A New Era, A New Type of Worker, The Hybrid Worker.
The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on almost every part of our lives is something we are ever unlikely to forget. Out of what felt like nowhere, our social lives were taken away from us and our work situation changed at the drop of a hat. Our social lives are returning, perhaps with some changes, and we will see the days again of weeks in the sun. Our working arrangements, however are unlikely to return to what they once were. The pandemic arrived and became the catalyst for almost every company having to make adjustments to their whole way of working. Those who adapted discovered new ways of working that are here to stay, and we have entered a new era.
Companies and employees alike have adapted together. Team members today have become more independent, resourceful, flexible, resilient and adept at learning a whole new skill set that extends further than the mute button on Zoom. As we begin to leave the pandemic behind us, it’s clear that the Customer Service Advisor’s role has been changed forever.
What Does This Look Like in Reality?
If we rewind to 2019, spending just 10 minutes in a customer service centre would present you with a sea of staff wearing headsets interacting with customers amid the familiar rumbling of generic office sounds. Anyone who needed support would have their hand in the air to summon a team manager. In 2021, the same people are more than likely working in their kitchen, and raising their hand would attract nothing more than a strange look from their partner or dog.
What happens when I need help?
Imagine the scenario – the customer requires information that is more complex than usual, one of three things happen if the advisor can’t answer it:
1. The advisor scrambles around, umms and ahhs - blames the system, apologies and says “I’ll get someone to contact you”. We’re all familiar with being told somebody “will get back to us”.
2. The advisor puts the customer on hold and searches for the answer. Call length increases, as does frustration on both sides of the conversation.
3. The advisor gives the next best answer they can find which is often the wrong information, leading to further contact, increased frustration and poor customer satisfaction. As well as the possible consequences of giving out the wrong information.
So customer experience is generally poor, and all metrics are negatively affected too.
Employee experience is also impacted:
· It’s frustrating. Most staff want to provide good service but are unable to.
· Faith in leadership begins to fall.
· Trust in the organisation and brand is eroded.
· Engagement declines slowly, but surely.
· In the longer term, the impact on employee wellbeing is yet to be fully understood.
The result of this is dissatisfied customers, frustrated and disengaged employees, and a raft of operational issues leading to; more work, repeat contact, longer conversations, complicated case management, and reduced quality to name but a few. Inevitably, the ‘cost to serve’ increases and customer experience and loyalty fall.
The data tells us that where customers experience low ‘effort’ interactions, they are 88% less likely to repurchase (HubSpot). On the other hand, when First Contact Resolution resolves a customer’s problem within 300 seconds (5 minutes), the customer becomes significantly more loyal (HBR).
What Else Do We Know That Can Help Us Move Forward?
· Organisations are committed to Hybrid working. The Chartered Institute Personnel and Development (CIPD) informs us that the entire UK workforce is likely to comprise 37% hybrid workers following the pandemic compared to 18% before. 82% of employees that are able to work from home, opt for a hybrid work setup.
· Gen Z and millennials over the next five years will represent 60% of the workforce, up from 48%. This represents a significant number of tech-savvy, curious, resourceful and values-based people and it would be naive to suggest this increase won’t be culture-changing.
· Digital transformation across the customer service landscape is turning to bots, AI, and machine learning to handle ‘transactional’ interactions, leaving the Customer Service Advisor with responsibility for more complex, relationship building, value-add customer engagement.
· According to Nice in Contact, the same customers want faster response times across all communication channels. Customers have also become louder with research conducted by the Ombudsman services highlighting that UK complaints are up from 2.5 to 3.7 per head.
· Alongside economic uncertainty and a challenging future, customer interactions will be equally challenging and more demanding.
Hybrid Worker era is here to stay. This cultural shift isn’t going away and the importance of a hybrid work plan is now a business priority, so that businesses can look ahead, create infrastructure, systems and leadership that genuinely support the Hybrid worker and in turn, give the customer an excellent experience.
The business leader’s six key agenda points are now:
1. The Hybrid Worker
A new employee model that provides a cohesive way of working that is equitable whether an employee is working from home or the office.
The Hybrid Code of Conduct in the following diagram provides a framework of the key areas that organisations need to address for successful working from home arrangements.
This is different, more exciting and also more serious than ever to ensure that both employees and the organisation is protected.
2. The Hybrid Leader
A leader that can manage hybrid teams, engage, share knowledge, measure success, coach their staff, identify mental health issues, improve performance and deliver results. It's much more than just staff working from home, it’s about how leaders engage, connect and collaborate with the teams they no longer see in person on a daily basis.
Often an organisation’s most inexperienced, junior managers are having to deal with some of the organisation’s greatest challenges. Enthusiasm and energy go a long way, but they are no substitute for hybrid training and development.
3. Knowledge Management
To successfully deliver Hybrid working, employees need knowledge at their fingertips. The Hybrid Worker can intuitively, at the blink of an eye (or seamlessly in a conversation), retrieve know-how and respond meaningfully with the correct information in an engaging manner, often with empathy to resolve issues. And, for the organisation to have the insight for root cause analysis to fix problems and improve service, products, customer experience etc. According to Doron Gower, Chief Solution Architect at KMS Lighthouse, “knowledge management provides tangible benefits that include reductions in training and onboarding times for new employees, reduced handling time and a decrease in error rates”.
4. Hybrid Training & Development
The way in which customers communicate has shifted too. Capabilities, competencies and skills have become more complex, diverse and multi-layered. Customer enquires turn to complaints in a flash, 'I want to speak to your manager', the need to serve and sell, diffuse conflict and resolve real customer problems, with empathy. Training too needs to adapt to equip, empower and engage the Hybrid Worker.
5. Infrastructure
From desk to PC, from cables to lighting and the security of kit and safety in the home. These are all issues that organisations and their Boards need to ensure are in place and fit for purpose. This is so that Customer Service Advisors are no longer working at the kitchen table, and at risk of long-term impacts (RSI, eye strain, neck, back, body aches etc). According to Glenn Hurley, Chairman of Cloudbase Partners, the consequences are far reaching for insurance claims and directors’ personal liability. “employers must clearly demonstrate a duty of care, it cannot just be a paper exercise performed by managers”
6. Hybrid Work Plan
47% of staff feel that not having a plan is a cause for concern and leads to a three times greater propensity to burnout (source: McKinsey & Co).
Ensuring long-term staff wellbeing must now be done differently and planning is required. It has long been understood that as employee wellbeing falls, cost-inducing occurrences of employee absence, reduced punctuality and flagging morale can hit an organisation hard.
The hybrid working model demands a rethink on how this is done.
A robust hybrid work plan will examine many issues including operational infrastructure, performance optimisation and employee engagement/wellbeing.
Hybrid working is a significant cultural shift for every organisation. Nowhere is it felt more and most impactful than by those at the front line dealing with customers every day and their leaders.
Frontline teams will need to be fully equipped and supported to deal with the new ‘now’ and their rapidly changing customer behaviours and attitudes, which applies whether they are working from home or the office or indeed, both.
After all, employees can no longer raise a hand. Welcome to the era of the Hybrid Worker.