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Three Tips for Supercharging the Manager Experience

The contact center landscape is changing. The manager experience must change with it.

By: Andrea Meyer, Content Manager

“We’re not managing a 1,000-employee contact center, but 1,000 contact centers of one.” 

–Centrical Customer  

The quote above nicely sums up the changing landscape of the contact center. Customer expectations are rising, and more is expected of agents. Agents, in turn, are expecting more from their employers and their work, especially in terms of skill and career development.   

At the crux of these expectations is the frontline manager. And they may not be prepared for the job. 

Case in point: Centrical Director of Consulting Ian Chappell recently spoke at The Forum’s Autumn Community Conference. Before officially starting his presentation, Ian asked the audience of about 100 attendees a few questions. Here is what he shared with us: 

“I asked, ‘How many of you started as an agent?’ – nearly every hand went up.  

“I then asked how many attendees moved into team management – about 75% of the audience raised their hands.

“Finally, I asked how many attendees had formal management training – maybe five or ten attendees raised their hands.  

“I then went on to say how we’ve all had bad managers but that isn’t a reflection on the individual – rather, how we prepare our managers for success. This was the intro before diving into the session!” 

The moral of the story?  

Contact center managers have institutional business knowledge but might not be adequately prepared for the next step in their journey: team management. This not only affects manager performance but will also impact team engagement and performance – and ultimately, the customer experience. This is especially true today, as contact centers seek to modernize and take new approaches to train, retain, and build strong frontline teams.  

When organizations discuss the employee experience and meeting employee expectations, it is usually in the context of the frontline agent. The manager experience is often overlooked, which adversely affects the quality of the employee experience – and potentially, the customer experience.  

But what can organizations do to boost the manager experience? Here are three getting-started points: 

  • Tip 1:  Invest in training and development that includes communication and conflict resolution strategies, use of contact center technology, and leadership courses.  
  • Tip 2:  Acknowledge the challenges that come with the frontline manager roles, and recognize managers for their work and improved performance, as you would their agents. 
  • Tip 3:  Look for a solution that leverages AI to make the jobs of managers easier and motivates them to develop and grow. 

Of course, there is a lot more to preparing your managers for success. In our upcoming Demo Day webinar, Supercharging the Frontline Manager Experience, Ian will cover key points, including: 

  • The road to transformation for frontline managers – old versus new 
  • How managers can turn frontline agents into frontline talent 
  • Orchestrating an employee performance experience for both agents and managers 
  • Harnessing the power of collaboration  
  • And much more 

The contact center is evolving, and organizations must stay a step ahead to thrive. Are YOU ready to super-charge the manager experience at your organization? 

Register today to save your spot: https://centrical.com/events/demo-supercharging-the-frontline-manager-experience/ 

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