3 ways noise cancellation apps can help drive employee/agent engagement

The BPO sector has historically had issues with agent engagement. This is clear from the fact that call centres in general have the worst turnover rate of any industry at 30-45%. Unengaged and unhappy agents leave - it's as simple as that. This is why employee engagement is the new battlefield in the war for competitive advantage between BPOs. So how do you win?

Agent wellbeing became a key theme for us when writing our whitepaper ‘The impact of background noise in the contact centre industry’ where it became clear that control over an agent’s audio environment was critical to keeping them happy. This is why we believe noise cancellation apps such as IRIS Clarity unlock employee engagement in three different ways: reducing stress, increasing productivity, and enabling flexibility. Let's explore why.

69% of the 1000 agents we surveyed for our whitepaper answered that background noise has a negative impact on their wellbeing. This isn’t too surprising when you consider that a 2011 study found that households in ambient noise-heavy areas such as flight paths and traffic were considerably more likely to take medication used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure). Noise pollution is quickly becoming the new air pollution when it comes to dangers to our health.

Between the rising cacophony of noise of the average call centre as agents fight to be heard over each other, and uncontrollable sources of noises from the customer’s end that can cause acoustic shock, agents are bombarded with noise from all angles. Whilst a high quality pair of noise cancelling headphones can fix the noise at the agent’s end for them, noise cancellation tools are bi-directional. What this means is that the agent is also protected from the unexpected noises at the customer’s end such as barking dogs, traffic, and any other noise people encounter when on a long customer service call.

By protecting your agents from background noise both around them and around the customer, you can also help protect their physical and mental wellbeing - keeping them both happy and engaged.

A study by Remark Group explored the impact of noise in the workplace on productivity. 61% of workers they surveyed said they were interrupted at least five times a day by noise, and respondents also said it took them on average 11 minutes to regain their focus. In a BPO-specific setting, 89% of the agents we asked said that background noise impacts the quality of their calls, their ability to communicate, and their time to resolution.

If agents feel like they’re being continuously distracted by noises around them - and therefore are having to work harder to achieve positive outcomes due to being disadvantaged by their audio environment - you can see how they can quickly become disengaged from their job. And this is before considering that these obstacles to productivity may be hindering their job performance, leading to pressure from their managers.

By removing these obstacles with noise cancellation apps, BPOs can better keep their staff engaged and happy, rather than feeling like they’re fighting against something they have no control of.

As we all know, work from home trends are here to stay. More and more agents are going to expect at least some level of remote working access, with there also being a growing increase in agents that entirely work outside the call centre. A significant issue that has arisen from this trend is the fact many agents don’t have a dedicated workspace in their homes to take calls. 43% of all employees in the UK do not have a dedicated workspace; the young average age of agents means they’re even more likely to be working in a shared space.

The main issue these shared spaces cause is, again, background noise. All it takes is a kettle boiling, vacuum starting, or dog barking to cause annoyance to the customer on the other end of the call - and the chances of these noises happening in a house is quite significant.

So how do you solve the problem of agents becoming disengaged and unhappy with their jobs if despite giving them the chance to work from home, their homes are not properly kitted out to take customer calls due to background noise?

Apps like IRIS Clarity improve the customer experience for several reasons: quicker resolution times, flowing conversations, and improved confidentiality, to name a few. What it also does is improve your agents’ experience. By removing background noise on both ends of the call through AI, you reduce their stress around having complex conversations punctuated by audio distractions, and enable them to work from where they want.

The best way to keep your employees engaged is to invest in their happiness and productivity. Your bonus with IRIS Clarity is that the investment weighs up incredibly well compared to rehiring and retraining 45% of your workforce each year. Get in touch with us today to arrange a personalised demo with one of our specialists or start your free trial today.