily tasks.
It is also necessary for leaders to build clear and defined training curriculums to ensure that remote contact center agents understand their learning goals and intentionally work towards improving performance. Added to this, a transparent evaluation process is vital to monitor growth and keep remote agents determined.
Leaders can encourage their remote agents to participate in informal learning methods as well, where team members can share knowledge and insights during casual online meetings or via a messaging portal.
3. Team building
Helping remote contact center agents feel like they are a part of the team even when there are limited physical interactions is essential to keeping them engaged. As more organizations switch to a hybrid or fully remote working model, we can see many instances where teams have gotten creative with how they interact to keep remote employees’ engagement rates high.
Some examples of team-building activities include events where remote agents join the on-site venue through video feeds. Organizations also host virtual events where employees can meet in groups to socialize during scheduled coffee hours or annual festivals. Thanks to advancements in digital technology, team-building activities are no longer limited to face-to-face interactions. Now, your remote agents have the opportunity to engage with colleagues both near and far.
4. Motivation & growth
It is important to keep remote agents motivated to prevent burnout. A key factor in helping remote agents be resilient to burnout is ensuring they understand the impact of their role and maintain a customer-focused mindset. When agents grasp the purpose behind their responsibilities and prioritize excellent customer service, they’re more likely to stay motivated and give their best effort.
Additionally, leaders must empower remote agents with the necessary tools, best practices, and support to help them do their job well. Ensuring they have the right resources removes any external blocks that may hinder performance. It is also vital that agents are recognized for their hard work and rewarded with fair pay. As they are compensated for their efforts, agents will feel valued and seen — encouraging them to stay motivated and grow within the organization.
5. Coaching & performance management
Since remote agents are out of sight, there is a risk of contact center leaders losing track of their interactions with them as well. Accordingly, Jeff encourages leaders and team managers to schedule regular check-in meetings with clear agendas. These frequent conversations allow managers to address all work-related matters and monitor the progress of each remote agent.
Furthermore, to improve productivity when coaching contact center agents, it is helpful to remove the noise and facilitate an environment where agents can focus on their customers with ease. This is easier to accomplish in a remote setting compared to an on-site contact center where other agents and office activities can be distracting.
As such remote agents can make use of this advantage to improve their efficiency and productivity. Managers can also increase productivity rates by setting up quick tasks that can be handled whenever there is any downtime, so remote agents don’t experience excessive idle time during the workday.
Engaging remote agents is simple and straightforward.
While there may be a myth that on-site agents are more engaged than those who work remotely, leaders in contact centers are exploring if the opposite is true. As highlighted by our guest speaker Jeff Toister, it is not solely the location that determines agent engagement rates. Instead, it is a mix of factors including smooth onboarding, extensive training opportunities, team-building activities, performance management, and more.
With the right approach, contact center leaders can effortlessly keep their remote agents engaged. Simply take the practices that are already effective within an on-site workplace and adapt them to a remote work model. There’s no need to overcomplicate it — keeping remote agents engaged couldn’t get more straightforward!