2020 drastically changed how we view work and where we do it. Some form of working from home (WFH) became a requirement for many businesses to remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations across the globe had to quickly pivot and figure out a way to move people and equipment from traditional office settings to homes or modified workspaces. In many cases, moving to a WFH model was expensive, and required sweeping technological, procedural, and managerial changes.
Although we are starting to see society return to “normal” (or a new normal), many businesses have decided to keep some form of WFH in an extended capacity. Contact centers are not an exception to the new normal. Many organizations who implemented or expanded a remote agent program during the COVID-19 crisis have plans to keep their WFH program on a permanent basis.
If you are looking to continue or expand your WFH workforce, here are five key strategies to help manage your remote agents:
Communicate with Your Agents– WFH may be new to many of your agents, so be sure to listen to their concerns and provide them with appropriate emotional support. Since your agents will not be interacting with live supervisors, providing continuous feedback will help to keep them motivated and confident. This level of communication will create a happy agent, boost ESAT, and in turn create a positive experience for your customers.
Maintain a Team Environment- Moving from a large contact center to working alone at home will be an adjustment for some agents. Creating a team environment is a critical part of maintaining agent enthusiasm and morale. Group video calls, virtual events, online chats, and friendly competition through gamification will promote a team-like atmosphere for remote agents.
Provide Up to Date Technology- Agents should have high-speed internet connections, proper headsets, and PCs (or laptops) that meet your system requirements. Internet speeds should be monitored on a regular basis.
Implement cloud-based solutions. This will not only make life easier for your agents but will allow you to quickly add (and subtract) users based on need.
Leverage Quality Assurance Tools- Cloud-based contact center software can provide numerous real-time reporting options and quality assurance tools. Proper use of reporting and QA tools can dramatically boost key KPI’s and CSAT scores. Furthermore, call recording reviews are a great way to train agents and ensure calls are being handled properly. Many contact center solutions allow managers to anonymously listen in on an agent’s call in real-time for coaching and evaluation purposes.
Consider Partnering with a BPO Contact Center– partnering with a BPO contact center will allow you to quickly and easily add remote agents while helping to save money on labor costs, increase your revenue, and allow you to focus on your core competencies. BPO contact centers have been using remote agents for years and understand how to properly manage a remote workforce.
Maintaining a robust remote agent workforce is a great way to boost employee productivity, cut costs, and find highly skilled employees.
