Boosting contact-center performance through employee engagement Companies that can keep service agents on the job longer not only reduce operating costs but also improve customer satisfaction. Actions in four areas can have a profound impact—and they are within every contact center’s reach. Whitney Gretz and Raelyn Jacobson 42 McKinsey on Customer Care: Excellence in the Digital Age Number 1, January 2018 © Caiaimage/Tom Merton/Getty Images The nature of customer care is changing. Customers So how can companies ensure they are creating are becoming increasingly comfortable with online a supportive workplace for agents that also helps self-service tools. The remaining live calls to contact to reduce attrition? Our research found that a centers are often more complicated to resolve, so handful of factors—and not just wages or job-related providing consistent high-quality customer service stress—have the greatest influence on employee depends on experienced, knowledgeable agents satisfaction and retention. Accordingly, companies with proper training and support. Failure to retain should focus on improving the factors within their these talented employees can have significant control to make employees feel empowered. Several repercussions: employee attrition can erode customer activities such as the frequency and effectiveness satisfaction while increasing operating costs. Each of huddles, the duration of training (or nesting), new agent hire is estimated to cost the contact center the opportunities for socializing, and intentional $10,000 to $20,000 in training, direct recruiting supervision have proved effective. Collectively, these costs, and lost productivity during ramp up. activities can be potent tools to foster a sense of belonging among agents and improve agent retention. Since longer-tenured agents have more expertise and institutional knowledge to bring to customer Employee satisfaction and retention interactions, improving employee retention also are intertwined has a direct impact on the quality of customer Employee satisfaction and retention are naturally care. New McKinsey research suggests a need for intertwined. In all, 38 percent of contact-center companies to go back to the basics when interacting agents are extremely satisfied with their job, and with their contact-center employees by focusing on another 43 percent are more satisfied than not engagement and finding ways to increase workplace (Exhibit 1). The levels of satisfaction varied across comfort and happiness. The impact can be striking: industries: for example, banking, securities, and satisfied call-center employees are significantly financial services had the highest proportion of more likely to stay and to refer their workplace to a respondents who reported being extremely satisfied friend. Those expecting to remain at their company at 52 percent, followed by travel, transport, and a year from now are nearly twice as satisfied. In logistics at 44 percent and nonhealthcare insurance addition, satisfied employees are more than three at 35 percent (which also had the lowest overall times as likely as dissatisfied colleagues to feel percentage of dissatisfied employees). Meanwhile, empowered to solve customer issues. These factors telecommunications and technology earned the have a direct bearing on the quality of customer lowest marks, with just 25 percent indicating that service and the operational cost to deliver it. they are extremely satisfied. Engaged and satisfied call-center employees are. 8.5x more likely to stay than leave within a year 4x more likely to stay than dissatisfied colleagues 16x more likely to refer friends to their company 3.3x more likely to feel extremely empowered to resolve customer issues Boosting contact-center performance through employee engagement About the research Promotion opportunities The survey analysis found that promotional To understand the factors that influence employee engagement, opportunities account for 14 percent of an employee’s satisfaction, and attrition in the contact center, McKinsey surveyed satisfaction. Care agents who feel trapped in their 320 contact-center employees in the United States through an electronic survey. Industries with the greatest number of respondents current role are more likely to pursue jobs elsewhere: included financial services; telecommunications and technology; the survey revealed that nearly half of agents likely nonhealthcare insurance; travel, transport, and logistics; and to leave their job have no desire to move into a healthcare insurance. The survey sought to assess current contact- supervisor role or believe they will not have the center performance on a number of metrics, determine which factors opportunity to do so. A lack of interest in promotion matter most for overall contact-center employee satisfaction, and could mean agents don’t think they have the skills to pinpoint certain activities that influence an agent or supervisor’s be promoted or don’t believe they will be considered likelihood to remain at their job. Agents accounted for about three- for promotion. Since agents who are not interested in quarters of respondents and supervisors the remaining one-quarter. promotion opportunities are more likely to leave their The sample also included respondents at contact centers with at job, companies need to focus on this group and help least 50 employees with a range of tenures, from just three months to them see a clear career path, become interested in more than four years, and who worked on teams of varying sizes. promotion opportunities, and feel their career path is feasible. Employees that move up the ladder will earn higher wages, demonstrating that management can The survey highlighted the impact of employee have some impact on wages for high performers. satisfaction on retention. According to the survey, 61 percent of all respondents expect to be working with Management should also strive to understand how their company a year from now, while 19 percent the effect of motivating factors may differ for specific indicated that they were likely to leave their current agent segments. For example, a recent university job within this time period.1 Among those likely to graduate who views her job as a career stepping- stay, nearly 60 percent are extremely satisfied with stone may be much more likely to leave than a more their job and company. For respondents who expect senior employee who has enjoyed a long career and is to change jobs, 62 percent are notably dissatisfied still working mainly for the sense of community. with their current situation. When it comes to the likelihood of retention, healthcare insurance; travel, Nature and mission transportation, and logistics; and nonhealthcare The degree of connection that contact-center agents insurance have the highest expected retention rates. have with a company’s business strategy and guiding The survey identified five factors that had the principles are an important factor in retention. greatest influence on retention as well as the top About 70 percent of respondents who said they are drivers of satisfaction (Exhibit 2). likely to stay at their position indicated that they strongly support their organization’s mission and The top factor, wages and job security, is largely enjoy the nature of the work. By comparison, just determined by industry and market dynamics, so 25 percent of respondents who reported they are executives are limited in their ability to differentiate likely to leave felt similarly. Given the importance salaries from the competition. Still, contact-center of this factor, contact centers should seek to leaders should ensure that agents are aware of and promote and reinforce their company’s mission in a eligible for financial incentives. However, frontline customer-centric way on a consistent basis. Leading leaders may find it best to train their sights on the contact centers are beginning to incorporate four factors they can fully control. meaningful customer reflections at the start of McKinsey on Customer Care: Excellence in the Digital Age Number 1, January 2018 Customer care compendium 2017 Employee engagement Exhibit 1 of 6 Exhibit 1 Finding your happy place: Employee satisfaction by industry Dissatisfied Somewhat satisfied Extremely satisfied Overall satisfaction by industry, % of respondents n=320 100% = Total agent population 19% 43% 38% 320 Banking, securities, and financial services 18% 30% 52% 73 Travel, transportation, and logistics 9% 47% 44% 43 Nonhealthcare insurance 4% 61% 35% 51 Healthcare insurance 26% 43% 30% 23 Telecom and 30% 45% 25% 53 technology All other industries 25% 40% 35% 77 Source: McKinsey Employee Engagement Contact Center Survey meetings across all levels of the company, from top relaxing and enjoyable—can contribute to a sense of management and leadership to agent huddles. community and influence overall satisfaction. Our research indicates agents need to enjoy their working Friends and community environments and feel the atmosphere reflects their At many jobs, a sense of belonging serves as the value as employees. glue for employees, and contact centers are no different. Respondents pointed to having friends to Stress talk with during breaks and in-office social events Although interactions with unhappy customers as the biggest contributors to an overall sense can be trying, call complexity and performance of community. Those expecting to stay at their scrutiny also contribute to overall stress for agents. current job are three times more satisfied