The UK Contact Centre HR & Operational Benchmarking Report Review

Over the last few days, I’ve had the chance to review the "2024 UK Contact Centre HR & Operational Benchmarking Report" which provides an extensive overview of the contact centre industry, offering valuable insights into HR and operational benchmarks. If you haven’t secured a copy, I suggest you reach out to Steve Morrell or head over to ContactBabel | Call Centre, Contact Centre, CX Research & Data and get one asap!? The main high level findings I’ve extracted are:

Remote Work and Hybrid Models: The modern contact centre seems to have embraced a remote and hybrid working model. An anticipated 23% of agents are expected to work entirely from home, while 59% are predicted to work under hybrid arrangements. The fact that only 8% expect a fully remote workforce suggests a cautious approach, balancing the benefits of flexibility against the potential loss of control and team synergy.

AI and Automation: Artificial intelligence (AI) seems to have settled comfortably in the contact centre environment, mainly through chatbots. However, the real game-changer is expected to be AI’s predictive capabilities, offering proactive customer engagement to head off issues before they escalate. This reveals a trend towards anticipation in customer service — the industry is not just responding to customer needs but is also trying to predict them.

Cloud-Based Solutions: The initial hesitancy around cloud-based solutions due to concerns over data security seems to be diminishing. Security concerns have fallen from the second most significant barrier to the seventh over the last decade. This could reflect better understanding and trust in cloud security, or perhaps a resignation to the inevitable march towards cloud computing.

Attrition Rates: The report indicates attrition rates of around 24% (32% for BPOs), with a slight decrease expected. The challenge is to maintain a stable workforce in an industry with historically high turnover. Interestingly, attrition is not distributed evenly across the board. It varies widely depending on the sector, size, and focus of the contact centre operations.

Salary and Compensation: The report suggests that salaries have increased, potentially due to the cost of living crisis and the need to retain talent. Nevertheless, salaries have not kept pace with inflation over the years, which could exacerbate attrition issues.

The report offers a blend of optimism and caution. It reflects an industry in transition, grappling with the integration of new technologies and work models while trying to maintain service quality and employee satisfaction. The anticipated increase in AI capabilities could be a double-edged sword — it may improve efficiency but also could distance the human element further from customer interactions, potentially affecting satisfaction.

At SSCL, the move towards more flexible working arrangements has resulted in improved employee morale. However, the report indicates that if this transition is not managed correctly it could also lead to challenges in maintaining a cohesive company culture and effective communication channels. The decrease in concern over cloud-based solutions' data security reflects a maturation in understanding technology but also underlines the need for ongoing vigilance in a world where data breaches are increasingly common.

Moreover, while the report predicts a slight decrease in attrition rates, this remains a significant issue for the industry, highlighting the need for better recruitment, retention strategies, and perhaps a re-evaluation of job roles and compensation models to better align with employee expectations and the realities of the modern workplace.

In essence, the contact centre industry is at an inflection point where it must balance the charm of technological advances with the fundamental human aspects that underpin customer satisfaction and employee well-being.