The Challenge

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, many of our clients turned on TTEC to quickly and securely shift hundreds of contact centre agents to a work-from-home environment and continue providing support for millions of customers.

Our Solution

When TTEC received news of impending quarantines across the globe, we immediately mobilised plans to ensure employee safety and maintain business continuity. In Australia and the Philippines, for example, we quickly began executing a plan to enable employees to operate remotely.

The criticality of the situation was not lost on our employees. In the Philippines, many volunteered to go on site to test the PCs and other equipment for work-from-home feasibility. Team leads and other associates volunteered to deliver the equipment to their fellow associates who weren’t able to retrieve them themselves.

IT set up group chats to assist associates in setting up their remote stations and to address other tech issues. Our Engagement lead immediately coordinated activities to help agents remain engaged in a remote environment; activities were conducted to maintain morale such as, online quizzes, sing alongs, TikTok videos, and more. A bi-weekly forum was established in collaboration with the client to provide active employees visibility on the client-end of things.

Employees in Australia also worked tirelessly to test and prepare the tools and equipment that employees needed to work from home. The IT teams and other employees worked nonstop until all the necessary equipment was tested, packaged, and ready to be distributed to employees, in addition to implementing work-from-home guidelines and policies.

The Results

In both Australia and the Philippines, the shift to a work-from-home environment was well-organised, fast, and precise. Customer care for a travel client in the Philippines was 80% operational within a few days and is now 100% operational.

The smooth transition is also reflected in employees’ high remote performance metrics. In Australia, attendance rose 5% for agents supporting an e-commerce client and sales achievement increased 9% for a client in the travel industry after the transition to remote work was completed.

Early planning and close collaborations between employees was absolutely critical to our success in enabling an unprecedented shift to remote work at an immense scale with minimal to zero disruptions to client operations. The next step is to continue refinements and improvements to our remote operations and to thrive in the ‘new normal.’