Take a look at the graphic on the left. What color are squares A & B? Two different shades of gray, right?
Wrong.
Square A and Square B are the exact same color. No really, they are. Follow this link and you’ll better understand how the illusion works, but the point it illustrates is even easier to understand:
Our perception and the reality can be two very different things.
- Okay, so it’s not exactly newsworthy to some of you, but stay with me for a minute longer. What would you think if I told you that many service leaders are perceiving engagement issues (lack of discretionary effort, not wanting to keep up with the rapidly changing workplace) with their workforce right now? Are you nodding your head and saying, “Yes, we are, too.”Well, what if I told you that many of those organizations’ perceptions aren’t the reality? The perception of an engagement issue is in reality a hiring fit challenge.You see, what service leaders perceive as an engagement challenge is actually the outcome of hiring the wrong staff members to work in the contact center!For the better part of the last year, CEB Customer Contact Leadership Council has been hearing that many service organizations are striving to create low-effort service experiences for their customers, but are facing challenges with their frontline staff being able to keep up with increased customer expectations and the faster pace of work. To make matters worse, those same reps who are struggling to keep up seemingly become disengaged, too (no shocker, there). So, we at Customer Contact Leadership Council set out to uncover the root cause of this challenge and our 2015 major research study aims to find solutions, too.
CEB’s initial findings are showing that a perceived engagement challenge stems from hiring a rep that’s actually a poor fit for the service organization. In an effort to uncover the profile of a high-performing rep that will deliver a low-effort service experience CEB has found that not identifying and hiring the right fit is the critical misstep that many organizations are taking.
The good news? Over the course of the next several months we’re excited to unveil all of our findings and some incredible practices, tools and diagnostics to help drive this change, too.
Stay tuned!
CEB Resources