Driving performance of remote CX teams: Key strategies
In recent years, the corporate landscape has evolved, with remote teams becoming increasingly common. There is no doubt that this shift offers substantial financial benefits; the cost savings can be significant, as the need for office space, utilities, and other expenses decreases. For employees, working remotely offers greater flexibility and improves their overall quality of life. However, companies have been navigating remote work for some time now, and most corporations have growing concerns about productivity and employee engagement. While some have rolled out mandatory returns to the office in an attempt to increase productivity and enhance company culture, others have decided to embrace remote and hybrid work as a new way of life and are investing the necessary effort and attention to succeed in this new reality.
The remote work benefits are especially true in the realm of customer experience (CX) management, particularly for contact center operations. Yet, managing frontline teams remotely presents unique challenges. One of the primary risks of remote work is a reduction in employee engagement. Without in-person interactions, fostering a strong sense of belonging among team members and creating a human-centric culture can be difficult. This lack of engagement can negatively impact corporate culture, which is essential for successful CX delivery. The ability to unlock the performance of remote CX teams is crucial. Any brand looking to reap the financial benefits of having remote frontline teams to serve customers should focus on three key areas: training for virtual leadership, communicating to enhance digital culture, and choosing the right technology for remote productivity.
Training for remote leadership
Talent development is essential to any successful corporate culture. In a brick-and-mortar contact center, support teams work closely with operational leaders to provide them with the training and tools needed to lead effectively. As a result, operational leaders are well-equipped to support CX representatives as they handle one call after another. The continuous support, made possible by close proximity in the same physical location, helps agents deliver the best possible outcomes for customers.
In a remote work setting, team dynamics can be significantly impacted. Cohesion and collaboration suffer as interactions are limited to digital channels. Decoding non-verbal cues is easier in person, and assessing a colleague’s emotional state from a distance is more challenging. Therefore, support teams need to develop new training programs and coach team managers to become not only good leaders but also great virtual ones.
Training CX teams on-site and remotely requires different skill sets. To help leaders become proficient in a virtual setting, they must be equipped with the skills necessary to coach remote agents effectively. Training programs should be personalized and adapted to digital formats, enabling self-paced learning. A platform that houses training materials and allows remote leaders to access them at their convenience will enable faster learning and adoption of these new skills. Additionally, providing leaders with advanced tools to create engaging and personalized coaching content through pre-recorded videos or live streaming will make coaching more personal and engaging. Adapting the coaching approach is essential to help CX professionals stay connected, motivated, and productive in a remote setting.
This might seem like it requires a significant amount of time, effort, and money. However, when we look at the outcomes of effective remote leadership in terms of keeping employees engaged—especially those who are just a laptop away from switching jobs—the investment is worth it.
“After all, when working remotely, the direct manager is the primary connection between the employee and the organization.”
Training those tasked with leading remotely is key to sustaining high levels of motivation, engagement, and performance. Given the challenges of leading from a distance, it is essential to create a leadership development system specifically tailored to remote settings. How to lead, coach, and support a frontline team member remotely should be at the core of talent development processes and part of the contact center’s blueprint.
Communicating to build company culture beyond office walls
Fostering a strong company culture is particularly challenging in a remote work environment, yet it is crucial for maintaining employee engagement and a sense of belonging. Contact centers, in particular, must find innovative ways to infuse corporate culture and strengthen connections among remote team members.
A robust communication system is essential for managing a virtual workforce. This system should include monthly updates, corporate news, weekly engaging content, and daily opportunities for team members to interact with each other. Such initiatives ensure that employees remain informed, engaged, and connected despite the physical distance.
The system should include guidelines for what and how leaders should communicate, as well as set expectations for the frequency of leader-team communications. Communication tools and templates or syllabi can help ensure that the information shared is consistent and aligned with corporate goals.
Beyond sharing corporate updates and providing a structure for effective virtual communications, the system must also provide a standardized way to recognize individual and team achievements. Even in a virtual setting, employee recognition is vital for reinforcing company culture.
Celebrating individual and team achievements could be done through virtual awards or public acknowledgments. Regular recognition helps sustain engagement, fosters a positive work environment, and supports CX representatives in delivering better customer experiences.
Choosing the right technology for productivity improvements
When it comes to the debate between remote work and in-office work, productivity is a primary concern. While remote work allows for flexibility, it requires a high degree of self-discipline and effective time management. These attributes can wane over time. For example, a recent EY survey of white-collar businesses found that the top reason managers want to bring workers back to the office is to improve productivity.
Studies have shown that virtual and hybrid teams can be as productive, if not more so, than their in-office counterparts when supported by appropriate systems. However, this productivity depends on team leaders' ability to monitor performance effectively and identify areas for improvement. Effective performance monitoring is essential to maintaining high levels of engagement, team dynamics, and productivity in a remote work environment.
To achieve this, companies need automated systems that help team leaders identify inefficiencies and provide coaching opportunities for remote CX teams. A performance monitoring platform that measures quality metrics in real-time, both at the team and individual levels, can be invaluable. Such platforms generate reports automatically, enabling team leaders to take proactive measures to meet quality and performance targets. For example, if a team leader notices that an agent's average handle time consistently exceeds the target, they can quickly provide direct feedback or offer additional coaching.
Bringing it all together for high-performing virtual CX teams
Ideally, the performance of remote employees should be as high as that of those working from the office. Because the work experience is different for frontline professionals as well as leaders, managing high-performance virtual CX teams requires a strategic approach that addresses the unique challenges of remote work. By designing a leadership development system tailored for remote coaching skills, fostering a strong company culture through innovative communication methods, and implementing effective performance monitoring systems, organizations can ensure that their virtual customer experience representatives remain motivated, engaged, and productive. These strategies not only help overcome the challenges of remote work but also enable companies to fully leverage all its benefits.
At Nordia, 90% of our frontline team members have been working from home since the pandemic. Today, we manage nearly 10,000 people both virtually and on-site across our nine customer experience and contact centers in Canada and the Philippines.
Question: Managers, what is your motivation for bringing employees back to the office?
Source: EY Future Workplace Index 2023, p. 9.
About the Author
Lyne is Vice President of Operations at Nordia. Lyne has been developing high-performing teams, managing employee engagement, and improving customer satisfaction for over 20 years. Lyne sharpened her expertise in team productivity and engagement through her wide experience as a senior CX leader for large organizations across various industries – notably in Insurance and Telecommunications. Shortly after joining Nordia in 2019, Lyne helped Nordia successfully pivot operations from in-centre to work from home and has developed an expertise in leading thousands of CX representatives remotely. At Nordia, Lyne oversees operations - including onboarding, training, and development of Nordia’s CX representatives.