The same holds true with work schedules. Most people need some flexibility with them due to life events. Some need more of that than others. The ability to change hours and / or work split shifts, or work a shorter work week one week, simultaneously reduces stress and drives employee loyalty.
The ask for employers, like contact centers, is to make adjustments easy for employees: when they can align with business needs. It is not a blanket offer of work whenever you want. No one expects that!
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Another important trend line that I am seeing is around career development of remote team members. Companies that are into WFH and hybrid for the long haul are now really starting to think about how they need to reshape professional development in a remote environment.
This starts with things as simple as visibility, participation, and contributions in standard meetings. Here are a couple of examples.
• Meeting flows, structures, and agendas are being modified to give employees ample time to shine, participate, and get noticed, regardless of where they sit.
• Investments are now being made in virtual meeting technology( both software and hard office / meeting space) to enable the best experience for mixed groups to be present, visible, and able to contribute and interact effectively.
Companies are also retooling the way they think about job openings, postings, and descriptions with the goal of offering as many opportunities as possible to their team members.
Shared roles, dual roles, temporary assignments, job sharing, and informal skills practice are being re-engineered to meet future organizational needs: while offering flexibility and expanded opportunities for advancement.
This priority focus on career development is continuing through to external development( examples are external conferences, training, and credentials building, including certifications and licenses).
REMOTE WORK
FULL RTO NOT IN CONTACT CENTERS
There has been much talk and press about return-to-office( RTO). But for the record, full-time RTO is generally NOT a thing in the contact center environment. Some companies ARE asking contact center leadership to RTO some of the time. But very few( if any) companies are asking frontline CX employees to RTO. Why?
1. WFH worked for contact centers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. There continues to be huge savings to be had by releasing unnecessary real estate and office space as leases come up for renewal.
3. There is no gap in terms of trust or visibility of employee output. However, on the leader side of the equation, companies that question output or commitment of their management are asking people to spend more time in the office.
Basically, some companies are managing supervisor or leader performance issues by asking them to sit in the office( more). I don’ t think this solves the performance management problems per se, but it’ s a non-confrontational way of making low performers less satisfied and hoping they will leave( e. g., a passive exit strategy).
Budgets for external professional development have been restricted since the COVID-19 pandemic, but this trend seems to be slowly reversing, with more funds allocated for this purpose in 2025. In the long term, professional development cannot be ignored, including external exposure.
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Finally, engagement of remote and hybrid staff continues to be a priority. Most contact center business units are no longer co-located. Some are distributed around the country, in various states, regions, and towns.
The pandemic prompted expanded regional hiring, and the benefits of targeted and specific markets to source people( when properly planned) has been a huge win for many.
Many organizations recognize that they’ ve been connecting and engaging employees, but only at an“ ok” level. Very few acknowledge that they are really good at it( yet).
There is certainly energy and spending going into structured and unstructured engagement across contact center enterprises. I’ m seeing:
• Employee engagement maps being developed that are similar to customer journey maps. This tool gives leaders and support staff clear visibility
of every existing engagement point, including where there are gaps and where there may be redundancies.
• Companies pushing video content to new hires way before orientation day to build excitement.
• Gamification being used during asynchronous onboarding activities and all the way through onboarding, live orientation, and new hire training.
The benefits of streamlining and automating contests / promotions and recognition / rewards simply cannot be ignored in a remote / hybrid environment. And the cost for such platforms has actually become more reasonable.
CONCLUSION
In summary, contact center organizations are working hard to make workplace location a non-entity. There’ s a laser focus on culture, engagement, learning, and output, and these are not facets of where people sit. They are a direct result of how people are supported and treated, starting way before the hiring letter ink is dry.
Michele Rowan, President of Customer Contact Strategies, helps companies design and continuously improve their remote and hybrid work programs. Through targeted gap analysis of existing workflows, policies and technology applications, Michele assists leadership teams customize their environments and their work tools to fully align with company culture and business priorities.
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