{"id":460449,"date":"2022-12-01T15:33:15","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T23:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genesys.com\/blog\/post\/the-great-rethink-its-time-to-invest-in-employee-retention"},"modified":"2023-08-13T22:32:21","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T05:32:21","slug":"the-great-rethink-its-time-to-invest-in-employee-retention","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.genesys.com\/en-sg\/blog\/post\/the-great-rethink-its-time-to-invest-in-employee-retention","title":{"rendered":"The Great Rethink: It\u2019s Time to Invest in Employee Retention"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section full_width=”stretch_row”][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Burgeoning digital commerce. Changing customer and employee expectations. The rise of remote and hybrid working. We\u2019ve seen these trends take shape over the past three years \u2013 and they\u2019ve transformed the way many of us work<\/a>. Successful companies have gained ground in becoming more customer-centric. But they\u2019ve largely failed to become employee-centric, especially when it comes to their contact centre agents, supervisors and other customer satisfaction specialists.<\/p>\n

Many customer experience (CX) leaders now express contradictory views about their frontline employees, according to the MIT Technology Review Insights report<\/a> sponsored by Genesys. Eighty-seven percent of respondents identify CX as a strategic differentiator of their brands.<\/p>\n

But a majority of respondents noted being more concerned with the challenge of finding new employees than retaining those they already have. And while many companies are focused on finding and hiring the right candidates in a competitive job market, they\u2019re losing sight of the value of their current contact centre staff.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”459074″ css=”.vc_custom_1669071132994{margin-right: 1.5em !important;margin-bottom: 1.5em !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Employee Engagement: Antidote to Business Volatility<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Keep the employees you have \u2014 and keep them happy.\u00a0<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text]

Read the ebook<\/a><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]While 96% of respondents consider hiring new employees to be challenging and 62% struggle with increasing recruitment costs, just one-third identify high staff turnover as a problem. That represents a traditional contact centre mindset \u2014 one that\u2019s more focused on productivity and efficiency and accepts a relatively short employee tenure.<\/p>\n

Employee Satisfaction Is a Top Priority<\/h2>\n

For decades, CX work has been built for efficiency \u2014 optimised for metrics like average handle time. But we\u2019re now in the \u201cGreat Reshuffle\u201d \u2014 a period of unprecedented change where employees are questioning how they work and why.<\/p>\n

Organisations that don\u2019t recognise and solve their retention problem will spend more resources scrambling for talent. Workers are demanding flexibility; control over their schedules; processes and technology that enable them to succeed. And they want access to learning and career development opportunities.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to examine the \u201cpeople paradox\u201d illuminated in this new global MIT research. And we\u2019ll explore how progressive organisations are thinking more strategically about their CX staff \u2014 promoting employee retention and career development by transforming their company culture and work environments. They\u2019re striving to solve their recruitment problem by not losing their people in the first place.<\/p>\n

Recruit or Retain: Rethink the People Paradox<\/h2>\n

The traditional CX model, which is built on slim margins and hourly wages is broken, noted experts interviewed in the MIT report. And that\u2019s causing massive contact centre attrition.<\/p>\n

Now, recruiting new employees has become the most significant workforce-related challenge for contact centre leaders today, according to the MIT report. Fifty-four percent of surveyed executives find recruiting to be \u201cchallenging\u201d and another 42% find it \u201cextremely challenging.\u201d But just 32% of respondents feel that way about employee turnover.<\/p>\n

This paradoxical view on retaining employees versus recruiting new ones extends to career development. While CX leaders claim it\u2019s not difficult to meet employee workforce expectations or develop solid career paths for them, 76% feel that low employee morale is a problem. And 62% are struggling with the increasing cost of employee turnover.<\/p>\n

The Emerging Rules of Remote Work<\/h2>\n

Most organisations have been forced to accommodate work-from-home or hybrid models. Now, millions of contact centre agents are used to working remotely \u2014 and they enjoy the freedom in choosing if and when to come into the office. These numbers are expected to grow.<\/p>\n

The survey finds that hybrid or remote jobs offer significant CX benefits, including:<\/p>\n