Puzzel has released five vital stats that help business leaders to demonstrate the importance of quality employee experience (EX).
Many companies fail to understand that EX is so tightly tied to CX that it can be impossible to successfully deliver one without the other.
And with the COVID-19 pandemic further highlighting the need for better EX and improved tools and solutions for agents to work from home, now, more than ever, businesses must value EX to stay afloat.
Below are five statistics that demonstrate just how important agent experience is to achieving customer satisfaction and reducing operating costs:
Happy Agents 3x More Likely to Resolve Customer Issues
Customers are becoming increasingly comfortable using chatbots and other online self-service tools to resolve simple enquiries. That means contact centre agents are now handling more high-value interactions, which are more difficult to resolve.
However, research by McKinsey shows agents who are happy and engaged are 3.3x more likely to feel empowered to resolve these issues. So to deliver the best possible service for your customers, you need to provide the best possible experience for agents.
McKinsey’s research found agents are most happy when they believe in their company’s mission, feel a strong sense of belonging, are given clear opportunities for progression, and a manageable workload. This can be achieved by holding regular team huddles, doing team-building exercises, introducing specialisms, and using technology, such as robotic process automation (RPA) and workforce management (WFM), to streamline operations and ensure your operation is always properly staffed.
Contact Centres Lose 20% of Staff Every Year
The average contact centre loses around 20% of staff every year, according to the Global Call Centre Research Network. This stat includes promotions, voluntary quits, retirements and dismissals.
Of those who choose to leave their job, the most common reasons include excessive pressure or stress, low pay, high staff turnover, repetitive work, and a lack of promotion or career development opportunities.
While occasional staff turnover can be beneficial for your business, as it brings new blood and enthusiasm into your team, frequent staff turnover can have serious consequences for your contact centre. These include low quality of service for customers, high stress for managers, low morale among agents, and high recruitment and training costs. According to the Global Call Centre Research Network, it costs about two months’ worth of a typical worker’s pay to replace one worker. If lost productivity is taken into account, this increases to three to four months.
Improving your agent experience can therefore help improve engagement and minimise churn.
68% of Customers Expect Brands to Demonstrate Empathy
While chatbots and self-service channels are growing in popularity, customers today still want a human touch.
Salesforce’s latest State of the Connected Customer report shows 68% of customers expect brands to demonstrate empathy and 66% expect them to understand their unique needs and expectations. However, just 37% of customers believe they are shown empathy and even less feel they are treated as unique individuals.
