As the noise around The Great Resignation dwindles, another troubling trend comes to the fore: The Great Exhaustion.
McKinsey & Company research underlines this, finding that 49 percent of employees feel at least somewhat burned out.
Lorrissa Horton, Senior Vice President and GM of Webex Calling and Contact Center, notes a critical reason:
People are hitting burnout because the separation of life and work decreased significantly.
Indeed, many have yet to move on from pandemic-induced work patterns, which blurred the boundaries of when work starts and ends.
Such a phenomenon crosses many professions, including customer service roles. After all, it is not uncommon for a manager to talk to an agent who has not left their workstation for hours, combatting a slew of back-to-back contacts.
Yet, many other possible burnout drivers exist in the contact center. Dealing with angry customers, network connection issues, measuring and monitoring cultures, understaffing, background noise, conflicting expectations… The list is boundless.
Combatting these problems starts with one essential course of action: prioritizing agent wellbeing.
To do so, think: Support, Inspire, Cultivate.
Supporting Hybrid Agents
Regular, structured check-ins are critical to support agents, keep tabs on wellbeing, and prevent burnout.
Yet, as supervisors fight fires, manage escalations, and control their workflows, such check-ins can slip under the radar. As a result, problems go undetected, and agents often become isolated.
Connecting these pain points with the possibility of burnout at the beginning of the pandemic, Webex quickly evolved its Collaboration Insights solution. This gives leaders new insights into the dynamics of their teams.
Sharing more, Horton said: "Through analytics, Webex sends managers alerts – either through chat, video, or voice - such as: You haven’t spoken to some of your agents in two weeks. It might be worth checking in."
From here, Webex is kicking agent support up a notch. Horton continued:
Whether it’s words, pace of speech, tone, volume, audio quality, network quality, or so on, we’re looking across the board to pick up on stress-inducers, both in and out of an agent’s control.
Using these real-time insights, leaders can help teams to improve their remote environments and intervene when troubling agent performance trends emerge, offering timely assistance.
The solution also shares performance insights with employees, which help to maintain connections within the team. Indeed, agents can view each other’s strengths, learn from one another, and set goals together to improve service experiences.
Other critical pieces of the puzzle to support hybrid teams include facilitating flexible working, fostering professional development, and updating support systems. These include the knowledge base, agent desktops, and UC-enabled SME connections for real-time assistance.
Inspiring Teams with a Purpose
Lacking satisfaction from achievements. Missing the energy to perform to a high standard. Feeling disillusioned at work. These are all symptoms of burnout.
Luckily, there is an antidote to each of these poisons; a meaningful purpose.
A purpose gives agents a reason to come to work, apart from money. It connects agents to what they do and inspires them continuously deliver epic service experiences.