MANAGING THE WORKFORCE
BY BRENDAN READ, CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE; Q & A WITH DINA VANCE, ULYSSES LEARNING
DO AGENTS HAVE THE NEEDED SKILLS AND TRAINING?
CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS AND AI ARE CHANGING REQUIREMENTS.
ILLUSTRATION PROVIDED BY ADOBE IMAGES
Contact centers are in an increasingly tumultuous environment of economic, social, and technological change. Ever-higher customer service expectations, likely accelerated by shifts in consumer spending to upper-income population tiers, combined with new AI-driven automation tools, appear to be placing more pressure on center leaders to ensure they have the right number of higher quality, well-trained staff.
But accomplishing this fundamental task isn’ t easy with slowing population growth and declining labor force participation rates as older workers retire and women leave or choose not to enter the applicant pools( see December 2025 Feature,“ Staffing Against the Storm,” and against limited staffing budgets.
DINA VANCE
To better understand how to help contact centers with their agent recruiting, assessment, and training in today’ s environment, we had a virtual conversation with Dina Vance, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing / Managing Director of North American Operations, Ulysses Learning.
Dina is a frequent contributor to Contact Center Pipeline with nearly 40 years of industry experience. Here are her insights in response to our questions.
22 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE