8 Ways to Make Homeworking a Successful Option for Your Contact Centre

Colin Hay shares eight top tips for turning successful homeworking into reality, after making his case for implementing the initiative.

There was a time when homeworking was the next best thing and then it took a dip in popularity. But recently, two major factors have put flexible working practices back on the map.

Firstly, consumer behaviour has changed. Customers now expect instant access to organisations and want their questions answered at a time that’s convenient for them.

Secondly, today’s modern workforce no longer expects a five-days-per-week, 9am-to-5pm schedule and is open to the prospect of contracting, freelancing and gig working.

These two factors provide a real reason for contact centres to look again at flexible, remote, homeworking.

The good news is that technological advancements have transformed the potential for an effective flexible approach. Today’s increasingly cloud-connected and virtualised world has brought with it unlimited possibilities.

However, what have we learnt from past experiences and where is the best place to start when it comes to allowing members of the contact centre to work from home?

8 Top Tips to Get Started

Managing a remote workforce comes with its own set of challenges. It is important that both frontline customer service staff and remote workers have the information and technology they need to deliver an exceptional customer experience.

In addition, managers need to have the right tools to support their teams and control their contact centre environment to their best ability.

Hire the right people and train them properly

Make the most of technology to create an inclusive mobile workforce

Create a social aspect

Add some fun with gamification

Enable mobile management – it’s not just agents who can work from home

Implement real-time analytics

Maximise workforce management

Take advantage of quality monitoring and call recording

Offering remote work options can deliver a wealth of benefits, including access to a larger applicant talent pool, gains in staffing efficiency, higher employee satisfaction, lower agent attrition and less absenteeism.

The white paper outlines five reasons to think again about homeworking along with these eight winning strategies in more detail, and demonstrates how homeworking can become a critical success factor in your own contact centre organisation.

Author: Robyn Coppell
Published On: 1st Feb 2018 - Last modified: 23rd Mar 2020
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