2006 Contact Center Telework Report

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Strategies & Solutions for Call Center Professionals Worldwide

2006 Contact Center Telework Report

SI00017

CONTACT CENTER TELEWORK REPORT

STUDY RESULTS

Call Center Management Review provides the research, strategies and solutions necessary to successfully manage a customer contact center. Our independent perspective, relevant reports and indepth analysis enables organizations to provide cutting-edge customer services, and for individuals to further their careers.

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?2006 ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

2006 Contact Center Telework Study Results

Contact center managers--the good ones, anyway--are constantly on the lookout for innovative ways to cut costs, retain/motivate staff, and enhance the center's overall performance. Thus, when a staffing trend emerges that may enable an organization to accomplish all of the above, contact center managers take notice--and many take action.

Telework initiatives are nothing new to the contact center world; centers started experimenting with home-agent models/pilots in the late 1980s. However, with major advances in telework-enabling technology coupled with increased contact center growth/competition and the impact on the availability of quality labor, telework has become a rather hot topic in our industry.

While numerous studies and telework proponents have touted the big potential benefits of a well-implemented home-agent initiative, we at ICMI wanted to gather our own current data on this late-blooming staffing trend. We already know that several research firms have predicted explosive growth in telework (15% to 25% each year through 2010, at least); we wanted to know who is doing it NOW, to what extent, in what way, and with what results. To satisfy our curiosity--and hopefully yours, as well--ICMI conducted a focused survey on contact center telework programs in June 2006, with 265 contact center professionals representing a wide range of industries and sizes participating in the survey. The following are the key findings we uncovered:

RESPONDENTS' BACKGROUNDS ? The five most common industries represented in the study include

Financial Services (17.7%), Utilities (7.9%), Medical Healthcare (7.5%), Telecommunications (7.2%), and Manufacturing (5.7%).

? The vast majority (87.1%) of respondents work in North American contact centers, with the largest representation coming from the Midwest U.S. (22.6%), the Southeast U.S. (13.2%), and the Northeast U.S. (12.1%). A smattering of respondents work in contact centers in Mexico, South/Central America, Europe, Asia, Australia/Pacific Rim, the Middle East, and Africa..

? The size of participating call centers was fairly evenly distributed, with 20.7% of respondents employing 21 to 50 full-time agents, 19.6% employing 51 to 100 FTEs, 17.4% reporting fewer than 20 FTEs on staff, and 15.1% staffing 201 to 500 full-time agents. (See figure on page 1.)

? Nearly one in three respondents (28.3%) indicated that their contact cen-

In this ISSUE

Telework Hitting Home in Customer Contact ......................................................................5 Companies and Agents Benefit from Work-at-Home Program for Disabled ........................9 How to Maximize the Success of Your Telework Program .................................................12 About ICMI ........................................................................................................................13

?2006 ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

Contact Center Telework Report ii

CONTACT CENTER TELEWORK REPORT

STUDY RESULTS

ter currently uses home agents in some form: 14.7% have a pilot telework program in place; 11.7% have a full-fledged telework initiative in place (in-house); and 1.9% use an outsourcer that is staffed with home agents. Of the 71.7% of centers that do not use home agents now, a whopping 50.8% are considering doing so within the next year or two--thus supporting other studies' findings that telework is poised for explosive growth in the near future.

How many full-time agents are employed in your call center?

201-500 15.1%

Over 500 13.6%

Less than 20 17.4%

101-200 13.6%

51-100 19.6%

21-50 20.7%

THE TELEWORK ARRANGEMENT ? Most centers that currently use home

agents do so on a small scale: 70.6% of respondents reported that home agents represent 1% to 10% of their overall frontline staff; 10.3% said that home agents represent 11% to 20% of their frontline staff; and another 10.3% reported having 21% to 30% of their agents work from home. A handful of centers (five in all) employ a frontline featuring between 51% and 90% home agents. As companies become more comfortable with telework-- and begin to experience more of its potential benefits--we expect the number of contact centers with a larger percentage of home agents to increase.

? The most common telework arrangement is for home agents to work from home 100% of the time; 44% of respondents with telework programs in place take that approach. However, many companies have home agents come into the physical contact center occasionally to work: 13.4% of respondents indicated that home agents work in the contact center once or twice a week; another 13.4% said that teleworkers come into the center to work once or twice a month; 11.9% have teleworkers work from the center once or twice a quarter; and 7.5% said that home agents handle contacts in the center only about once or twice a year. At 9% of responding centers, home agents barely can call themselves that, as they are required to work in the center more than once or twice a week. Experts agree that asking home agents to work in the center that often can defeat the purpose of implementing a telework initiative in the first place--since home agents rarely can get into a "telework rhythm," and the center is unable to take real advantage of cost savings associated with reduced facility space.

? At half the centers (49.3%) using home agents, both the agent and the company supply/pay for the required equipment (workstation desk, chair, PC/monitor/keyboard, etc.) and phone/Internet lines. Another 35.8% of respondents indicated that the company supplies ALL equipment and telecom lines. In the remaining centers (14.9%), the agent is fully responsible for all personal equipment and lines required for telework.

HOME-AGENT SELECTION AND COMPENSATION ? The top three criteria respondents consider when

selecting home agents are: 1. Overall performance results (77% of respondents

cited this as "very important"; 23% as "important") 2. Proven ability to work with minimal supervision

(77% very important; 21% important) 3. Self-motivation (72% very important; 22% impor-

tant) Number of years/months on the job was not cited as a

crucial factor for home-agent selection (30% very important; 34% important)--a good thing, since telework experts often point out that long tenure does not necessarily mean an agent is ideally suited for telework. Another promising finding is the fact that respondents indicated that the distance of the home-agent candidate's home from the contact center does not have a big influence on their selection as a teleworker; this indicates that contact centers are discovering how telework can help them expand their recruiting reach outside their immediate region or even state/province.

? In the vast majority of contact centers (91%) with a telework program in place, home agents are compensated

?2006 ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

Contact Center Telework Report 1

CONTACT CENTER TELEWORK REPORT

STUDY RESULTS

exactly the same as their in-house colleagues. At 7.5% of

online via chat (22% very common; 21% common). That

telework-enabled centers, home agents are actually paid a

so much of the training and information delivered to home

little less than in-house agents, since the former save

agents is being done virtually is a positive sign. Telework

money on commuting, clothing, etc. Only 1.5% of respon-

experts condone such practices, pointing out that trying to

dents reported paying home agents more than their in-

coach and train virtual agents in the traditional classroom

house counterparts.

can be time-consuming and costly (particularly from a serv-

MONITORING, COACHING AND TRAINING ? Not surprisingly, nearly all responding centers (97%)

that use home agents have technology in place that

ice disruption standpoint), and doesn't support the "anytime/anywhere" mantra that a truly effective telework initiative embraces.

enables supervisors/managers to monitor those agents

PERFORMANCE ISSUES

and track their performance/adherence the same way as

? To help fend against home agent alienation and to

they do for in-house agents. Telework-enabling technolo-

maintain a strong sense of team/camaraderie among tele-

gies have rapidly evolved, according to Jack Heacock,

workers and in-house staff, respondents reported doing

senior vice president of The Telework Coalition. Manage-

the following (see figure, below):

ment can no longer cite technology concerns nor cost as a

1. Include home agents in all incentive programs and

major deterrent to implementing a home-agent program.

contests in the contact center (78.8%)

Ever-improving personal computers, monitoring capabili-

2. Invite home agents into the contact center for occa-

ties, e-learning tools, scheduling software and VoIP voice

sional meetings and social events (78.8%)

quality makes telework very viable, and very affordable.

3. Encourage home agents to communicate via email,

And with such advances in telework technologies, man-

chat and/or phone with one another as well as with their

agement's concerns for information security and other

in-house peers (63.6%)

distributed work issues have greatly diminished in recent

4. Hold frequent team meetings and have home agents

years, says Heacock.

join via conference call (59.1%)

? The top three ways that centers deliver ongoing

5. Hold occasional social events (for all agents) outside

training, coaching and other information efficiently and

the contact center (34.8%); e.g., bowling night, movie

effectively to home agents include via:

night, etc.

1. Email (47% of respondents said this was "very com-

? In more than half of centers (51.6%) with a tele-

mon"; 36% said it was "common")

work program in place, home agents are more productive

2. Intranet that home agents regularly access (38%

than their in-house colleagues: 37.5% of respondents indi-

very common; 33% common)

cated that home agents are "somewhat" more productive

3. Phone calls (25% very common; 48% common)

than in-house agents, while 14.1% reported that home

Other popular ways to communicate

coaching/training needs and information to home agents include having the

How do you foster and maintain a sense of team and camaraderie among your home agents and in-house staff?

agents occasionally meet with their supervisor/manager (and, sometimes,

Invite home agents into the call center for occasional meetings and social events

78.8%

other agents) at the contact center (29% very common; 33% common), as well as delivering such instruction/information via e-learning modules that agents complete at home (25% very common; 20% common). Many centers also have supervisors instruct/inform home agents

Include home agents in all incentive programs and contests in the call center

Encourage home agents to communicate via email, chat and/or phone with one another, as

well as with their in-house peers

Hold frequent team meetings and have home agents join via conference call

Hold occasional social events (for all agents) outside the call center (e.g., bowling night, movie

night, etc.)

34.8%

78.8% 63.6% 59.1%

?2006 ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

Contact Center Telework Report 2

CONTACT CENTER TELEWORK REPORT

STUDY RESULTS

agents are "substantially" more produc-

tive. Most of the remaining centers

What were the major reasons for implementing a telework program?

(39.1%) reported no notable difference in productivity between home-based and in-house staff. Only a handful of

Improve agent satisfaction/retention Improve flexibility in scheduling

71.6% 62.7%

centers indicated that home agents were "somewhat" less productive (7.8%) or "substantially" less produc-

Improve business continuity/disaster recovery capability

Reduce operational costs

58.2% 46.3%

tive (1.6%) than in-house agents. A

Expand staff without increasing facility space

46.3%

couple of reasons why home agents are often more productive than their inhouse peers is that contact centers typi-

Expand recruiting reach (to workers outside the immediate area, workers with disabilities, etc.)

Improve productivity

38.8% 22.4%

cally pick their higher performers for telework. In addition, studies have shown that home agents have fewer

Improve quality

11.9%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

distractions than in-house staff. Plus, because teleworking is considered a privilege by many agents, once they get the opportunity to do so, they typically work hard to keep that privilege.

? Home agents perform either with the same level of quality or with more quality (e.g., fewer errors, better monitoring scores/customer feedback, higher first-call resolution rates) than in-house agents in most responding centers: 60% indicated that there was no notable difference in quality between teleworkers and traditional staff; 18.5% said that teleworkers perform with "somewhat" higher quality than traditional staff; and another 15.4% reported that home agents perform with "substantially" higher quality than their in-house peers. Very few respondents (6.1%--just four centers in all) reported that home agents performed with lower quality than in-house staff.

11.9% cited "improve quality" as a key reason for using home agents. (See figure, above.)

? The most notable difference between remote and inhouse staff is seen in the turnover/retention rates for the two types of agents. Home-based staff is much more likely than traditional staff to be engaged in and remain at their jobs for long periods. Six in 10 centers (59.1%) reported that turnover among home agents is lower than that of inhouse agents--with 33% of them indicating substantially so. Another 36.4% cited no difference in turnover among the two agent factions, and only three respondents in all indicated that home agent turnover was higher than that of center-based staff. These findings align with those of other telework studies. Heacock cites anywhere from 10% to 30% lower attrition rates among home agents. One study, conducted by the International Telework

TELEWORK INITIATIVE BENEFITS ? The top five reasons for implementing a telework

initiative, as cited by respondents, include to: 1. Improve agent satisfaction/retention (71.6%) 2. Improve flexibility in scheduling (62.7%) 3. Improve business continuity capability (58.2%) 4. Reduce operational costs (46.3%) 5. Expand staff without increasing facility space

(46.3%) Other common reasons respondents cited for using

home agents include expanding the center's recruiting reach (38.8%) and improving productivity (22.4%). Only

Association and Council (ITAC), revealed that 25 percent of employees would change companies if the new company offered a telework option--some would even accept a lower wage for no commute.

? Nearly one in three responding centers (31.8%) reported that telework has helped to "somewhat" reduce facility/operating costs. (Only 4.5% reported a "substantial" cost reduction). However, a relatively large number of centers (18.2%) said that facility/operating costs have "somewhat" increased with the implementation of a telework program. (Just one center reported a "substantial" increase). The remaining centers (43.9%) reported no

?2006 ICMI, a division of CMP Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

Contact Center Telework Report 3

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