Summer is typically a slower time of year for many organizations. It is time to recharge and prepare for the challenges and opportunities found in subsequent quarters. For many contact center operators, it is a time to prepare for Q4 and the fast-approaching holiday season.
Yet here we are in late August and somehow this year feels different. Nothing is slowing down and everyone is struggling to find staff. We can blame the Great Resignation if we like, but where did all of the workers go? Have all of the frontline agents found new rewarding and well-paying jobs? Certainly, some have, but I think many people have decided to take a pause. Sure, some are opening a shop, trying their hands at gig work, changing careers, and certainly some have shifted completely out of the workforce. Each of these choices represents a risk for the worker and their employers. What happens if we don’t have enough staff to deliver the services in the manner and with the proficiency that we wish? Certainly, our current and former staff members are considering their options — maybe even quitting — and that is a sad commentary on us as employers. What does it say about the roles and the work these folks have done in our call and contact centers that leaving seems like a good idea?
We know that working in a front-line role and dealing with customers is challenging. In COVID and post-COVID environments, it can be even more of a challenge as it can be exacerbated by staff shortages.
Perhaps the Great Resignation is really the great Re-Think…our staff are rethinking their careers and asking themselves, “is this really how I want to spend my career?” We as employers need to look at ourselves and ask a number of questions as well:
Are we providing the employment we promised?
Are our front-line staff given the training and tools needed to succeed?
Do we share and help them transit through a career path?
Do we treat them with respect and appreciation for the work they do?
Do we pay them appropriately and competitively?
Some organizations may be able to say yes, but for many the answer is, to quote the comic strip Pogo, “we have met the enemy and he is us.”
It is us. We are the barriers to progress, and we are the problem. As employers, we need to Re-Think the employer/employee relationship and strive to make it more fair and equitable. Of course, this will not be easy; few things that are worthwhile ever are; and this will be complicated by a lack of trust (or maybe just a healthy dose of skepticism regarding corporate messaging…the staff has likely heard it before). Nonetheless, we can begin to revisit our role and obligations to our employees to equip them to do the job, respect the work they do, help them advance in and enjoy their careers, and pay them fairly.
I don’t know if re-examining the employer/employee compact is the best way to respond to the Great Re-Think, but I think it might be, or it might just be a part of it. But there is no better time to start your re-think than today.
Colin Taylor is CEO of The Taylor Reach Group and long time CCNG member and advocate. A CX Contact Center expert, Consultant, Author, Speaker and Investor- 40+ yrs-Bringing Order to Chaos in Customer Service, Customer Experience, and Inside Sales.
