C3 Preview: Customer Engagement Starts with the Workforce

This week is International Contact Center Week, and it’s all about celebrating contact center agents and their hard work on the front lines of customer service. So, it’s only fitting that this is the same week we announce our upcoming Calabrio Customer Connect (C3) conference and speaker lineup. C3 is our annual user conference, and it is a fantastic way for Calabrio customers to come together to share and learn best practices in order to get the best return on their Calabrio investment.

Learn to catalyze growth at Calabrio Customer Connect (C3)

This year’s theme is “Catalyze Growth,” and it’s all about putting customers first. In order to successfully grow a company, brands must find ways to keep their customers engaged. However, customer engagement starts at the employee level, and engaged employees are the key to topline growth.

Employee churn is something that every contact center faces, and brands must continually find ways to motivate employees. The numbers are staggering for what an engaged workforce can actually mean for the company. Bain & Company found that companies that increase employee retention rates by as little as five percent will typically see profit increases ranging anywhere from 25 to 29 percent. In addition, Aon Hewitt published an employee engagement report in 2015 that restated its prior claim that a five percent increase in employee engagement corresponds to a three percent increase in revenue growth the following year. It’s clear that employees are a brand’s number one asset.

To say that brands have an opportunity to realize topline growth by engaging the workforce is an understatement, but there’s just one problem: how? This is the question that companies all over the world are struggling with every single day. With new generations entering the workforce constantly and technology changing just as rapidly, old tactics are—to put it simply—ineffective. If contact centers stay the same, then they’ll miss out on growth opportunities and see an increase in customer churn. To address this, brands must move beyond workforce optimization and strive towards workforce engagement. It’s not just a recommendation; it’s a necessity.

According to Gartner, workforce engagement is all about assessing workforce expectations—particularly for generations coming into the workforce—and implementing technology solutions with employee engagement in mind. In order to effectively improve the customer experience, brands must staff their contact centers with high-performing agents. However, to retain these higher-level employees, they can’t simply focus on improving operational procedures.

Companies must find out what’s important to their employees and understand their priorities, and then implement solutions to support what they want. For example, if agents are looking for more flexibility and self-service opportunities when it comes to their schedules, the company must respond to attract and retain the best talent possible. It may take a lot of work to implement, but the reward will be happier, more engaged employees that will help drive the company towards growth.

At Calabrio, we understand the importance of engaging the workforce because, at the end of the day, it affects a brand’s relationship with its customers and, subsequently, the bottom line. We’ve always believed that the key to growth is creating a committed team and, by celebrating contact center agents year round, we can achieve the experience that they’ve been looking for. We’re committed to building and delivering the best technology to keep agents excited and motivated, and we can’t wait to reveal more about our product roadmap during C3.

There’s still time to register to attend our C3 conference in Minneapolis on October 9-12.

Tom Goodmanson

Tom Goodmanson, President and CEO of Calabrio, has more than 20 years of experience leading fast growing dynamic software and technology companies. Since assuming the CEO position in 2009, Tom is credited with reinventing the company and its culture around a strategy to expand value and reach through new, innovative products, and remarkable customer experiences. Addressing the market need for simpler solutions to complex customer interaction challenges, Tom’s vision to redefine the standard for software ease-of-use has been instrumental in making Calabrio one of the fastest growing companies in the industry.