WFH Alliance

?? Amazon Mandates Back to Office but NOT for Contact Centers!! ?? ? Amazon announced that all corporate employees must return to office five days per week starting January, 2025. ? It’s so interesting to me that only their CORPORATE employees (primarily in Seattle and Arlington) are mandated back to office, but not the thousands of people that work in their CONTACT CENTERS – they are staying home. ? Here’s my take on the distinction – and I’ve seen it multiple times in large organizations who approve of their contact center teams remaining fully WFH: ? 1.?Clear visibility of output/production – contact centers have the luxury of very clear visibility of productivity, regardless of where people sit.?The highly transactional nature of the work, and the technology that is used to expedite work, leaves little that is unknown about individual, team and business unit output on a daily basis.?Amazon has developed a good deal of their own contact center technology that does just this, and they sell it externally on the open marketplace. ? 2.?Flat management structures in their contact centers – there’s nothing additional to reduce or cut in Amazon’s contact centers.?Their structures are flat; this work was done years ago.? ? 3.?Fluid real estate options – Amazon leased most of its contact center space. ??Locations are dispersed and not attached to the huge sunken costs of the “headquarters” campuses in Arlington and Seattle.?Half empty headquarters or campuses – sting more vs. an empty contact center in Texas. ? ?? It’s quite evident to me that there’s still a trust issue on the corporate or enterprise side of many organizations - trust that employees and managers are producing at the same level, and clocking in the same hours.?But I’m perplexed as to why this is still a gray area, when there is so much technology out there that can enable pretty solid visibility of employee productivity, regardless of where people work or what their roles are. Tools like Google Analytics and Reporting, ActivTrak and Teramind, and even some strong project management tools can all get the job done. ? ?? The trick is to build trust, and follow with engaging the right tools to verify. As long as leadership is transparent about use of productivity tools and objectives (e.g. it's for work and not personal) it should be a non-issue. We've been doing it in contact centers for the past 15 years! ?

Here’s a couple of recent data points that I find compelling on WFH and hybrid: ·?????WFH improves productivity (Jeanna Smlalek, NY Times). Factors that could be related to contact center include time spent grooming and commuting, which has been re-invested towards a fresher start of the day and fewer distractions.https://https://lnkd.in/gzPjTYBU ·?????WFH is driving faster economic growth by increasing the labor-supply of mothers. This is a huge benefit to society, and contributing to the post-pandemic surge in US economic growth. ?A 10% increase in WFH is shown to increase mothers’ employment by 1%. https://lnkd.in/eCkxJqPk (Emma Harrington and Matthew E. Kahn, October 2023)?? ·?????Gallup’s 2023 poll on US employee engagement are quite static. There are slight changes to the high and low ends (actively engaged is ticking up and and actively disengaged is dropping) but largely the middle groups are unchanged.?Given the workforce reductions of the last two years, I’m surprised there are not larger drifts.?As organizational development of WFH and hybrid programs continue to evolve and mature, it’s my hope we will see engagement scores also improve. https://lnkd.in/ezyKy6Jk Key takeaways for contact centers and support functions: 1.?????Contact centers are support functions are trail blazers when it comes to WFH and hybrid, starting with the simple fact that we’ve had more practice.?Most of us have been using the model for the better part of a decade prior to the pandemic.?It was used more as a staffing and retention strategy pre-COVID, and now is embraced by many as a Workplace strategy.?We have a solid leg up, and can help other groups within our organizations that are seeking direction and guidance. 2.????When it comes to visibility of productivity, contact centers don’t have this issue to contend with.?The tech we utilize gives us crystal clear views of productive and non-productive time, regardless of where people sit.?This is an extremely important distinction for contact centers, and enables more swift and confident expansion of hybrid and full WFH.?It is important to note that Reps need visibility of productivity as much as managers do, so if you have not yet installed live productivity and CX dashboards for all users, now is the time! 3.????Freedom of choice is king.?Giving people options on where they work is the best way to cast the widest net for talent.?Second, offering flexible work schedules for people that want to adjust their schedules with regularity is very powerful. ??Some segment of your population probably wants fixed schedules, and some segment would like to make changes based on time of the year, family needs, etc. ?Building work schedules or making changes should not be a taxing or stressful event.?It should be inviting, and easy to achieve. ??

Employee referral programs coupled with informal mentoring first 90 days has huge returns!

?? The Secret to Great Hiring Results = A Beefed Up Employee Referral and Informal Mentoring Program ? I was speaking to a colleague recently who leads a large customer service organization in the health care space. ?In this time of distributed work (his group of 500 is 90% WFH), new hires need ++ guidance and support, particularly for their first 1-3 months of employment.?My colleague is looking for a better solution other than job boards to deliver quality applicants.?He wants to make a bigger investment in employee referrals, going from $250 to something more appealing. ? Unfortunately, his HR business partner is not on the same page.?He was told that ?employee referrals are viewed only as the “last resort” for hiring, which is sort of shocking.? ? Shouldn’t employee referrals be our “first” source of hiring??Why would it ever be our last? ? Here’s what we discussed:? ? ?? Many companies have been successful using “brand ambassadors” in the form of their own customers to help other customers with questions and challenges, and it works, particularly in certain verticals.? ? ?? Most organizations have a tribe of “brand ambassadors” that are THEIR OWN EMPLOYEES, who would jump at the chance to make some solid extra income by bringing new hires into the organization. ? ?? Employees who are passionate brand advocates are generally highly engaged, and they will do a much better job educating and informing qualified applicants than job boards could ever do. ? ?? The trick is to make it worthwhile for your passionate brand advocates (e.g. your referring employees) to invest their time and effort not only to bring qualified applicants to the door, but also to look after them in a sense during the early days of employment. ?$250 probably does not cut it.?And if your payout is in this neighborhood, you probably have low participation. ? ??? In a hybrid or remote environment, you are paying your referring employees to a) bring in qualified applicants and ?b) informally mentor them through their speed to proficiency period. ? ?? Try a pilot of a re-engineered employee referral program, with a payout that is $750-$1000 per hire, payable once at 90 days (or whatever number makes sense for your organization that represents a milestone proficiency period). ? ?? It’s not guaranteed compensation. It is not fixed compensation that you are adding to your budget. ?It is a variable cost of recruitment. This is a spend shift - right into your employees' pockets ?? ? What’s more powerful than additional recognition and reward for employees that are passionate about your company and culture, in exchange for great referrals and some informal mentoring??And you’re not spending any incremental dollars – just moving some money around. ? Have you tried this??I know others that have.?They are seeing very different results in terms of quality of applicants and reducing the number of new hire classes they need to fill!? Please share your experiences! ? ?

Dan Smitley is speaking at the 2024 Remote Working Summit in Dallas, April 9-10, on the links between Workplace flexibility, scheduling flexibility, and attendance. Dan is a recognized industry leader in workforce management for contact centers, and a (very) forward thinker in taking flexibility to the next level for distributed workers. https://lnkd.in/eSGzA-gD

Don Yager, President and CEO of Mural, took the decision to permanently transition his company to remote/hybrid post pandemic, even though it wasn’t his first choice.?The majority of his teams wanted it, and Holy Smokes, he has built an insanely beautiful distributed Workplace culture.?Join the 2024 Remote Working Summit Dallas April 9-10 to learn more.?Https://https://lnkd.in/eSGzA-gD

Brian Griggs, VP Customer Care for Canon, Keynotes at the 2024 Remote Working Summit in Dallas, April 9-10.

20+ speakers on WFH and hybrid at the 2024 Remote Working Summit, Dallas! Join us April 9-10.

Keith Brender, Vice President Student Retention, Academic Partnerships will be sharing just how his leaders and associates have become more closely knit while distributed - than they ever were in office, with productivity and ESAT off the charts great.?Join the 2024 Remote Working Summit Dallas, April 9-10. https://lnkd.in/eSGzA-gD

Audry Williams, VP of People at Wondrium/The Great Courses, will share why and how her company has decided to be one of the few in the broadcast/media space to fully support employee choice of remote and hybrid work.?Join us at the Dallas 2024 Remote Working Summit April 9-10.?https://lnkd.in/eSGzA-gD