Expectations for call center management are shifting as agents' roles change. Workers need more support from their supervisors to help them handle more complex workloads.f
It’s up to leaders to adjust their management styles to align with the needs of the call center agent of the future. Workers will benefit from close, but transparent, oversight where managers recognize individual contributions and guide their employees without judgment.
One of the biggest impacts of generative AI will be agents spending more and more of their time on inquiries chatbots can’t handle, according to Nicole Kyle, managing director and co-founder of CMP Research. The newfound emphasis on less repetitive, more complicated work has upsides and downsides for call center teams.
“Is the complex stuff going to fulfill my team because they're working on challenging things, or is it going to stress them out because they’re dealing with very heavy calls where everything is super complex, super urgent or involves frustrated customers?” Kyle said.
Monitor for burnout with transparency
Call center agents are feeling the pressure of highly complex calls, and burnout is a significant concern.
Leaders can assist overworked agents before they reach their breaking point by carefully monitoring metrics like call occupancy rate, according to Kyle. Call occupancy is the share of time agents spend with customers compared to waiting for a call.
An agent who is spending significantly more time on calls than their peers likely feels overburdened.
An overwhelmed agent may assume the worst when their manager approaches to discuss their performance. Supervisors can avoid misconceptions by walking their employees through why they’re monitoring their actions, according to Kyle.
Frontline leaders who are open about how and why they’re monitoring agents can provide more effective interventions if they become necessary.
"The worst thing is if someone finds out you were tracking me and looking at numbers, but you didn't tell me that was going to happen or you didn't explain to me why you’re doing it,” Kyle said. “Now my brain is going to the worst case scenario and I’ll think you're trying to evaluate whether to fire me, even if that's not the intention.”
Customer service is often considered a very process driven role, but there are still opportunities for agents to take charge of planning rather than forcing leaders to micromanage every interaction.
Managers can extend a certain level of ownership, and in some cases freedom, to their teams, according to Kyle. One simple approach is to let workers take the lead on scheduling one-to-one meetings, including the length and agenda.
“Leading with that, ‘I want to give you ownership’ shows someone that my manager has to, of course, manage me and manage the team, but they're also interested in letting me operate as an autonomous being,” Nicole said.
But that independence is a privilege, not a right, Kyle said. If an agent consistently shows up without an agenda or cancels meetings, managers can take over scheduling.
Good leaders practice mindfulness
Managers have an opportunity to lead by example. The uncertainty that lies ahead will be stressful for everyone, but managers who remain calm can serve as a bastion for their teams.
"It's really important for managers to keep their emotions at ease, especially when they're interacting with the frontline employees that directly report to them, but also with their own managers as well,” said Jordan Zivoder, quantitative research lead at Customer Management Practice.
Managers can motivate their teams by recognizing individual contributions to the operation’s success. Tying agents’ accomplishments to wider goals is a way to show their efforts are appreciated and having a positive impact on the team as a whole.
For example, if an agent’s calls earn consistently great customer satisfaction scores, their supervisor should let them know, according to Zivoder.
“It's really important to keep that lens on your direct reports and invite them into the conversation,” Kyle said. She noted that tying individual efforts to wider goals prevents agents from feeling like it’s them and their monitor against the world.
