Contact Centres Fail to Engage and Retain Younger Employees

Young Millennial / GenZ Customer Service Agents (ages 18-24) could be the largest customer service agent demographic in the next several years but they could also be the least happy and most likely to leave their jobs, according to the 2nd annual Aspect Agent Experience Index survey, which surveyed US employees. Not only is this demographic the only group whose job satisfaction declined from 2017, but 45% of Young Millennial / GenZ agents are much more likely to be looking for another job than older Millennials (33%) and GenX/Boomers (24%).

Driving this restlessness are a number of gaps which exist between the factors all agents say are vital to their engagement, and the availability of those factors in agents’ contact centres:

• 83% of agents believe having the ability to move up in the organisation is important to their engagement, however only 58% say it is provided by their current employer;

• 91% say feeling like a valued part of a team is important but only 58% say they work in a customer service environment where this is present;

• 80% say having up-to-date customer service software is critical to their engagement but only 35% of agents say this is currently available to them;

• 93% of agents say it’s important to be working in an environment where they feel respected, the highest ranked of the 14 factors.

“There are a number of insights from the Aspect Agent Experience Index survey that provide customer service organisations with the keys to making their agents happier and better equipped to service customers,” said Nancy Dobrozdravic, Vice President of Marketing, Aspect. “And while employment loyalty in younger agents is the most precarious of all demographics, customer service organisations can reduce employee attrition across cohorts by closing the gaps between agents’ workplace expectations and the contact centre’s ability to deliver on those fronts,” she concluded.

Some other ways customer service organisations can improve agent satisfaction and engagement include:

• Challenge them: 81% of agents say their skills will improve when they are tasked with handling more complex questions and tasks. 70% of agents say it will improve their chances of moving up in the company, plus 73% of Young Millennial/GenZ agents say it will make them feel more satisfied/committed in their jobs -higher than any other demographic.

• Improve the work environment: Making work/life management easy and, where possible, self-serviceable, can provide more schedule flexibility, create greater work/life balance and make agents feel respected. More than half of Young Millennial/GenZ agents (58%) say using self-service to manage their schedules, pick up and change shifts is more important than a good salary.

(Source: Aspect)