Agent Engagement

As with practically all improvement activities, an engaged staff starts with the right hires. Passion is a requirement, but it needs to be driven by the type of success that the contact center environment...

Agility is key to success in today’s rapidly changing business environment. No operation is more familiar with the need to quickly adapt to changes in the market and evolving customer expectations than Pacific Life’s...

Albert Einstein defined insanity as ”doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.“ Business books rarely start with quotes from Einstein or ones about insanity. However, we’re talking about employee engagement (actually...

Contact centers are in the midst of significant strategic and technological changes that will have a lasting impact on the workforce. The explosion of digital channels, tech-savvy mobile consumers willing to air their grievances...

Berlin Packaging has a long history of business success, which its leaders attribute largely to its focus on employee engagement and a culture of shared commitment to “Being Greater, Faster.” It’s a culture that...

In my last post, I offered five tips to reduce your new-hires’ training jitters, while increasing their knowledge retention and engagement. The following are five additional ideas to ensure that new agents can make...

If you are considering rolling out an employee advocacy program, there are a few critical core elements that need to be in place to be successful. According to Christopher Hannegan, Edelman’s executive vice president,...

Millennials and Gen Z employees are growing in influence of work organizations and cultures, especially call centers and customer service. According to a 2016 Bureau of Labor Statistics report, the median age of an...

Customer-centric brands have put considerable time and resources into honing their ability to track, understand, manage and differentiate the customer’s experience. Now business leaders are increasingly aware of just how much is at stake...

I’m sure many of you, like me, are fans of “Saturday Night Live” or “SNL.” One of my favorites was Mike Myers as the character Linda Richman in the Coffee Talk skits. “Oy! I’m...

What is it that makes the agents in certain contact centers especially enthusiastic about their jobs and more committed to delivering a high-quality customer experience on call after call? Higher pay alone won’t produce...

Universities, consultants, authors and experts all have a lot to say about employee engagement. The attention paid to this topic is encouraging, as it is a critical ingredient in a high-performing company. The best...

Do you ever feel like it’s impossible to keep great talent in a customer support environment? You’re not alone! Leaders all over the globe have been wrestling this issue since the invention of the...

The contact center environment can be hectic—you probably have don’t have much time or patience for a third-party outsourcer telling you how to “transform” your call center operations. Right? You’re thinking: “Give me a...

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey articulates this habit so clearly when he asks the reader to picture ... their own funeral. He describes the setting and the speakers, one...

Employee advocacy can be very impactful if there is a really clear and articulated business case for the program, and if every element of the program is anchored in the business case, says Christopher...

Have you ever heard the saying, “There’s a reason we have two ears and one mouth”? I work with many companies looking to decrease attrition, and the same set of three problems shows up again...

Interaction with the staff is important in most any leadership position, but it is absolutely critical in a contact center. The agent’s job success depends on interpersonal skills, and it is the supervisors, managers,...

In this month’s Inside View column, Berlin Packaging’s Senior Manager of Business Development and Strategy Paul Mansour discusses how the company’s rapid growth through multiple acquisitions impacted Berlin’s long-standing corporate culture. Over the past decade,...

The millennial generation (those born between 1980 and 2000) has been described as the most high-maintenance workforce to date, but it can also be the most high-performing, if you learn what makes them tick. We...