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A hybrid workforce model isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Agents are loving the flexibility and comfort it offers. But like anything, it comes with its own unique challenges as you try to keep employees engaged in their positions. If you’re unsure of where to start, the six pillars of a hybrid contact center workforce engagement strategy listed above would be a great place to start.

Sometimes contact center professionals become so focused on agent-assisted customer service methods that they forget many customers just want to help themselves. A personalized interaction with a competent and engaging agent can be highly satisfying but it isn't always a customer's first choice.

Now that 2021 is upon us and there is a faintly visible conclusion to the pandemic, the question remains – will public sector contact centers revert to the models they had relied on prior to COVID-19? The answer is unequivocally NO. Regardless of how the adoption of new flexible models in the contact center arrived (and yes, the speed with which it was done amid the pandemic was a painful way to do it) the reality is, it’s done. Contact center leaders have made the pivot.

Do you ever feel like you’re running a cost center rather than a contact center? Without performance management you may be experiencing high attrition rates and training costs, or low productivity and engagement rates, which can make the contact center feel like a necessary evil – rather than the true value-added function it is.

Contact centers are often said to be on the front lines of delivering satisfying customer experiences. They fight a well-planned battle every day to provide low queue times, high first contact resolution rates, accurate responses, and engaging interactions guided by high quality agents. What should your contact center do in order to be prepared for anything? Focusing on four key areas will have you well on the way to adapting and thriving in the face of disruptions both large and small.

Life in the contact center can feel like a collective emotional journey, and that was never more true than in 2020. You and your customers rode the waves of the uncertainty that defined the year. There was disruption like never before. Contact centers had to adapt quickly to serve customers who were anxious and seeking help. Contact center traffic was also inconsistent and unpredictable. Combine this with the need to suddenly disperse the workforce to their homes and it was a rollercoaster of a year! Ready to prepare for the unexpected? Here are five ways to plan, prepare and provide for your contact centers, your agents and most of all, your customers.

Aside from the negative outcomes of the past year, there's one shining example of a positive consequence - the seismic shift towards a work from home model in the general workforce and more specifically among contact center agents and staff.