Dive Brief:
- More than 4 in 5 call center workers say the pressure of their role weighs on their mental wellbeing, with nearly all — 95% — reporting decreased productivity as a result, according to a survey conducted by Censuswide on behalf of DigitalGenius and released Monday.
- Three-quarters of agents say having daily or weekly ticket targets increases their stress, according to the survey of more than 500 customer service retail workers. Seven in 10 would prefer to handle fewer, but more complex, tickets each day.
- Stress and dissatisfaction are associated with higher agent turnover, leading to increased hiring expenses and lost productivity, according to DigitalGenius.
Dive Insight:
Call centers can drive better customer service and loyalty when they help agents manage their mental well-being.
Agents often feel pressure to get through all their tickets, according to Jonathan Schmidt, senior principal analyst at Gartner. In a rush to get to the bottom of their list , agents might focus on handling inquiries quickly rather than solving the root cause of the problem, leading to repeat calls.
“An agent might also be abrupt in tone with a customer, be unwilling to ‘go the extra mile’ or force them to repeat information, as the agent isn’t clearly focused on the interaction — all yielding poor customer experience outcomes,” Schmidt said in an email.
Call centers can reduce agents’ workload by encouraging self-service options for simple inquiries, according to Schmidt. Companies can utilize chatbots and make their sites easier to use to remove some of the burden from agents.
“This allows remaining service contacts to be channeled to live agents who are enabled with technology and possess the skills needed to resolve the issue and drive value to the customer,” Schmidt said.
Companies looking for ways to help employees can conduct small agent experience reviews to uncover process or technology hiccups causing frustration, Schmidt said. Some of these issues can be easily corrected and yield immediate results.
For example, call center leaders can work with workforce management teams to offer “mini-breaks” or chances to decompress, according to Schmidt. Leaders can also offer supervisors coaching and resources to help them better manage the mental health of their teams.
