Hybrid work in the contact center. We are practically knocking on “year 2” doors since the start of the pandemic. And it is now that it seems that certain routines and habits that we adopted —in many cases, forced by the situation— are here to stay. At least, to a great extent. One of them is telecommuting or working remotely. A way of working that moved our office space from the company to the tranquility of the house.
Two years later, as we say, the classic office hours model has disappeared in the vast majority of cases. The pandemic, the digital transformation and employees asking for a work-life balance has led to a more flexible schedule and a hybrid work model in the contact center. Do you know what it consists of? In this post we will tell you what it is and, above all, how it has changed the relationship with customers and the company. Keep reading!
What is hybrid work in the contact center?
The American consulting firm Gartner defines hybrid work as that strategic work model in which employees and managers can “flow through” locations (the office, home or any other place, thus boosting productivity and employee engagement (and reducing the usual burnout syndrome).
A hybrid work that does not affect the contact center service at all, rather the opposite: digitization in what is known as the phygital era (combination of the physical or offline world and the digital or online environment) and, above all, good software for contact centers, they allow agents to perform customer service without affecting their experience.
We should not mistake hybrid work with flexible hours. ‘Flexible hours’ is more related to allowing employees to adapt their work schedule to their personal needs.
Which are the benefits?
Implementing hybrid work in the contact center has many benefits for both customers and the company:
- Customer experience: motivated and happy agents do their job better, positively affecting the customer experience and the purchase of the products or services we offer.
- Greater availability: when human resources managers allow an employee to work in a hybrid way, they are favoring a greater availability of agents, in such a way that it is much easier to cover possible absentees, use them in a more specialized way and satisfy the different needs that may arise unexpectedly.
- Reducing casualties due to stress: burnout syndrome, remember?
- Commitment to the environment: in an era clearly marked by a commitment to sustainability, a contact center that contributes to reducing pollution (when talking about travel) will always be well regarded by potential customers.
Hybrid work in the contact center: challenges
While it is true that hybrid work has many benefits when it comes to managing customer service, it is also true that there are different challenges when working so that the level of service is not affected. In this post we have analyzed some of the keys to manage agents remotely:
- Relations between workers: hybrid work means that contact between workers is not as regular, direct and personal as it used to be.
- Team management: very much in line with the previous point and quite a challenge for contact centers (especially at a time when the contact center is multigenerational, that is, different generations coexist with their concerns, personalities and concerns).
- Technology: provide agents with mobile equipment in these new offices so that they can attend to incoming calls, social media, live chat, email and other channels with guarantees. With good organization and good contact center software, can be solved quickly.
Contact center software EVOLUTION. Request a demo!
After this post it is clear that hybrid work has infinite advantages for your contact center. However, what do you need so that its benefits do not become obstacles for the daily work of your agents? The answer: a reliable, high-quality platform like our contact center software EVOLUTION.
A unique tool that will allow you to create a network that connects the company’s lines with the landlines in the homes of your remote agents and their mobile devices. Do you want to know more? Request a demo!
