How to hire the next-generation contact center agent

The improvement and expanded applications of AI and automated self-service, of course, are the reasons contact centers are both shaving headcount and rethinking the skillset for agents. The goal is to train a smaller cohort of customer service representatives to undertake higher value responsibilities that involve taking the relatively few calls about more complex, uncommon issues, and include managing the AI agents that will handle the majority of calls about common questions.

That’s not all. As fewer agents handle more complex tasks, training times will likely lengthen, and such a change would mean agents need to stick around longer to justify the investment — which, in turn, means contact centers need to invest in agent loyalty and long-term efficiency and growth. That’s going to be difficult in an industry with notoriously high turnover, unless some massive changes happen.

It’s clear the next-generation contact center agent must do more than follow a script. Consequently, adapting to this new reality also requires more than just adding a few extra qualifications to a job description. Contact centers must reconsider how they define successful performance. That means also reconsidering how they identify qualified candidates — and how they evaluate the new abilities and predispositions these candidates need to succeed on the job.

This guide provides a framework for doing just that.