Recognizing the value of call-centric workers

Call centric workers, who should be a strategic priority for the business, need to be focused on conversations in calls in order to produce value. Whether time spent on the call itself, or preparing for a call, these people can work at different extremes of ‘efficiency focus’ and ‘value focus’.

The key is to understand how they operate: how calls play a role in their working lives and what conditions they seek. Businesses should then act on those insights to explore how employees responsible for customer dialogue can upgrade their productivity.

Factors in the productivity equation

Businesses are facing many challenges in creating productive working environments, as staff battle with many factors and distractions, such as noise, workspace and ineffective technology. All issues factor in to “the productivity equation”. Jabra research shows just how the various factors impact productivity.

Who are the call centric workers?

There are four types of call centric workers: “call center agents”, “civil servants”, “traders” and “advisors”.  These groups, which a business could have any combination of at any one time, are incredibly powerful. They own one of the most valuable assets to the business: the power of conversation.

Each one of these workers have different priorities based on how much their role is focused on conversation versus concentration, and value creation versus efficiency. Within this group, there are varying numbers of calls every day – some spend more time between calls preparing for conversations, whilst others spend more time on the conversation itself. Any one business could contain all of these profiles, each playing a crucial role in the success of the organization.

1. Call center agent

For many organizations, call or contact center agents are a key communication method for their customers. This group of people are highly specialized in conducting high volumes of calls, either inbound or outbound. Almost half of people that talk and listen for a living are in a call center agent role or similar.

Key characteristics:

Conversation zone
Challenges faced by this group of individuals are partly due to the efficient interactions they need to conduct. The complexity of the conversation is relatively low, so there is less need for time between calls to prepare or take action. The efficiency they are seeking is prevented by noise levels in their nearby surroundings in the office environment, and because of interruptions from colleagues. This adds to stress levels, as does too many calls during the day and too few breaks. The solution for call center agents is to provide them with a larger private zone within the office environment. Very often this environment is open plan so call center agents need to find a way to increase their conversation zone within this space.

The most productive workers have the right supportive technology available – they are 28% more satisfied with their supportive tech than the least productive. Moreover, they are 25% more engaged in their job than the least productive, and the most productive also raise less issues with their manager about satisfaction and environment. The least productive workers are 17% more likely to look for a new job in their current situation and 62% more unhappy with the workspace in the last 3-5 years.

Key pains impacting call center productivity

• Limited conversation zone: Noise level, interruptions from colleagues and lack of privacy/personal space.
• Growing stress zone: Too many calls and too many e-mails combined with not enough time between each call.

Key factors that characterize the most productive vs. the least productive for call center agents

• The single most important factor is the size of workspace. This space has decreased for the most productive, but not as much as for the least productive.
• The ‘right’ package of technology and supportive culture are the two key factors impacting productivity following the size of work-space.
• Working with employee engagement is also on the top 5 list of things to focus on in terms of upgrading productivity.
• Call center agents should remember to stay refreshed by drinking water during conversations, and to stay aware of their posture.

The productivity equation

2. Trader

The profile that is defined as trader could be anyone from key account management, financial professionals such as brokers, real estate agents or even emergency service personnel. This group of people manage complex and valuable interactions over the phone. They spend the majority of their time on the phone during the day – up to 3.6 hours per day. Though they conduct complex conversations and do need to concentrate, their conversation zone is the priority.

Key characteristics:

Conversation zone
Trader’s conversation zones are often interrupted by noise and interruptions from colleagues and surroundings. Expanding or dedicating space for conversation can minimise the potential for interruptions. It can improve the trader’s ability to focus on the valuable information being shared with customers – otherwise traders risk interruptions from colleagues and overall office noise level. This profile also experiences stress from too many calls and emails, as well as unclear success criteria.

Overall, these influences negatively impact productivity. Despite conversation being a primary work mode, traders seek more time between calls and wish for less calls – indicating that they would like more time to prepare between conversations. This profile also finds that voice training is beneficial. The most productive have 24% more voice training than the least productive. This is because in communication, speech and tone-ofvoice are less effective compared to tone-of-voice and body language. However because phone conversations can’t benefit from body language, this leaves just the spoken word and tone-of-voice as methods of communication. Developing ‘the toneof-voice’ via voice training is therefore a key factor for success.

Key pains impacting the trader’s productivity

• Limited conversation zone: Noise level, interruptions from colleagues and lack of privacy/personal space impacts the ability to provide valuable information to customers by phone conversations.
• Growing stress zone: Too many calls, too many emails and unclear success criteria all add up to stress being a medium-high pain point, impacting productivity negatively.
• Too many calls per day impact productivity, yet being in conversation is the primary work mode. This could be linked to the fact that this profile provides a high degree of value via conversations, so they need some breaks in between calls. It is a medium pain point to have less time to prepare between calls.

Key factors that characterize the most productive vs. the least productive for traders

• For the most productive, trader’s work-space has increased during the last 3-5 years, whereas it has decreased for the least productive.
• Being in conversation work mode with the right package of supportive technology and culture are key.
• Traders should remember to stay refreshed by drinking water during conversations, and to stay aware of their posture.

The productivity equation

3. Civil servant

It is estimated that 19% of customer service profiles are working in set-ups with efficiency focus, yet the complexity is relatively high. These are roles such as IT, HR or government and civil service. They provide consultancy yet conduct high volumes of calls and therefore must also remain focused on efficiency. Civil servants spend a significant amount of time preparing for the next complex call, whilst also conducting some basic administrative work.

Key characteristics:

Concentration zone
Civil servants need sufficient conditions for spending time concentrating, as they prepare for calls. They also feel that there are too many calls during the day, and that their surroundings are distracting – especially due to interruptions from colleagues. These factors contribute to a more stressful environment. This profile is one that has attempted to ‘self remedy’ to address these challenges by listening to music to facilitate concentration. Those that do so report that they are far more productive as a result – the most productive listen to music for over four hours a day, 44% more than the least productive.

Civil servants need to improve conditions for them to concentrate by creating a larger private zone, perhaps without the need for music. They also need to find more time and space to avoid interruptions such as too many meetings or too many emails, as they need to be at their desk to shift between calls and preparation time. However, when they are at their most productive this profile can manage the shift in work modes effectively. Often they have to shift between being on the phone (conversation) and preparing for the next call (concentration) and the better they are at doing so, the more productive they become. The most productive are 13% better at making the shift in work modes compared to the least productive.

Normally, mobility is a plus for call centric workers when it comes to productivity, but for a profile looking to bring value over the phone and also preparing for the next call reading reports, e-mails, news, etc. from a computer, being away from the desk (in internal meetings, in the corridor socializing, travelling between two external business locations) means that they are less productive. Whilst they have time to prepare between calls, the conditions in which they do so needs to change. The most productive are 17% less mobile internally and 31% less mobile externally.

Key pains impacting the servant’s productivity

• Limited concentration zone: Noise level, interruptions from colleagues and too many emails from stakeholders they need to service/respond to – and lack of privacy/personal space.
• Growing stress zone: Too many meetings/collaboration and too many emails combined with stress related to unclear success criteria to stress being a medium-high pain point, impacting productivity negatively.

Key factors that characterize the most productive vs. the least productive for civil servants

• The single most important factor for upgrading productivity is to listen to music while working. With the need for concentration, this is no surprise. But it is the degree of productivity impact that is very interesting. It could be related to the stress issue, where music is a protection against stress.
• The creation of an environment where engagement and job satisfaction is very stimulating for the overall productivity. Here, the human factors matter, which is no surprise. However, as one of the pain points for this profile is lack of privacy, it is surprising that work space is not linked to greater productivity.
• Supportive technology and culture is a key focus. Basic technology is in place, which characterizes the most productive profiles. The cultural aspect could be linked to a behavior, around respect for the need for a concentration zone – so colleagues are not that loud and make fewer interruptions during the day.

The productivity equation

4. Advisor

Advisors have some of the most valuable customer interactions of all four call centric profiles. The financial sector delivers high value to customers without the need for faceto-face meetings. Consultants, private bankers and lawyers also fit into the advisor profile. These calls are of high value to customers, they are not focused on efficiency – they are often highly strategic and complex discussions. Because the discussions are complex and customers are often well prepared, this profile needs both conversation and concentration zones – due to the intense focus needed on both preparation and the calls themselves.

Key characteristics:

Conversation and concentration zone
As this group of employees are conducting complex conversations on a regular basis, they need to focus on concentration. Data shows that this group spends an equal amount of time on concentration and conversation. However, as they are highly dependent on concentration, in order to provide value through conversation, this is the primary work mode. Noise levels and interruptions from colleagues are the main issues affecting productivity, and despite having the largest workspace of all four call centric profiles (their workspace has increased over the last three to five years), there is still a desire for more personal space.

The complexity of the advisor’s role means stress is very often an issue, partly because of unclear success criteria. To improve productivity, advisors need more workspace to protect them from noise levels and interruptions. They also tend to listen to music to help improve concentration. Offering the right technology and supportive culture is fundamental for helping this group to reach the highest levels of productivity. The most productive listen to music for an average of 3.3 hours per day. Overall, job satisfaction contributes to productivity – the most productive are 30% more engaged in their job than the least productive.

Key pains impacting the advisor’s productivity

• Limited concentration zone: Noise level, interruptions from colleagues and lack of privacy/personal space.
• Growing stress zone: Too many meetings/collaboration and too many emails combined with stress related to unclear success criteria.

Key factors that characterize the most productive vs. the least productive for advisors

• The single most important factor is the size of work-space. The size of the work-space has increased for the most productive advisor, compared to a smaller work-space for the least productive.
• Creation of a work flow by listening to music is a key factor for those profiles with concentration as a primary work mode.
• Working with employee engagement is also on the top 5 list of things to focus on in terms of upgrading productivity.
• The ‘right’ package of technology and supportive culture are the two key factors impacting productivity besides size of work-space.

The productivity equation

Source: Jabra