Trevor Clark is the Founder and CEO of ShyftOff, a flexible, on-demand outsource solution for contact centers and customer support teams.
In the last three years, companies have been forced to adapt to a remote or hybrid environment—and what we learned is that remote work isn’t going anywhere. Even though some companies are requiring employees to return to the office (and this probably is the right thing to do for some employee groups), this may not make sense for all employees. Consider customer care teams, for example, where most of this workforce prefers to work remotely. The challenge with transitioning back to in-office operations is putting the genie back in the bottle, considering that remote work is preferred and here to stay.
Leaders have only been managing remote teams for a few years, and I think it’s safe to say that we’re still on the learning curve. Before giving up and pushing teams back to the old way of working, we should consider how mastering a remote workforce will drive our businesses forward. As HBR shared in a recent article, for companies to attract and retain employees, they need a systematic approach that redefines their employee value proposition to benefit the company and employees.
Improve team performance and work-life balance.
We have the chance to solve age-old problems with traditional employment models. The biggest issue, especially for contact center teams, is that work incentives don’t align with employees.
In Daniel Pink’s book Drive, he explores the factors that motivate employees in the workplace. He identifies three key elements: autonomy, mastery and purpose. Pink argues that fostering these elements in the workplace can lead to higher levels of motivation, satisfaction and overall performance among employees.
These three things can drive people to engage in meaningful work and are what managers need to focus on to help drive high performance in the workforce. To unlock the potential of remote teams, we need to lean into this learning curve rather than abandon it. One model that enables this approach for customer care teams is gig work or GigCX. This model aligns with autonomy, mastery, and purpose, considering employees can choose when and how much they work and do work they are already good at or can be good at.
So, how do gig work models unlock remote performance?
Gig work models, like GigCX, match the right employee with the right work.
Flexible gig work is designed around finding the right people for the work. Employees have the autonomy to choose purposeful work they are masters at, which aligns with Daniel Pink’s theory. Businesses are matched with people who choose to do the work their company is hiring for. As a result, businesses are matched with talent to build remote teams that deliver better results, strengthening their operations.
Flexible gig work fosters a culture of excellence that retains talent.
A culture of excellence fueled by flexible gig work arrangements can be a significant factor in retaining top talent and attracting new skilled professionals. Flexible gig work requires strong communication and collaboration practices. Organizations that excel in remote collaboration foster a culture of excellence. Implementing a flexible gig workforce requires a foundation of trust between employees and employers. When employees feel trusted to manage their schedules and workloads, they are more likely to take ownership of their responsibilities.
How contact centers can adopt a GigCX model.
When thinking about implementing a gig work model (or taking the best practices from one), leaders should consider it as an augmentation of their model rather than a means to entirely replace their current working methods. Before implementing a GigCX model, you should closely work with your leadership and internal teams to buy into the process. They should feel a sense of commitment and responsibility to maintain the success of the model. After all, this approach is designed to help improve your customer experience strategy by tapping into talent who is ready and qualified to serve your customers.
To hire the right gig agents, your contact center must have clearly defined expectations and tasks you’d like this role to complete. Once you’ve clearly identified these roles, you can then successfully seek a GigCX partner. The right GigCX partner should align with your culture, technology requirements and dedication to quality. Considering gig agents will be an extension of your team, you must ensure that your partner becomes an integral part of your current operating team.
A GigCX partner’s ongoing success depends entirely on the accuracy of your training materials and business information. Keeping gig agents up to date on new business objectives and product updates will enable them to continue to provide effective resolutions to your customers. Clear and frequent communication is key to building trust with your GigCX partner.
What are alternatives to GigCX?
GigCX is not ideal for every contact center or business. Some of the reasons it may not work include having too small of a contact center or not prioritizing a GigCX partner as an integral part of your customer experience strategy. Smaller contact centers oftentimes don’t have the internal staff or leadership to manage an effective GigCX team, which could ultimately impact performance.
However, smaller contact center operations can still ensure autonomy, mastery and purpose in their business before they are ready to work with a GigCX partner. To truly unlock autonomy and mastery, you must give them the tools to make choices in the customer’s best interest. These tools can include self-service knowledge hubs or AI-assisted technologies to easily find information. Other methods include providing ways for agents to directly impact a customer’s experience, such as issuing refunds or providing gift cards, without leadership’s approval. Providing your agents with the opportunity to take ownership of the customer’s experience can positively impact the way they think or feel about how their work impacts others.
When thinking about unlocking performance and redefining how to attract top talent, flexible gig work can be the next stage of remote work. Companies that empower their employees with choice and purpose can win top talent in a competitive market.
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