In our What Contact Centres Are Doing Right Now (2023 Edition) research – sponsored by Sabio – we polled the industry on their advisor experience and engagement levels. Here’s what they said…
Only 15% Said Their Employee Engagement Was ‘Excellent’
Level of Engagement | Response % |
---|---|
Excellent | 15.4% |
Good | 46.4% |
Reasonable | 31.4% |
Poor | 5.8% |
Very Poor | 1% |
Almost Half of Contact Centres Failing to Engage Employees Well
38.2% of contact centres need to make serious improvements to successfully engage their employees, as 31.4% of survey respondents said their employee engagement was ‘reasonable’, whilst a further 5.8% said ‘poor’ and 1% said ‘very poor’. In contrast, only 15.4% said their employee engagement was ‘excellent’.
Overall, it was somewhat promising that 46.4% said their employee engagement was ‘good’, but with strong competition for the best staff, these results highlight that many contact centres need to do a lot more to maintain a thriving culture and retain the best talent.
23% Don’t Have Time to Engage Their Teams
Management Understand Engagement | Response % |
---|---|
Yes | 42.5% |
Yes, But They Don’t Have the Tools to Allow Them | 23.2% |
Yes, But They Don’t Have the Time | 23.2% |
No | 11.1% |
Lack of Time and Tools Significant Barriers to Engaging Teams
When asked ‘Do the managers and leaders in your organization understand how to engage their teams?’, almost half of survey respondents replied ‘yes, BUT…’, with 23.2% saying ‘yes, BUT they don’t have the time’, whilst a further 23.2% said ‘yes, BUT they don’t have the tools to allow them’. Only 11.1% claimed not to see any sign of managers knowing how to engage their teams well.
This suggests a misalignment in strategic priorities and that many contact centres need to give managers a fair chance to improve it – by ring-fencing time and investing in the tools they need to succeed instead of just paying lip service to the cause.
45% Didn’t Realize Wellbeing Technology Was Available
Considered Using Technology to Monitor Wellbeing | Response % |
---|---|
Yes, It is a Key Tool | 12.1% |
Yes, But We Don’t Know Much About it | 28.7% |
No, I Didn’t Realise This Technology was Available | 45.6% |
No | 13.6% |
Only 12% of Contact Centres Utilizing Wellbeing Technology
When asked ‘Have you considered using technology to monitor the wellbeing of your advisors?’, a staggering 45.6% of survey respondents said ‘No, I didn’t realise this technology was available’, whilst a further 28.7% said ‘Yes, but we don’t know much about it’ – compared to just 12.1% who said ‘Yes, it’s a key tool’.
This suggests that the early adopters of wellbeing technology are already reaping the rewards, whilst most of the industry has yet to realize its potential.
58% Said They Can’t Improve Advisor Experience Due to ‘Budget’
Advisor Experience Barrier | Response % |
---|---|
Budget | 58.4% |
Contact Volumes / Workload | 53% |
Coaching Skills of Managers | 43.1% |
Poor Technology | 40.6% |
Remote Working | 32.7% |
Pressure to Perform / Targets | 31.2% |
Shifts / Schedules / Time off Requests | 23.8% |
Other | 5.5% |
Budget and Workloads Leave Many Feeling out of Control
It’s sad to see that 58.4% of survey respondents blamed ‘budget’ and 53% blamed ‘contact volumes and workload’, as both are typically outside of a contact centre manager’s control – suggesting a feeling of helplessness when it comes to improving the advisor experience.
A Third Blame Remote Working as a Barrier to Improving the Advisor Experience
Interestingly, 32.7% said they saw remote working as a barrier to improving the advisor experience, highlighting that not every contact centre has found the right balance yet when it comes to keeping everyone engaged.
Only 23% Claimed ‘We Don’t Have a Problem With Attrition’
Putting in Place Processes | Response % |
---|---|
Yes, and it’s Working Well, Our Attrition Rates Have Stabilised/Decreased | 30.2% |
Yes, But We’ve Seen No or Limited Change | 25.9% |
No, We Don’t Have a Problem With Attrition | 23.4% |
No, We Don’t Have the Budget/Resource | 20.5% |
Attrition Issues Continue to Plague the Industry
There’s a real divide when it comes to attrition in the contact centre, but it’s something the majority are experiencing – as only 23.4% of survey respondents claimed ‘we don’t have a problem with attrition’.
For the rest, 30.2% are succeeding in actively putting processes in place to tackle attrition, and 25.9% have tried processes to drive improvements but saw little to no change, whilst a further 20.5% claimed they don’t have the budget or resource for such initiatives.
Run in partnership with Sabio, Centrical, Odigo, Scorebuddy, and NICE, this survey focused on the key elements of a contact centre, including advisor experience and engagement, artificial intelligence (AI), customer experience, quality assurance, workforce management, and more!
Related Research
To download the full copies of our ‘What Contact Centres Are Doing Right Now’ survey reports, follow the links below:
- What Contact Centres Are Doing Right Now (2023 Edition)
- What Contact Centres Are Doing Right Now (2022 Edition)
For more great information, check out our other Contact Centre Research
Author: Robyn Coppell
Published On: 28th Mar 2024 - Last modified: 23rd Jul 2024
Read more about - Contact Centre Research, Attrition, Employee Engagement, Sabio, survey, Well Being