Explore fresh, expert perspectives on customer engagement and innovation

In the era of The Great Resignation, staff wellbeing and engagement is certainly a hot topic right now.

Many employees are leaving due to feeling burnt out, unsupported, or undervalued in their roles. In fact, our research shows that 72% of workers said they were burnt out, and 52% said there had been an increase in workload since the beginning of the pandemic.

In the contact centre world, 64% of people reported that they were losing between three to four hours of work each month due to poor work-related mental wellbeing.

And this could have a huge effect on the wider business!

To talk about how leaders can improve wellbeing and company culture, we invited Natalie Calvert, CX+EX Coach & Expert, and Sean McIver, Product Owner at MaxContact, to a recent webinar.

You can watch the webinar in full below or keep reading for the key takeaways.

Why leaders should prioritise employee wellness

On a human level, prioritising wellness and checking in with employees is always a sign of good leadership. But the benefits go beyond that.

Research shows that good company culture increases customer experience by upwards of 75%. So it’s no wonder that 70% of executives say it’s their number one priority.

There’s a clear key link between company culture and employee wellbeing, customer satisfaction, and business performance.

But improving culture and wellbeing is not a quick and easy fix.

The customer contact industry has always had a high staff turnover, but this has increased significantly during the pandemic and The Great Resignation.

Studies show that employees are feeling burnt out and stressed which is causing them to leave en-mass.

Increased employee turnover can hurt businesses in many ways, including the bottom line. On average, it costs between £3,000 to £5,000 to recruit new staff and around 20,000 hours of training to get them up to speed.

It’s no surprise that leaders want to avoid a revolving door of staff, so they can spend that time and money on growing the business. But for this to happen, the company needs to prioritise employee wellbeing and culture.

How to reduce stress for contact centre workers

Any job surrounding customer care, queries, or complaints can come with some stress attached.

Angry customers are feeling the strain of a cost-of-living crisis, life post-pandemic, and the challenges of an increasingly remote world thrown into the mix.

But what can leaders do to protect their contact centre workers? As Natalie explained, we’re creating some of our own stress in a way.

A few years back, workers needed an entirely different skill set than they need today. The world has changed so much, so fast, and contact centre workers have to deal with increasingly complex issues, more demanding customers, and a whole range of other issues that many workplaces aren’t prepared for.

She believes that we really need to reskill our people, leaders especially, to match the needs and expectations of the modern world. If we don’t ensure our frontline staff have the right skills, we can expect high burnout and low staff retention rates.

Another thing that Sean suggested was having a system where customer complaints are recognised and analysed for trends. If frontline staff know there’s a common issue that’s being addressed at a higher level, this provides a bit more backup and support for team members dealing with angry customers.

Ultimately, leaders need to really understand the value of their people and do whatever they can to manage, coach, and support them through stressful times.

Balancing business growth with staff needs

Of course, all businesses want to grow, and growth can sometimes be uncomfortable.

But rather than focusing entirely on hitting quotas, business objectives, and handling increased pressure from customers, leaders should try to address company culture across the board.

This is not just something that affects frontline staff either. There needs to be a culture across all areas and roles, such as QA managers, finance, suppliers, and leadership.

Every subsection of the business should feel valued and supported. And sometimes, all it takes is a quick check-in with staff and some open and honest conversations.

As a business prepares to grow, so with it must the plan to support staff. Increasing or decreasing team sizes, revamping company structure, and training must all be done with employee wellbeing in mind.

How to manage staff wellbeing in a remote setting

Natalie has two tips for this:

• > Keep cameras on
• > Run team huddles

Keeping cameras on during meetings is critical because you can actually check in with people and see how they’re doing. If your team has cameras off, there’s little engagement, and it’s harder to pick up on things that could affect staff wellbeing.

Natalie is also a fan of team huddles, which are short and sweet meetings where everyone can gather for a chat. While they take time to run, Natalie says they are well worth the investment because of the impact on employee engagement and wellbeing.

Why businesses should care about employee engagement

One of the top reasons is that it affects recruitment and retention. Engaged employees are simply less likely to quit.

When you have a group of engaged employees, you’re ensuring that they feel valued and listened to. You are also demonstrating that you are prepared to adapt and adjust as necessary.

On a wider scale, having engaged staff means better performance when it comes to business aims and objectives. Highly engaged employees are much more likely to deliver great customer experience, which impacts customer satisfaction and, ultimately, revenue. So, it’s a win-win.

But Natalie has a word of advice. Good employee engagement won’t happen spontaneously. You have to design it and to do that, you need great leaders who are committed.

Maximising employee engagement in a remote world

Just like with wellbeing, managing engagement can be extra tough when everyone’s working remotely.

But Natalie suggests focusing on a few key areas that impact employee engagement:

1. Customers – Be customer-focused in all areas of the business – not just in customer interactions, but also in internal communications in the team.
2. Purpose – The purpose of the contact centre has to align with the purpose of the overall organisation.
3. Culture and community – Build a great culture focused on your community.
4. Improvement – Make constant improvement a primary goal across each area of the business.
5. Structured development – Focus on staff development and skills.
6. Rewards and recognition – Celebrate successes and reward staff so they know they’re valued.

Five ways to improve employee engagement and wellbeing

Ready to rethink employee engagement and wellbeing but don’t know where to start? Natalie and Sean have you covered. Here are their top five methods for improving wellbeing and engagement:

• Have a strategy and a plan

If you don’t have a plan to improve things, you can’t expect them to improve by themselves. Go in with a plan of action.

• Talk openly and honestly

Sean’s tip is to be proactive, not passive, when it comes to open communication. It’s hard to know if there are any issues with staff wellbeing if no one’s talking about them. Encourage leaders to be proactive about communicating with their teams.

• Make sure leaders have the right skills

It all starts with leadership, as Natalie says. They need the right skills to coach and support the rest of the business. When good leadership is in place, this trickles down to employees and customers as well.

• Culture

Customer service and customer experience teams shouldn’t work in silos. Everyone needs to be on the same page when it comes to company culture, feeling valued, and knowing the core purpose of their roles.

• Employee engagement goes hand in hand with customer experience

These are not two separate things. They are intrinsically linked. If employees feel valued and engaged, this will result in better customer service and happier customers. So, if you want to improve the customer experience, one step is to tackle any employee wellness issues you have in your team. For more insights and actionable advice on how to revamp the employee experience, catch the full webinar here.

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Like many areas of our economy, contact centres are suffering from something of a recruitment crisis.

A recent report from The Open University and Institute of Directors found that 63% of decision makers agree their organisation has found recruiting difficult.

In addition, one study of 20,000 global employers found that nearly 70% of companies were experiencing difficulties in hiring staff, a 15-year high.

Against this background, contact centres need to optimise their recruitment strategies. They also need to be doing everything they can to keep the staff they have.

More and more organisations are realising that a successful retention strategy starts at the point of recruitment. The effectiveness of your onboarding process goes a long way to determining whether staff leave in weeks or stay for years.

Onboarding matters

Onboarding really does matter when it comes to reducing staff churn.

According to studies, effective onboarding programmes can significantly increase the number of recruits who are still with a business several years later, in one case by 82%.

Onboarding is a recruit’s first in-depth introduction to your business. One study found that almost a quarter of staff who resign do so within 45 days of their start date, so first impressions really do count.

Failing to welcome staff effectively and prepare them for their first weeks on the job is hugely costly, even at the best of times.

Pre-pandemic, the average UK employer was spending £3000 – and considerable time and energy – on every new hire. That figure is probably significantly higher today.

Making contact centre onboarding better

Given that onboarding plays such a large part in effective retention strategies, how do you make yours better? Here are eight simple ways to improve your contact centre onboarding experience:

Have a plan

An employee’s first few days should be filled with interesting or fun activities. Make sure you have an onboarding plan that makes full use of their time. Leaving new starters twiddling their thumbs or unsure of what they should be doing next is not a good first impression. It smacks of a lack of organisation.

Give them basic information first

Before you get to the specifics of their role, welcome them to the business with a tour (physical or virtual). Show them where bathrooms are, where to get a cup of coffee, and where to turn for help when they’re locked out of the company intranet. Let them know of any perks the company offers, like free Friday drinks or a discount at the local gym, and how to claim them.

Introduce them to useful contacts

Depending on the size of your organisation you might not be able to introduce new starters to everyone, but you should introduce them to people who will be important to their ability to work and thrive in the first few weeks of their employment. A HR contact would be useful. If appropriate, designate an experienced employee in a similar role as a mentor or ‘work buddy’.

Give them the equipment they need

Stock a new starter’s work space with the things they might need, like pens and a notepad. Don’t make them spend time squirrelling out essentials. Small gifts – like a coffee mug or chocolate – are a nice touch.

Get the team involved

One of the most important parts of onboarding is giving new starters the opportunity to get to know the people they’ll be working with. Do this with an informal introduction session and icebreaker games. If everyone is in the office, think about organising a team lunch.

Plan adequate training time

The core of any onboarding programme is preparing new recruits for the role they are taking on. This preparation must be thorough, with plenty of time for questions and feedback. It’s particularly important for new contact centre staff to feel confident about handling live interactions with customers. Mock calls and role plays covering a number of common scenarios are a good idea. But however you choose to prepare new starters for their first days and weeks on the job, make sure the programme is comprehensive and interactive.

Talk about company culture

Onboarding is a great time to start promoting company culture. Don’t forget to talk about the company’s values and vision. If you’re doing anything notable in the ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) space, make sure you mention it. If you support a charity, tell new starters about the form that charitable support takes and how they can get involved.

Give them the IT they need

The best contact centre software is easy and intuitive to use. Even so, thorough training is a must, and this should continue well beyond the initial onboarding period. Start with basic functions and progress through more advanced features. As new features are introduced, have sessions dedicated to them. MaxContact is your friend here. We offer a comprehensive contact centre solution that is easy to get to grips with. We also offer full training for you and your teams, for free, forever.

Don’t leave onboarding to chance

The key to all this is to put some thought into your onboarding programme, and have a well considered plan.

Onboarding is an important part of your retention strategy. It’s a time for both comprehensive training and a warm welcome. It’s an opportunity to inspire new starters with your values and enthuse them with your vision.

MaxContact can help with your onboarding strategy, by offering a fully equipped software solution and the training to help new recruits make the most of it. For more information on our smarter contact centre software, please get in touch.

Like them or loathe them, voicemails are an important part of outbound contact strategies. Over 97% of all business calls now go to voicemail, so when we’re not leaving one, we’re missing an opportunity. The age-old, ‘don’t leave a voicemail, they won’t answer next time’ has gone. Over 79% of the UK population ignore numbers that they don’t know, or unknown numbers – period.  

In fact, a study found that 85% of Gen Z don’t view phone calls as being an important function of their phone, and 75% of millennials avoid phone calls if they can.

One recent article featured a journalist stating, ‘I have a confession to make: I love voicemails…I hate it when people call me and don’t leave one. How do I know what the caller wants otherwise?! They can text, but this gives no indication of tone. Or they can voice note on WhatsApp, but then they can see when I’ve listened, which – to me – can feel like an invasion of privacy, depending on who it is.’  

What are the benefits of using voicemails when outbound dialling?

• Remove any chance of silent calls

Leaving voicemails when outbound dialling prospects or customers ensures that your organisation is covered and protected from any potential risk of leaving silent calls.  

Many outbound diallers use Answer Machine Detection (AMD) which may not be accurate all of the time, equating to silent calls. A simple fail-safe would be to set up voicemails for every non-answered outbound call, which is crucial to remaining 100% compliant with zero silent calls. This is increasingly important to both provide a great customer experience and to ensure you’re operating within Ofcom guidelines, avoiding any chance of hefty fines of up to £2 million.

• Make better use of your sales teams’ time by leaving voicemails

Cold calls or outbound prospecting remain effective growth tactics, with studies showing that 82% of buyers will still accept meetings with sellers who proactively reach out. So if you are placing sales calls it offers a great way to give prospects an indication of why you’re calling. If they’re keen, you may even get a callback; if they’re willing to hear you out they might well pick up the phone next time.  

It’s the quickest way to get potential prospects that are interested, versus the ones that are never going to buy from you. Saving you time, effort and according to Outreach you can expect around 5% of your prospects to respond to your voicemail.

• Frame the conversation ready for the next interaction

If you’re using an outbound dialler for other purposes, perhaps to follow up on a customer service incident, your calls may go unanswered. Voicemails are great for teeing up the next conversation, providing context and details where appropriate. You can bet the next conversation that you have with your contacts will start warmer and your average handling time (AHT) might also reduce.  

• Ensure you get brand exposure

Putting your brand at the forefront of customers’ minds is important. For example, if you are collecting debt, your customers likely owe multiple businesses, so ensuring that your contact strategy puts your brand front and centre of your customer’s minds means you increase the likelihood of a successful outcome. The same goes for if you’re trying to make a sale. Leaving a message is a simple way to reinforce your messaging and brand name within your contacts’ minds.

What is the best approach to leaving great voicemails?

1. Achieve team efficiencies with voicemail automation

If you’re using an outbound dialler, there’s no doubt you’ll have various options as to how to set up voicemails for your operations. With MaxContact’s outbound dialler you have the option to set up preconfigured voicemails relating to your campaigns or business functions, saving an agent on average two and half hours each week, all whilst ensuring the quality and consistency of your messaging.  

And, when the MaxContact platform detects an answering machine, a voicemail can be automatically placed, whilst your user is moving on to the next call. You can also give your users the ability to leave more personalised messages if you feel a more tailored approach is needed.  

2. Keep it informative and to the point

Leave messages that give your clients the reason for the call and when you’re going to call back, including any contact details they need to reach you. Provide just enough information to encourage them to call you back or set up your conversations ready for them to be recontacted. Ensure the messages are to the point and ideally 20 to 30 seconds long — max.

3. Measure, coach and improve how you use voicemails

It’s one thing not leaving voicemails at all, it’s another simply setting it and leaving it. Voicemails should be tested, reviewed, and improved over time. Measuring metrics like inbound contacts after an outbound call is a great indicator that your voicemails are effective. As are a reduced average handling time of call when people are re-contacted after a voicemail is left.  

4. Personalise voicemails with key information  

Fraud and spam are an increasing concern for many astute consumers, with the average consumer receiving 144 spam calls last year – 58% of which were fraudulent. Including relevant information to personalise your messages will help the customer feel at ease with information shared that only their current provider will have, making them more likely to answer your call, rather than just ignore you.

Setting up the voicemail function in MaxContact is easy. You can record your version by uploading a WAV file or simply use text-to-speech to get started with leaving voicemails and learning what works for you and your customers.

Voicemails are one of many features that you need to make your outbound strategy successful. Learn about more of the must-have features you should be using in your outbound contact centre in this blog. For more information about our outbound dialling solution contact us on 0330 156 6550 or simply send an email to info@maxcontact.com

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At the same time, consumers have never been so prepared to switch provider or supplier, because switching has never been so simple. They’re also happy to detail poor experiences with brands and businesses on social media.

In this highly competitive environment, customer service becomes a key point of difference. Your products or services need to be spot on. Your after sales support needs to be equally excellent.

Proactive customer service is a new standard of excellence

More businesses are now impressing customers with proactive customer service.

Proactive customer service means that, instead of waiting for customers to come to you, you proactively contact customers who may be dissatisfied or having problems with a product.

Why’s that important? Customers know that products are sometimes faulty, and services are not always perfect. They won’t necessarily punish your business for an occasional glitch. According to Salesforce research, if a company’s customer service is excellent, 78% of consumers will do business with them again after a mistake.

Being proactive is an increasingly important ingredient in excellent customer service. By proactively contacting customers about a problem, you stop them having to take time out of their day to contact you.

By receiving a call or email unexpectedly sharing the solution to their problem (and any associated timeline), you reassure customers that something is being done and you care.

It’s all about being honest and upfront. When your train doesn’t turn up, you want to be kept informed of its progress, not kept in the dark. When your broadband goes down, a text message admitting to the fault and giving an expected fix time is the next best thing to a solution.

Proactive customer service isn’t just about problems. If something is genuinely beneficial, customers will usually be happy to be contacted about it, even out of the blue.

But it does work especially well when customers need help. That’s when they really appreciate informed, empathetic communication. It’s all part of a personal, customer-focused service.

How do you deliver proactive customer service?

So if proactive customer service is good for business, how do you do it?

Most importantly, you have to get to know your customers well. That means measuring customer sentiment and tracking it over time, so you can act quickly when satisfaction starts to wane.

Ask for feedback, monitor social media and dig into customer complaints. Do the same issues keep coming up? Is there a pattern to a recent rise in calls to your support centre?

Make sure agents know to note instances of customer dissatisfaction, even if they’re only mentioned in passing. Monitor use of online FAQs and how-to articles.

When you know the issues customers face, you can prepare proactive communications. For example, a problem that is starting to prompt calls to your support line might be relatively trivial, and easily fixed with a self-service article. Proactive messaging can direct customers to the right web page, so they don’t have to waste time on the phone.

Alternatively, a significant fault may require a lengthy fix, risking a wave of complaints. But proactively informing customers of the problem and keeping them updated on progress towards a fix is the best way to clear up confusion and diffuse anger.

And positive proactivity works too. An unsolicited call or email to help customers make full use of a great new feature or product release will create goodwill towards your business.

How MaxContact can help

Proactive customer service works. According to research, it can reduce customer churn by 3%-5%. Over time, that’s a lot of customers that stay with your business.

Proactive customer service relies on targeted, relevant and timely communication. With MaxContact, you can easily create and implement a proactive contact strategy, starting with the following features:

Omnichannel customer engagement

Sometimes a text is all it takes. At other times, a call is more personal. An omnichannel platform lets you proactively contact customers in a way that suits them.

CSAT and NPS

MaxContact lets you monitor important customer satisfaction scores, so you can act decisively if they start to slip.

Automated dialling

Segment customers and create automatic contact lists based on relevant data points, like “X days since support ticket closed” (ask them how the solution is working), or “X% reduction in usage” (get to the root of the problem before they abandon the service altogether). And if there’s a wider problem, automated dialling allows you to quickly contact customers before they contact you.

Bulk SMS

Target groups with bulk support texts, offering advice, a quick fix, or a simple “how’s it going?”

Analytics

Monitor data on things like wait times or first call resolution. If a customer has experienced sub-standard service based on metrics like these, send them an apology or even an email gift.

Speech analytics

MaxContact’s speech analytics platform can monitor customer sentiment even if a caller is not obviously complaining. Dig deeper to find the cause of dissatisfaction and proactively put it right.

Proactive customer service can improve satisfaction and reduce churn, but it’s difficult to do consistently without a smart and efficient communication platform in place. MaxContact helps in two ways. It offers the tools and analytics to monitor customer sentiment. It then gives you the contact options that make a proactive strategy possible.

Get in touch to hear how MaxContact can make a difference to your business.

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If you’re a debt collection agency or a consumer-facing billing, credit, or accounts receivable department, you may be getting a little nervous right now.

The cost-of-living crisis is affecting us all. Debt has increased across the UK, up by a whopping £63 billion in a year. The average unsecured debt per UK adult as of March this year was £3,797.

That’s a significant amount of debt, and it’s likely to increase. Inflation has just hit a 40-year-high, and gas and electricity bills are forecast to rise again in the Autumn.

All of which means consumers will have less money in their pockets, and bigger bills to pay. Debt and payment collectors are having to work harder to meet targets.

How do you ensure your own communications are heard above the din? How can you meet your targets in an environment of such intense competition?

The status quo is not an option

In many cases, the answer is not to simply carry on as before. Even before the pandemic, the average debt collection rate was below 20%, the lowest in 25 years.

In addition, outbound collection strategies are often costly and inefficient, with a success rate that is usually below 5%.

So, if standard outbound practices aren’t working, and competition for customer attention is getting fiercer, what can you do?

To ensure debt collection strategies are ROI positive, you have to adapt your processes, make them more efficient, act proactively and know your customers better than ever.

We’ll discuss what that means in practice.

Smart outbound communications

The key to successful payment collection is creating smart outbound communications. That is a three-step process.

Streamline your processes

It’s not unusual to still find payment collection processes that involve manual outbound dialling with no omnichannel option.

This is hugely costly and inefficient. By contrast, an outbound dialler takes the legwork out of customer communication, deftly handling missed calls and answer machines. It ensures your agents have more time to do what they do best – talk to customers.

Linked to a CRM platform, it also automates the management of customer accounts, and presents agents with the information they need when they need it, so they better understand customer challenges.

Meanwhile, omnichannel communications (text, email, chat, WhatsApp etc) let you contact customers in the way that is most likely to get results.

Match this with a secure automated payment platform. Too often, customers contacted in an outbound campaign will fail to pay because the payment facility isn’t available when they need it, or they have to queue to speak to an agent.

Automated payment means customers can pay whenever they’re ready, and before they use the money for other reasons.

Get to know your customer

When you link communications and CRM platforms you can segment groups and contact them in the most appropriate ways.

For example, you can send a text message to customers in danger of falling into arrears, to remind them to pay before problems arise. You can target indebted customers with messages about the help on offer.

In addition, pre-collection contact strategies can ensure your organisation stays front and centre of a customer’s mind. Being proactive, getting ahead of issues before they become problems. Build profiles for segmentation, based on the financial situation, payment history, vulnerability and more. Then plan campaigns that are relevant to each segment.

You should also capture preferred customer contact methods during onboarding. A customer might be more likely to act on a call, text or email, so segment them further in this way.

Create better experiences

The easier and more pleasant your business is to deal with, the more likely customers are to prioritise you for payment.

Automated payment is part of that, as is using preferred contact methods whenever possible. Another is training staff to be patient, understanding and genuinely helpful.

Continuous performance feedback should be part of your training regime. Implement a system that lets you guide agents during calls – this is especially useful for the most challenging customers – and give instant post-call feedback.

Track performance over time so you can use resources efficiently, allocating the most challenging customers to the most experienced and skilled agents.

Create and edit scripts for every circumstance. Empower agents to use all the tools at their disposal to engage customers and create positive outcomes.

Improve debt collection ROI

If your communications are on point, your payment strategies are likely to be more successful. That will in turn reduce breakage rates and improve the ROI of debt collection.

In the current climate, it’s important that you do everything possible to create better customer interactions and nurture goodwill. Customers are likely to prioritise payments to businesses they trust and respect.

MaxContact’s powerful customer engagement software can help. It includes intelligent outbound dialling, comprehensive omnichannel options, automated payments, on-the-go script editing and a sophisticated agent monitoring and training platform. It also integrates with your CRM systems to create a seamless customer service solution.

Book your free, no-obligation demonstration and we’ll show you what MaxContact can do for you >

Those working in contact centre roles say that work-related poor mental wellbeing is making them less productive, including answering fewer calls and taking more sick days – costing the industry over £990m in lost productivity every year. That’s according to our new study, Duty of Care Gap.

The contact centre industry is a huge contributor to the UK economy, employing over 800,000 people across the country. Yet the industry is facing a mental health crisis, with 83% workers saying their work is taking a toll on their mental wellbeing, with staff reporting high stress levels (62%), anxiety (48%) and feeling overwhelmed (46%).

This poor mental wellbeing at work is costing the industry millions in lost productivity at a time when staff attrition is already high. An overwhelming majority (95%) say that work-related mental wellbeing problems are making them less productive at work, losing on average six hours of work per month, or nine working days per year to poor mental wellbeing. This is also translating into sick days – staff report taking on average 2.78 sick days due to work-related mental wellbeing problems. This lost productivity is costing the industry £990milllion per year.

Encouragingly, the research also reveals many businesses are already taking steps to help. Over half (52%) have mental health first aiders in place, but this is in stark contrast to physical health and safety, where each workplace is legally obliged to have nominated first aiders and carry out regular risk assessments.

For businesses that do prioritise the mental health of contact centre workers, the benefits are clear. The overwhelming majority (75%) of contact centre workers say they would be more likely to say in their current role if their employer made a bigger concrete commitment to improving mental wellbeing in their workplaces. Also, 46% say they would consider another role in the contact centre industry if it would be better for their mental health.

To help those using their technology, MaxContact has launched a new Employee Wellbeing feature which provides helpful, unobtrusive tips throughout the day to help staff take steps to improve their physical and mental wellbeing while at work. The reminders focus on three key areas: body position, hydration and positive mindfulness. Contact centre leaders can monitor anonymous, aggregated data on these actions to track how their staff are feeling and offer more support if needed.

Ben Booth, CEO at MaxContact, says, “Contact centre workers work unbelievably hard behind the scenes to make sure our society works. We’ve worked with contact centre leaders to understand the challenges the industry faces. What we’ve discovered shows just how difficult the job is. What’s more, the problem is only getting worse as the cost-of-living crisis gets even more serious and contact centre workers are the ones who have to deal with the angry or upsetting calls about rising costs.

“We’re calling for businesses that employ contact centre workers to make mental wellbeing just as important as physical health and safety, with properly trained mental health first aiders in every organisation. It’s not just the right thing to do, it makes total business sense.

“We know we have a part to play too in making the industry better. That’s why we’ve launched our Employee Wellbeing feature as part of our making 2022 the year of the agent, focusing on both physical and mental wellbeing. It’s not an answer to the problem but it’s a step in the right direction and we’ll keep on looking for ways to put workers at the heart of our platform.”

Dr Andres Fonseca, Consultant Psychiatrist and Co-Founder at leading mental health care organisation Thrive: Mental Wellbeing, threw his support behind the findings, saying, “Employee mental health can seem like a difficult topic to navigate but creating an environment that supports and educates staff has many advantages. It is vital that we equip all employees, but especially those in such frontline roles, with the necessary tools and techniques to effectively manage challenging conversations. With more focus on the cost of living crisis, it is also imperative that we continue to open up the conversation around mental health and raise more awareness of the connection between physical and mental wellbeing while ensuring that everyone across the workplace knows that they are valued and supported.”

Read the full Duty of Care Gap report, here.

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