Five figures that prove EX should lead your 2023 strategy

As Richard Branson is often quoted as saying, “if you look after your employees, they will look after your customers”, and a 2021 survey on employee experience (EX) confirmed 85 percent of marketers and analysts agree with him.

But after the Great Resignation, it is safe to say EX has become somewhat of a pain point for experience managers and practitioners in all markets.

As team managers move to limit the impact on the customer’s experience, CX Network rounds up five figures that indicate where EX strategies should focus in 2023.

Call center attrition ranges from 34-50 percent

When NICE Systems crunched the numbers on call center attrition it found that companies with up to 1,000 agents see a typical attrition rates of 34 percent, but in companies with 5,000 agents or more, this rises to 50 percent. It puts the average at 42 percent, which for those who manage call center teams, is a big enough number to cause a near constant headache.

Furthermore, up to one third of agents were actively looking for a new role when the research was conducted in 2022.

What is even more surprising is that most employers are accepting this as the status quo. Only 30 percent of organizations said they were investing in retention and reversing these trends, while 38 percent said they were investing “very little to nothing at all”.

There is more on tackling attrition and staff shortages in this article from our sister portal, HR Exchange Network.

Source: NICE

Labor shortages affect 28 percent of companies

When the Q3 2022 earnings calls of public companies were compared with those from Q3 2021, it showed a 28 increase in those reporting labor shortages.

The impact on EX is profound – not only do remaining employees have lower morale, they often have higher stress levels as they look to cover gaps while delivering the same experience to customers.

The figure was calculated by GlobalData, which also identified the technology and financial services industries as some of the worst hit by the increase in labor shortages. Other research has found aviation, hospitality and social care to also be affected.

Financial services companies like GTJ REIT noted that the demand for flexible working hours and remote work increased unemployment insurance benefits. Furthermore, early retirement, higher pay from competitors and ongoing concerns about Covid-19 were also identified as contributing factors to labor issues.

Meanwhile, consumer goods company Conagra Brands talked about persistent labor shortages affecting its capacity to effectively run production and distribution facilities.

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70 percent of organizations are investing in wellbeing

According to Gartner, 70 percent of organizations made additional investments in well-being between 2020 and 2022, confirming that tactics to retain workers will always win over glossy recruitment campaigns.

This figure places a requirement on all employers to deliver on wellbeing as part of their employee value program. It is also a means by which to attract and retain talent and compete with other employers.

Wellbeing is a sound financial investment, too. As this study found, for every US$1 an employer spends on employee wellness programs, overall healthcare costs decline between $1-3.

Engaged employees 23 times more likely to recommend a workplace

With companies across the board struggling to attract and retain workers, it is worth noting that engaged employees are 23 times more likely to recommend their current company as a great place to work. Yet analysis from Gallup's State of the Global Workplace: 2022 report found 65 percent of the US workforce is not engaged.

Engagement is a barometer for how successful the workplace culture is and, while culture is not the full employee experience, it does go a long way in influencing it. Great engagement and culture start with strong communication between employees and team leaders - if your unengaged, unhappy workers are not talking to their managers, they are making their feelings known on review sites like Glassdoor. Not only does this undermine the brand's reputation, but it can impact future recruitment efforts. 

You can find out more on how to foster a positive culture in this
webinar from HR Exchange Network.

Disengaged employees cost $400bn-550bn

When it comes to money, the last two years have seen some eye-watering figures discussed by political and business leaders alike. Yet that does not stop this $400bn-550bn figure bringing new tears to some eyes.

According to Gallup, this is the cost of lost productivity due to disengaged employees, otherwise known as “quiet quitters”.

Gallup’s analysis said as many as 50 percent of all employees could be considered “not engaged” after just six months, while an additional 20 percent were considered to be “actively disengaged”.

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