Constant change and the viral power of social media demand new levels of adaptability from organisations today. Nick Smith at Calabrio shows how to gain control by applying workforce management (WFM) principles to influence company culture and protect corporate reputation.

Increasing industry consolidation, decreasing customer loyalty and the viral power of social media are just some of the challenges facing business leaders today and they need to master them all to succeed. How do senior executives motivate employees during times of tremendous change? How do they inspire their teams to find new ways to win new business and delight existing customers? How do they galvanize customer service teams to manage social media interactions positively and in real-time?

In Calabrio’s experience, organisations should focus on three distinct but interconnected areas. The first is to recognise the strategic link between employee engagement and productivity, the second is to turn the customer service department or contact centre from a reactive cost-cutting organisation to a proactive profit-making powerhouse and finally harness the power of data.

WFM: turn challenges into opportunities

It’s time to win friends and influence people, here are three ways to get started:

1. Turn traditional thinking on its head including:

• Change the leadership culture – good leaders instinctively know how to inspire their workforce and reward their efforts. They are committed to making engagement not just something that’s talked about but an intrinsic part of what it means to be a successful company.
• Keep talking – communicate corporate goals and demonstrate how individuals can contribute strategically to those goals so they are inspired to use their initiative and find creative solutions to customer issues. Next, use automated WFM technology to allocate quiet time with team members to explore innovative ways of working in a relaxed, collabourative environment away from the pressures of serving customers.
• Involve and empower – to drive positive customer experience (CX) and business success. Involve your people in decision-making around new processes and technology. Provide them with a greater sense of independence and satisfaction by way of self-service options for preferred shifts, holiday requests or time off for medical appointments.

2. Turn customer journeys into business journeys

Building an organisation that is fuelled by customer service makes sound business sense. Having loyal customers who offer guaranteed revenue streams boosts profitability, maintains a positive corporate reputation and enhances customer advocacy.

However, many organisations view the customer care department as a drain on resources and risk alienating customers during the constant drive to save time and money. Move away from reactive cost-saving to proactive profit-making. Invest in the right people and set aside budgets for training staff to deal with social media, for example, so they are confident and prepared to counteract any negative viral publicity.

3. Harness the power of digitalization

Despite automating important business processes and providing a single line of sight across the organisation, digitalization has also created a world of non-stop data that can induce a state of paralysis – bad for employees, customers and the business.

• Take away the fear using WFM to build an insight-infused data strategy – data analytics and “power of thought” reporting provides business leaders with a great opportunity to process their data through WFM software and turn that data into valuable intelligence. Maximise it to make informed, proactive decisions that shape the customer and employee experience, foster continuous improvement and innovation and minimise organisational and reputational risk.
• Create digital pathways that ease employee and customer effort – WFM connects with customer relationship management (CRM) systems and data sources such as Chat, email and voice to allow customer service teams to deliver meaningful, personalised customer conversations.
• Mitigate risk and protect the corporate brand – with access to real-time and historical data. Avoid heavy financial penalties that damage corporate reputations and diminish customer loyalty. WFM technology dynamically tracks and provides a reliable audit trail of an organisation’s compliance against important workplace legislation and industry regulations such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Payment Card Industry Data Protection Standards (PCI DSS).