Times are changing and in the midst of a pandemic, employee engagement has revealed itself to be a key driver of success.
You’ve probably mentioned this to the execs at one stage or another while pleading your case, that at the core of a ‘truly great customer experience’, is the agent.
It’s so undeniably true and yet we still find ourselves caught in a knees bent, heels dug in tug-of-war between what we know is the issue (and how to fix it) versus tight budgets.
It goes without saying, happy employees = happy customers. Employees who are valued by leadership and setup for success are much happier and more engaged at work. Happy employees create better customer experiences, which results in higher customer satisfaction and builds loyalty to the brand.
But you already know what employee engagement is and why it matters. The real question here is how much are disengaged employees costing your organisation?
Disengaged employees cost Australia’s economy $2billion dollars a year
If you’re ever pushing to create better employee experience, don’t. Let’s instead take a closer look at the 3 types of employee engagement. According to a GALLUP report:
14% of the workforce is Engaged
71% of the workforce is Not Engaged
15% of the workforce is Actively Disengaged
Employees who are not engaged turn up and complete the work, but have no intention of striving for greatness, nor are they committed to achieving results for the business. While you’d much prefer an engaged employee, they have far less of a negative impact than someone who’s actively disengaged.
An actively disengaged employee is someone who is unhappy and is not aligned with business outcomes, with the individual actively working against business goals in their unhappiness and purposely trying to sabotage. This contributes to lower productivity, poor customer experiences and inevitably employee turnover.
What’s most alarming is that 1 in every 7 persons hired is actively disengaged. If we compare that to Australia’s active full-time workforce (ABS), that’s approx. 1.28 million actively disengaged. Further report findings discovered that disengagement costs a company $17,000 on average per year based on the average salary ($50,000). For most businesses, this is a significant (and unnecessary) cost that is quite easily preventable.
Thankfully, there is a now noticeable shift in the way contact centres operate.
The importance of employee engagement and its impact on a business
Over the years, it’s become more apparent why employee engagement is so important to a business. Employee engagement has a strong connection to business objectives that are essential to its success, including productivity, profitability and customer experience/satisfaction. So much so, that customer experience itself has become one of the greatest measures of workforce performance valued at 44% by today’s CFOs, placing it above things like revenue growth and products & service quality.
In fact, a report revealed that companies with highly engaged employees outperform their competitors by 147%. And look, just in case you need more ammunition to either get a project over the line or an ace up your sleeve, these findings should prove to be worthy.
Highly engaged businesses discovered a 41% reduction in absenteeism
17% increase in productivity
In high-turnover businesses, engaged workers are more likely to stay, effectively reducing staff turnover by 24%
In low-turnover businesses, they achieved 59% less staff turnover
A highly engaged workforce achieve a 10% increase in customer ratings and 20% increase in sales
Engaged employees are more present and attuned to providing excellent customer service; more observant of resources, technology and processes. This resulted in 21% greater profitability
The bottom line
We now live in an era where customers are willing to leave a company they love after 1 bad experience. One in three of these customers will end up choosing one of your direct competitors for their next purchase. If there are a further two or three negative experiences (shame on you) more than 90% will leave your brand. We get it, it's tough out here, especially since COVID-19 hit, which has forced many contact centres to adopt a multi-channel approach, among other innovations.
The reality is, customers will dictate the experience. They want to do business with someone who knows them (and their business) intimately, and have a clear understanding that their demands will be met.
75% of customers are more likely to buy from a company that offers a personalised customer experience.
70% of a customer’s journey depends on how customers feel they are treated by the company.
With a shift in the way contact centres operate and 88% of companies now prioritising customer experience, all the risk has been placed on its frontline workforce: the agents. Unfortunately, processes, information sharing, support systems, communication, leadership and budgets designed to facilitate and support this shift are still arriving on scene. For this reason, companies are plagued with low employee engagement, resulting in poor customer experiences, and reduced profitability.
The need for engaged employees has never been more imminent. Engaged employees pay more attention, take real ownership of their tasks and are attuned to serving the customer and satisfying their needs. They are willing to go the extra mile to resolve a customer’s problem, close a sale and contribute to a culture that delivers quality customer service.
Start building a formal engagement culture
Are you currently plagued by low engagement culture? Without a formal engagement plan, your CX cannot provide the results you need to impress and succeed. To integrate an employee engagement program that aligns with both business objectives and CX improvement; you need to first identify the root cause of it all. You don’t know what you don’t know, right?
At Athena Consulting we’ve seen first hand how employee engagement can optimise the performance and financial health of a contact centre, increasing profitability and reducing revenue loss from poor CX. Contact our team today to learn more about the ways we can empower your agents and improve the customer experience of your contact centre.