7 Ways to Help Your Agents Embrace Change

Do your agents confidently embrace change? Or fear the unknown? If it’s the latter and you find your teams are always digging their heels in and resisting every time something new is announced, it’s high time to nurture a different mindset.

Of course, this doesn’t happen overnight! That’s why we asked leadership experts what it takes to create a team who truly see change as an opportunity and embrace all it has to offer.

1. Lead With a Willingness to Try New Things

Practise what you preach! After all, leaders who experiment with AI alongside their teams (for example) model adaptability and a willingness to explore new approaches.

“AI is definitely changing the way we work. But, as leaders, we must be mindful that success doesn’t just come from expecting everybody else to change, we’ve got to change too!

This means we have to adapt our leadership styles and try new things ourselves – especially if we want to capitalize on AI fully.” – Adam Boelke, Founder of the Alignment Advantage Group, and author of the “7 Cs to Success” mastermind course on leadership & culture.

2. Celebrate Small Wins and Create Positive Feedback Loops

Celebrating successes – big AND small – is essential for embedding a culture of adaptation too, so make it normal to build in time for reflection, to invite feedback, and recognize what’s going well.

This habit creates momentum and reinforces the value of being more adaptive – putting the spotlight on continuous improvement and helping change be seen as a welcome constant rather than a “once in a blue moon” crisis.

3. Appoint a ‘Digital Readiness Lead’ to Focus Solely on Change Management

Change management should never be an afterthought either! And it can make a huge difference to give this the time and attention it deserves – instead of just tacking it onto everyone’s to-do lists and hoping for the best.

A different approach, and a relatively new role that’s gaining traction, is to appoint a Digital Readiness Lead – a dedicated person (or team, depending on the scale of transformation) who can be a designated point of contact, offering agents proactive support to prepare and support them through the period of change.

“The role is all about making the experience of change an enjoyable one – including measuring ‘speed to happiness’ from the people on the frontline and using that feedback to improve how change is delivered.

Our Digital Readiness Leads now own that end-to-end process – from how change is introduced, through to the scoring and the learning that comes alongside it.

All helping to make change management part of everyday working life.” – Dan Eddie, former Director of Customer Service at Simplyhealth.

4. View the Impact of the Change From All Angles to Truly Lead With Empathy

And don’t just view the change from a single perspective either!

The most effective leaders invest time across the organization – from frontline roles right through to Finance, HR, and Marketing to gain a holistic view, as this experience equips them to handle conversations about change with empathy and situational awareness.

This has the added benefit of gaining trust, so agents aren’t left thinking “how does THIS even benefit me?” but rather get to hear about the change in a way that aligns with their view of the organization.

“I’ve always found that when I was in a position to understand all sides, I could communicate more effectively.

For example, when I did face-to-face training in restaurants but also understood how head office worked, I could clearly and confidently explain why a decision had been made to everyone involved. Not only that, but in a way that they could relate to and in a way they understood.

After all, the more you understand about the organization as a whole, the better decisions you can make, and the more empathetic you naturally are towards your people – so, in turn, the more they trust you and come along for the ride.” – Dan Pratt, Founder & Director of DAP Consultancy.

For information on empathy as an important leadership skill and how it benefits teams, read our article: How to Limit Agent Burnout With Empathy-Led Leadership

5. Emphasize the Importance of Curiosity and Learning

Change is inherently uncomfortable, but the most effective leaders embrace the unknown and encourage their teams to experiment, take calculated risks, and innovate.

They also emphasize the importance of curiosity and learning, and routinely encourage their teams to speak with someone who knows more, watch webinars, play with new tools, and more – all to help better their understanding.

This mindset ultimately gives people the mental tools they need to embrace the unknown with confidence and a more positive outlook.

6. Normalize Change as Part of Everyday Operations

Change often evokes fear, uncertainty, and resistance, but truly adaptive organizations address this by normalizing change as part of everyday operations through deliberate actions to expose their people to change – such as shaking up seating plans once a quarter, so agents don’t get too stuck in their ways.

After all, when change is part of business as usual, it’s far more likely to be seen as an opportunity, and the benefits can yield incredible results.

“I remember joining an advertising agency where the planners reported into different account teams but needed to learn from each other. After a week, I recommended that they sit together.

The following Monday, 200 people were asked to change their seats. No one complained. Everyone did this as though it was normal.

For these people, change was exciting, and it delivered highly innovative, effective, and award-winning work!”  – Fiona Blades, Founder & Co-CEO of MESH Experience.

7. Don’t Forget to Train Team Leaders on How to Manage the Changes Too

And don’t just assume your team leaders have everything they need to communicate and manage the upcoming changes well. Instead, make a concerted effort to prepare them to help any change go as smoothly as possible.

Just like we heard from Ocado, who took the decision to shift their metric focus away from quality scores and Average Handling Time to just NPS and ASAT – but made sure that their coaches and team managers were prepared to handle the shift in focus too.

“As many of our team managers had always focused on AHT in their agent training, we made sure to take them on the journey with us and set them up for success, for example, by giving them training on how to focus on situations instead of simply a number, so they could pass this on to their teams.” – Mark Evans, Senior Customer Operations Manager at Ocado Retail Ltd.

A Positive Attitude to Change Requires Deliberate Cultivation

What’s increasingly clear is that a positive attitude to change doesn’t happen overnight – rather it requires deliberate cultivation.

That’s why the best leaders embed adaptive practices into everyday operations – ultimately helping people feel excited about change, rather than threatened.

What Have You Tried to Help Your Agents See Change in a More Positive Light?

Click here to join our Readers Panel to share your experiences and feature in future Call Centre Helper articles.

With thanks to the following people for sharing their thoughts for this article:

• Adam Boelke, Founder of the Alignment Advantage Group, and author of the “7 Cs to Success” mastermind course on leadership & culture
• Dan Eddie, former Director Of Customer Service at Simplyhealth
• Dan Pratt, Founder & Director of DAP Consultancy
• Fiona Blades, Founder & Co-CEO of MESH Experience
• Mark Evans, Senior Customer Operations Manager at Ocado Retail Ltd

If you are looking for more information on managing change in the contact centre, read these articles next:

• How to Manage Big Changes Well in the Contact Centre
• 20 Tips for Managing Change in the Contact Centre
• Communication Pitfalls Every Contact Centre Manager Should Avoid

Author: Megan Jones
Reviewed by: Xander Freeman