Genesys study reveals path to improving recruitment and retention for the contact center in the face of the Great Resignation

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Genesys®, a global cloud leader in customer experience, today released "Human Values: The operating system for a high-performing contact center," a study examining the values, desires and strengths among high-performing contact center employees worldwide. The report also provides a five-step process to turn these insights into actions to engage and motivate employees. By focusing on these core values, businesses can create the right culture to foster a strong sense of ownership and connection to the business. This leads to greater happiness and improves an organization's ability to attract, retain and engage top talent.

In what's being called "The Great Resignation," where 65% of people looking for a new jobⁱ, the competition for talent is intense. The pandemic drove a shift in the mindset of how people evaluate what they want out of their employers, leading them to seek companies that have cultures that align with their values, have a clear mission and embody customer-centric business. This type of empathetic culture has become the baseline for a desirable employer.

Organizations that take a business-as-usual approach instead of adjusting to meet these new standards will be at high risk for attrition. And that leads to the expensive task of replacing and training new staff — and the loss of organizational knowledge. Ultimately, that affects the quality of service customers receive.

"Now that personal and professional lives have blended more than ever before, people are discovering that what they want out of employers is different than the past," said Merijn te Booij, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Workforce Engagement Management at Genesys. "When employees see their values integrated with their work environment, they feel seen and understood which, in turn, drives motivation and engagement. Elevating the employee experience will not only enable businesses to attract and retain talent but will also empower agents to deliver exceptional experiences to customers."

In today's experience economy, where consumers are always-on, looking for what they need — when they need it — and expecting to be heard and understood, contact center employees are often a customer's primary point of interaction with a business. The volume of customer interactions agents handle is increased by nearly 20% on average, and spiked 35-40% in some cases during the pandemic, according to a poll among Genesys Customer Advisory Board membersⁱⁱ. Therefore, connecting with agents by providing the environment and tools that enable them to do their best work will be a differentiator in meeting the expectations of today's consumers.   

Human Values study insights

• The top-five values identified among call center employees, classified as sales, tech support and customer service staff, are personal responsibility, family, relationships, financial security, and health and well-being.
• When it comes to what employees enjoy most about their jobs, learning new skills and earning recognition tied for first, globally. Respondents in Africa enjoy learning new skills the most (73%), while North American respondents appreciate recognition (61%) more than any other region.
• Employees also shared what they most love: advancement opportunities; hate: inconsistent compensation; and wish was different: increased compensation, about their jobs.
• When identifying strengths, over half of respondents classified thoroughness and completeness as their top abilities, while less than 10% thought empathy and listening were their greatest strengths.
• Personal growth and learning new skills were common themes among the findings. When partnered with respondents' top value, personal responsibility, providing self-paced training opportunities will be a significant factor in enhancing the contact center agent experience.

To learn more about the values and motivations of contact center employees, and to get recommendations on how to put these insights into action, please view the report here.

About Genesys
Every year, Genesys orchestrates more than 70 billion remarkable customer experiences for organizations in more than 100 countries. Through the power of our cloud, digital and AI technologies, organizations can realize Experience as a Service ^SM, our vision for empathetic customer experiences at scale. With Genesys, organizations have the power to deliver proactive, predictive, and hyper personalized experiences to deepen their customer connection across every marketing, sales, and service moment on any channel, while also improving employee productivity and engagement. By transforming back-office technology to a modern revenue velocity engine Genesys enables true intimacy at scale to foster customer trust and loyalty. Visit www.genesys.com.

©2021 Genesys. All rights reserved. Genesys, the Genesys logo, Genesys Cloud CX, Genesys Multicloud CX, Genesys DX and Experience as a Service are trademarks, service marks and/or registered trademarks of Genesys. All other company names and logos may be registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies.

ⁱ PWC US Pulse Survey: Next in Work; August 19, 2021

ⁱⁱ January 2021 Genesys Customer Advisory Board members poll

Janelle Dickerson
Genesys
[email protected]

Nectar Communications  
[email protected]
+1 415.399.0181 

SOURCE Genesys

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