Business Agility and the Workforce
Readiness and agility of the workforce is the foundation of business resiliency. Black swan events will test an organization’s ability to respond and operate effectively under challenging conditions, including pandemics and other disruptions that force the workforce to operate outside normal conditions with little notice or preparation. Ventana Research asserts that by 2024, following a decade of concerted efforts toward digital transformation, one-half of organizations will still not have established business continuity as an investment priority and will not be prepared to operate in a future pandemic or crisis. This will lead to increased operational risks and will challenge all members of the workforce as they attempt to perform in a way that maintains business operations as much as possible.
Agents are the foundation of the contact center processes that impact every customer experience. These processes and the customer service function must be able to operate from any location, at any time, and agents must be able to respond to customers via any communication channel for any request. Optimized contact center processes feature agents who are empowered to take action on behalf of the customer and who are supported by technology that supplements, guides and extends the productive capacity of the workforce. During challenging periods, contact centers must be ready to operate across all communication channels in a scalable way to meet spikes of inbound demand.