FEATURE
His company offers a cloud-native workforce engagement management( WEM) platform that is revolutionizing how contact centers can utilize AI and data automation to improve business outcomes and transform customer experiences( CXs).
Dave himself is an early pioneer of contact center transformation, having previously served in senior executive roles at MicroStrategy, Genesys, Angel, Broadband Office, Interactions, Spirent, and Verizon. He is the co-author of the book " The Art of SaaS ".
" COMPANIES THAT LOOK AT CON- TACT CENTERS AS CX CENTERS VS. COST CENTERS FARE BETTER THAN THOSE THAT DO NOT. THEY SEE THEM AS PRODUCTIVE INVEST- MENTS RATHER THAN AS EXPENSES TO BE CUT WHENEVER POSSIBLE."
-- DAVE RENNYSON
ARE CONTACT CENTER AGENTS BURNING OUT AND WHY?
A: Burnout has become one of the biggest workforce challenges in the contact center industry. We’ ve done a lot of research and work around this. A lot of the data SuccessKPI surfaces for companies is predicated on improving what is happening in the agent world.
Frost & Sullivan has recently published some documentation around agent satisfaction, churn, and what helps keep agents happier, including improvements in the use of AI in the contact center.
The role of the agent has fundamentally changed over the last several years. Agents are no longer simply handling basic customer inquiries. Today, they are expected to manage emotional, complex, and high-stakes interactions after customers have already attempted self-service options and failed.
Modern agents are expected to be more empathetic, more knowledgeable, and capable of handling omnichannel interactions across voice, chat, SMS, and social channels.
At the same time, customer patience has declined significantly, creating more emotionally charged interactions and higher stress levels for agents.
Burnout is also being driven by repetitive work, inconsistent scheduling, lack of training, remote work isolation, and what feels like constant performance monitoring.
If you look at Reddit boards where agents from contact centers of all sizes post questions and comments, you can really feel how difficult this job has become. It was never a walk in the park, but there are so many more nuances to the role now.
We have seen one of the biggest contributors to stress is a lack of confidence. When agents do not feel fully trained or equipped to handle difficult conversations, anxiety increases dramatically.
Frost & Sullivan’ s research shows that companies continue to experience significant attrition rates, with 44 % of organizations still reporting over 20 % agent turnover annually.
Burnout is not simply about workload. It is increasingly tied to whether agents feel empowered, supported, informed, and successful in their roles.
WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS OF BURNOUT?
A: The impacts of burnout extend far beyond the individual employee and can affect nearly every aspect of a contact center’ s performance.
Churn is by far one of the largest expenses within a contact center. For each churned agent, turnover can cost the organization 100 % to 300 % of the employee ' s annual salary once all organizational costs are factored in.
But beyond the explicit costs, there are many other issues the company faces:
1. INCREASED CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION, NEGATIVE BRAND REPUTATION, AND REVENUE LOSSES
• Burned-out agents struggle to deliver empathetic, personalized CXs. Customers can quickly sense frustration or disengagement from agents even in digital channels like chat and SMS, where tone is conveyed through wording and phrasing, and can be easily misconstrued.
• Poor agent experiences( AXs) inevitably translate into poor CXs. Engaged agents are essential for building customer trust, loyalty, and brand affinity.
JULY 2026 7