With the global spread of COVID-19, companies and people everywhere are unsure of what’s next. For some industries, COVID-19 has resulted in numerous redundancies, companies shutting down, and a general sense of anxiety for the workforce at large. In other industries, workload and burnout is at an all-time high.
Contact centres are at the epicenter of this – feeling the full force of the impact of the industry they support. In the midst of these uncertain and troublesome times for the workforce at large, it’s critical to support the mental health of your people.
YOUR CONTACT CENTRE TEAM
Agents are on the front line of your customer service department. On an average day, their job is rarely easy. Your people leaders are the support crew that empower and enable your front line agents. Your support teams are the coordinators that ensure that the right people are in the right place at the right time with the right tools and information to do their job effectively. Your whole team is critical to navigating the road ahead successfully.
With an unprecedented crisis like this, your contact centre team are facing a new sense of uncertainty that they are unfamiliar and likely uncomfortable with. They’re having to rapidly adapt to new ways of working while also managing the impact of this situation on their family, friends and entire way of life.
The global spread of the coronavirus not only affects company profits, but also jeopardizes the stability that your people need in times like these. Whether you are trying to grow or guarantee your workforce, and despite your company dedicating significant effort and resources to ease the impact to your team through these troubling times, overcoming the affects might not be that easy. Everyone is facing a heightened level of uncertainty in every part of their lives, so the comfort and security your team needs will be near impossible to create.
One area that you can make a significant difference is by providing support for your team’s (and your own) mental health.
TIPS TO PRESERVE YOUR TEAM’S MENTAL HEALTH
Here are some simple things that you can do to preserve and encourage your team’s mental health during this challenging time:
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
As impacts continue to develop for contact centres across the country and the globe, your team needs as much clarity as you can give them on the exact details of your current operational situation and response plan. In the absence of information, your team will fill the void with their own stories, and in a time of heightened fear and uncertainty such as this their story will inevitably be much worse than the truth.
People seek strong leadership. There is a reason that every person in the country is glued to social media and news outlets. We’re all seeking the most up to date and relevant developments. We’re searching for hope, clarity and certainty about how we will navigate this crisis, and when things might start to return to normal. Use the opportunity to reassure and inform your teams, as well as the customers they support, of the meaningful actions you are taking to help and support them.
The more clarity and certainty you can offer your team about their work life, the lower the burden of uncertainty they need to carry will be.
Be Flexible
Everyone will respond to this situation differently. Some will throw themselves into work to distract them from the growing uncertainty surrounding them. Some will be significantly distracted by these events and will struggle to focus. The best thing you can do is honor the process that each of your individual team members are going through and provide the flexibility and support they need to move through the situation at their own pace and in their own way.
Some people will need time off. Some people will need to work shorter shifts, or to take more frequent breaks. No-one knows your people better than you (and their direct people leader). Extend all the flexibility that you can and empower your people leaders to support their teams however necessary.
Accept that your business and your productivity will be impacted during this time, and plan for these impacts. Customers will generally be accepting that business operations are compromised and will be forgiving of lower levels of service. Empower your team to step outside of normal business practices to better support your customers too. Now is the time to focus on human connection, over business performance.
Can you adapt your current structure to maximise the strengths of the people in your team and protect those who need it? If your customers are impacted and reaching your team members in a highly emotional state, do the people speaking to them first have a good level of emotional intelligence and resilience to manage these conversations? Protect your people and your customers by taking the opportunity to assess if structuring things differently to your business as usual approach can bring you big benefits.
Remove the pressure on strict performance targets, turn off wallboards or other visual performance tracking, define, communicate and celebrate people-focused objectives such as going the extra mile to support customers in crisis.
While this approach may have short term impacts on business performance, it will deliver extreme cultural and customer loyalty in the long term.
Provide Support Services
Most corporate and government organisations provide access to support services such as an Employee Assistance Program or similar. These services are incredibly helpful during times such as these, so remind your team members of those programs you already have in place and encourage them to take advantage of them.
In addition to this, consider what other support services your team might need right now? Would they benefit from the support of additional technical equipment or software to help them adapt to working from home? Would they benefit from short daily team meetings to feel more connected and as a vehicle for delivery enhanced communication (see point 1)? Would they appreciate receiving a care package of groceries or tasty treats to know that they are valued and important, and to help them with self-isolation? Maybe you could schedule some ‘self-care’ time into their rosters so they can sit on their balcony with a book or call to check in on a friend throughout the day. Perhaps you could appoint a self-care coach who connects with each team member once a week to check in on them and provide them help or guidance in any way needed.
These strategies don’t need to be elaborate or expensive and will add comfort and certainty to your team members lives simply by knowing that they are supported and valued during the uncertain road ahead.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Navigating times of extreme uncertainty necessitates building resilience. Our capacity for building resilience is strengthened knowing that we have someone in our corner, someone to catch us if we fall. From knowing that it is ok to fall and get back up again.
The way we choose to move through this period will define our culture and our collective resilience for years to come. We will be forever changed by this experience and how we decide to show up during it. Those who navigate these times prioritising care and compassion for their people are those who will thrive in the long run.
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About the Author
Frances Quinn is an award-winning CEO & Founder, an experienced speaker, facilitator and mentor, and a passionate customer futurist.
Starting from humble beginnings - leaving school and home at 16 to make her way in the customer contact world, Frances forged a successful career path for herself, quickly climbing the corporate ladder and gathering a strong reputation for excellence along the way.
After 20 years in the corporate world, Frances set out on her next adventure as an entrepreneur and business owner, applying her versatile set of skills to building a successful high-growth consulting firm.
Frances' passion and expertise lies in creating customer loyalty, driving operational efficiency and excellence, and implementing successful and sticky change in organisations large and small. She has worked with large global brands and startups alike.