TouchPoint One Issues New Report Spotlighting Critical Support Gaps for Contact Center Supervisors

Survey research offers critical insights to executives responsible for contact center performance amidst tight labor market and unprecedented technological shifts

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, November 26, 2019 — TouchPoint One, the leading provider of employee engagement and performance management solutions for contact centers, today published survey research spotlighting critical support gaps for contact center supervisors. The report, entitled “ Why Your Customer Contact Operations May Be Failing and What You Can Do to Fix It” delivers important insights for executives seeking clear solutions to address employee turnover, drive, and effectiveness in an era of unprecedented technological transformation and competition for talent.

Completed by several hundred respondents in the U.S. and nearshore countries, TouchPoint One’s report is the first survey of its kind in which contact center supervisors were asked about the quality and adequacy of support they were provided by their employers and senior managers were asked similar questions regarding the support they provided or wished to provide their supervisors.

Among several key insights, the report identified encouraging agreement between senior and frontline managers about the value of training. Thirty-one percent of contact center supervisors identified training as the one thing they wished their employer would provide more of, second only to higher wages and financial incentives cited by 36 percent. Thirty-eight percent of senior leaders indicated training as the one thing they’d like or plan to provide more of to supervisors to help them succeed. However, no senior manager mentioned compensation as a most useful thing provided to supervisors to help them succeed.

“Lasting success in the contact center hinges on supervisor success, but even basic levels of training, support, and tools required for them to function effectively are commonly lacking,” said Greg Salvato, CEO of TouchPoint One. “With the cooperation of our partners and clients, TouchPoint One surveyed hundreds of senior-level and frontline managers within large contact centers to pinpoint the factors undermining their ability to achieve the level of success they and their employees are truly capable.”

Apart from the deficiency in training and skills development acknowledged by both supervisors and senior management and the distinct disconnect regarding the issue of higher supervisor compensation, real-time performance intelligence; management guidance and agent support systems; recognition, reward, and incentive programs; and programs to reduce stress were additional priorities expressed as critical by both groups.

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Other key takeaways from the survey include:

• Thirty-four percent of senior managers identified real-time performance intelligence as the most important thing provided by the organization to help supervisors succeed. 26 percent of supervisors consider it the most useful thing provided to them by their employer to help them succeed.
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• Twenty-five percent of frontline leaders surveyed said management guidance and agent support systems were the one thing they wish their employer would provide them to help them succeed.
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• Twenty-four percent of the supervisors identified a desire for more recognition than was currently provided, while only 16 percent of senior managers mentioned it as the top concern.
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• Senior leadership was slightly more critical of its performance than were the recipients of the support to whom they are responsible, indicating a healthy and encouraging sense of accountability of their need to do better.
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“The report is intended to stimulate serious thought and action by contact center executives interested in better understanding and fulfilling the needs of their frontline leaders, their most vital human capital asset, and improving their organization’s stature, influence, and value to its customers, employees, and stakeholders,” said Salvato. “If your contact center isn’t achieving the level of prosperity that you know it’s capable of, it’s important to identify and fix the issues undermining supervisor effectiveness as they are the linchpins to maximizing employee, customer, and business potential.”

To access the full report, visit the TouchPoint One web site.