In 2020, WFH contact centres became the industry default due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but is this a sustainable model for the post-COVID world? Do the benefits of having agents work from home outweigh cons such as the risk of employee disengagement, difficulty in maintaining productivity, challenges in KPI monitoring, connectivity issues, and infrastructure bottlenecks?
Research suggests that the answer is a definitive YES.
In a survey of 5000+ employees including CX professionals, Gartner found that WFH was overwhelmingly popular among managers and agents alike. 81% of customer service leaders believe that 30-80% of their workforce will be WFH by 2022. 70% of agents find WFH convenient and are eager to continue the model even after the pandemic. This is due to the following benefits:
- It reduces capital costs
This is a major advantage for new business and contact centres, as they can set up a fully functional support service without having to rent office space or purchase expensive equipment.
- You can cater to multi-lingual customers
A WFH workforce means that you can hire from any imaginable region without the hassles of relocation or immigration. If you have a large customer base from a different linguistic background, you can hire agents with native language capabilities.
- It empowers agents with flexible schedules
Agents no longer have to spend time on commutes, and non-productive activities like water cooler meetings, informal chats, etc. This frees up their time to allocate in a more flexible manner.
- Agents are more productive when WFH
This could vary from one contact centre to another or between different teams, but home offices often provide a distraction-free environment that is more conducive for productivity.
- Agents can easily access new technology
They don’t have to put in a requisition for new equipment and wait for several days or even weeks. A WFH allowance allows agents to quickly purchase and start using new technology at their convenience.
