We've all seen the signs.
A contact center agent starts developing some bad habits. You can hear a negative tone of voice. Absenteeism increases. Productivity declines while errors go up. You may even see an alarming lack of caring.
The agent's spark has been extinguished. Your agent seems to be burned out.
You're not alone if you've seen this happen. A new study conducted by Toister Performance Solutions reveals that 74 percent of contact center agents are at risk of burnout.
A whopping 30 percent of agents face a severe burnout risk.
Burnout Problems
The U.S. National Library of Medicine provides this definition:
Burnout is a psychological term that refers to long-term exhaustion and diminished interest in work.
According to their website, symptoms include:
Emotional exhaustion
Alienation from job-related activities
Reduced performance
These are all potentially harmful issues. Emotional exhaustion can make it difficult to project friendliness and caring to customers. Alienation from job-related activities might mean an agent gives less effort and rarely goes the extra mile. The result of all that is reduced performance.
You may even seen a spike in absenteeism when an agent begins to burn out before they finally leave. Or worse, they stay, but as a shell of their former selves.
Study Results Revealed
The study results are now available in a new research report. Here are a few highlights:
52% of agents who are at severe risk of burnout said their company is not customer-focused.
41% of agents who are at severe risk of burnout said they don't feel empowered.
36% of agents with a severe burnout risk think their co-workers don't provide outstanding service.