Rohan Newton argues for greater support for agents using discreet interventions in this new norm.
People in their work-place often say they are ok, when they are not.
That is an inconvenient truth.
We don’t want to appear like we cannot cope. We don’t want to lose the opportunities of advancement, or overtime, that come to those who are successful. It really doesn’t look good to appear weak…even in a crisis.
These are the illogical thoughts that go through our heads, but imagine that we combine those thoughts with a homeworking environment.
The mental health of a homeworker is stretched to the limit as it stands.
With organisations transforming from 500 agents in a single contact centre…to 500 single-person contact centres across the country…there feels like little that can be done to help the individual who is starting to struggle.
Not true.
There is a suite of resources that can be used to help the lone worker. But let’s focus on agent mental health and how we can comprehensively monitor, evaluate and support EVERY SINGLE AGENT in an unobtrusive way.
The answer is Interactions Analytics.
You can discreetly monitor 100% of all your agent activity and quickly offer support to someone who exhibits stress and needs a virtual helping hand.
Offering calm customer service isn’t easy at the best of times, even when you are in an office surrounded by colleagues and supportive management. The customer can be very demanding/angry and even aggressive.
This doesn’t need to feel like “Big Brother is watching” You replace the person sitting next to them whose chair would swivel if they heard a difficult interaction with a virtual friend.
Open communications about why this package is in place and what it can achieve will reassure colleagues that the system is in place to help them.
Search for key trigger-words. Listen out for stressful tones of voice. Most importantly, you become the person sitting next to the agent…and don’t have to wait for them to admit they couldn’t cope.
That’s something we are not keen to do.
Contact rnewton@svl.co.uk to find out how this works