The Crisis in Contact Center Management 

The customer experience is at a 17-year low, agent turnover remains high at 7-8% a month, and quiet quitting is at 59%. This crisis is severely impacting company profitability, leading to “The Great Termination” of leaders.

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There is a Crisis in Contact Center Outsourcing

Contact center outsourcers are experiencing even higher agent turnover and worse performance than internal centers. Outsourcers are losing clients at an abnormally high rate, putting them in financial distress. Also, AI is a concern for investors because of the fear it will dramatically reduce the need for outsourcing. Within the next five years, 50% of of large to medium-sized contact center outsourcer brands could disappear because of consolidation.
 

Meaningful Work is a Win-Win-Win for Contact Center Leaders 

Meaningful work occurs when a person’s work makes a difference in someone’s life. The most important part of the employee experience is how they feel about their job, not compensation or the company they work for. If they find their work meaningful, it significantly reduces turnover (25-50%), increases engagement, and improves performance (10-25%). Meaningful work for leaders and managers comes from making a difference in their team members’ lives, thereby making meaningful work infectious.

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Grind Destroys Meaningful Work
Agents experience “grind” when management is out of alignment with the customer, and the agent is caught between them. Grind destroys meaningful work, and poor management is its leading cause. When employees feel management is preventing them from authentically serving the customers, the agent will disengage during interactions because engaging is too painful. 

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Experimenting is the Best Way to Get Buy-in From Executives

Because leadership is highly resistant to change, contact center leaders should experiment with a small group to implement a meaningful work proof of concept. Then, they can present the program's success to executive leadership, demonstrating a better way to improve profitability. The meaningful work program should eventually extend beyond the contact center. It is a universal approach that applies to everyone, regardless of their job level or department.