Studies prove that happy employees are up to 12% more productive than their counterparts. A happy staff member is a successful one, which means many companies spend a lot of time and effort finding ways to keep their teams smiling.
One of the best strategies we discovered during 2020 was the option to give your employees the freedom to work from home, or another flexible environment. Studies tell us that around 48% of respondents are working remotely, and those working from home are generally happier. Remote workers scored a 73 out of 100 for happiness.
What’s more, 38% of workers say they’d like to work from home more frequently than they used to once the restrictions of the pandemic have subsided. Another 19% indicated that they would prefer to work remotely all of the time.
The Ups and Downs of Working at Home
As remote working grows increasingly common (and necessary), there are plenty of groups researching whether contact centre agents really can be happier outside of the office. One study into 2000 workers over the age of 18 found that employees were happy to continue working from home for as long as necessary, claiming that it offered greater work/life balance. Another global study conducted by Harris Interactive and Toluna found that UK employees are reporting both improvements in mental health and productivity when working from home. However, there were some less appealing results to mention in this study too. Though employees are generally happier working from home, they’re also less engaged, and feel less commitment to their employers.
While working remotely might give your team members the freedom they need to organise their schedule more effectively, it also has the potential to create issues with feelings of isolation and disconnect. This is particularly true when contact centres don’t have the right strategies in place to keep their employees connected.
What Do Agents Need to be Happier at Home?
There are various factors that can influence the success of a work-from-home strategy for your contact centre agents. For instance, some employees have work that simply can’t be done from home at the moment, like those in the engineering landscape. Others feel that they can only be happy working from home if they have constant access to their team members.
Factors that are likely to affect happiness in the remote landscape include:
- The environment: Finding the right space to work in isn’t always easy for remote workers. If you don’t have access to a dedicated office space, then you might struggle to find a room that isn’t going to distract you with the presence of other family members and electronics. Around 15% of people say they prefer to have a specific table to work at. However, finding enough space for a desk and making sure that you’re out of the way of other distractions is tough
- Routine: As appealing as the flexibility of remote work can be initially, it can also be problematic for people who want more structure in their lives. It can be difficult to determine whether you’re producing the right quality of work or acting at the correct speed when you’re working from home. People without routine might also struggle to move from a state of being “at home”, to the mental state that they need for productivity
- Separation: Being able to separate the work and personal worlds of your home-working landscape is a key factor in agent happiness. If employees aren’t able to switch off when they’re not at work, they can end up working longer hours and risking burn-out. It’s important for companies to have guidelines in place that allow employees to leave the office behind when they’re done for the day
- Access to the right tools: Without tech professionals and supervisors to help them, employees are much more self-reliant when working from home. If they don’t have the right tools to complete their work, they’re going to end up frustrated and unhappy. Team members need access to everything from the right contact centre software to a strong internet connection, and even hardware that they can rely on
- Communication: Employees still want to feel connected to the rest of their team when they’re not in the office. Lack of frequent communication and feedback can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness that stop team members form enjoying their new experience.
Which Employees are Happier Working from Home?
A Harvard Business review article indicates that some employees may be more suitable for working from home than others. For instance, employees that do more repetitive work can be comfortable at home without needing a lot of extra support and guidance. Allowing people to work from home, even part-time can also help to attract a wider selection of employees.
People who have many commitments outside of the workplace find working from home to give them more freedom and flexibility. Older workers, people who need to look after children, and married workers that want to spend time with their spouses don’t want to work from the office as much. On the other hand, employees that benefit from the presence of a supportive team as they work will find that working from home isn’t nearly as appealing.
Not everyone wants to allow their professional and personal lives to align as closely as they do with remote work. Some people find that it’s difficult to switch off when they have an office at home, while others struggle to focus on their work with other distractions constantly present in their peripheral. Some people aren’t disciplined enough to make the shift to constant remote work, and others feel as though it has an impact on their personal lives.
There are also a significant number of employees out there who would prefer to combine the best of both worlds, by working in a hybrid landscape. This would mean that team members spend a certain number of days in the office, and another number working outside of the traditional space. A hybrid contact centre could be an ideal way to overcome some of the engagement issues associated with anywhere working, while still giving employees the freedom they need.
