For contact centres, Christmas can be a challenging time. Increased demand, under-pressure staff and services closing for the festive period can make CX more difficult.
At Maximus, our incredible customer service advisors are some of the best in the sector. They really are Christmas angels for so many people in need.
Here’s how we support them, so they can support others throughout the season of goodwill.
Christmas: a merry time?
Many people find Christmas a huge strain. Mental health charity Mind identified several reasons why the festive period can be hard for people, including:
- Risk of loneliness
- Increased stress or anxiety
- Remembering past traumas
- Missing people who have passed away
- Difficult family relationships
- Frustrated that Christmas won’t be as perfect as they want.
Many services and networks close down for the holidays, which means that even small problems can build up and worsen.
That’s why helplines are more vital than ever at this time of the year, with call volumes rising in December. And it’s why so many advisors are motivated to keep supporting callers in need, even working on Christmas Day itself. Christmas helplines are a real lifesaver!
Health support
We know that advisors can be affected by distressing or traumatic calls. And at Christmas, when the volume of calls ramps up, it can be particularly hard.
So, as well as fostering a supportive workplace (see below), we provide our employees with access to a digital health and wellbeing platform called HealthShield.
It offers 24/7 counselling and support, including face-to-face or video chats with trained therapists. That means that, if ever our advisors have a problem that they don’t want to discuss with their team leader or colleagues, there’s a counsellor ready for their confidential call.
HealthShield also provides video or phone chats with GPs, physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals, plus a whole range of wellbeing and fitness programmes. We encourage all our staff to make the most of it, because there really is no shame in asking for help.
We introduced HealthShield at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, and staff feedback has been great.
Could you introduce a similar scheme in your workplace? It works out far cheaper than you might imagine. And investment in your employees always gets a fantastic return in terms of staff loyalty, engagement and retention.
Team spirit
We foster a supportive team spirit for our employees. Our advisors know they can turn to their team managers at any point, whilst our managers are always looking out for signs of stress amongst their employees.
They offer regular one-to-ones, debriefs after difficult calls and ensure remote workers feel just as supported as those in an office environment.
And at Maximus, we always ensure there are Christmas decorations and activities to keep morale high during the busy period. From coffee breaks and quizzes to competitions and team-building, we are building more cohesive workplace relationships both in-person and online. This provides the foundation to ensure colleagues can support each other during the more challenging times too.
Outsourcing your helplines
One of the key ways to support staff during Christmas at work is to offer them a healthy work-life balance.
So, if you’re looking to ease the strain on your advisors this Christmas while still meeting the needs of your service users, get in touch with us today. We can operate overflow or out-of-hours contact centre services, ensuring that the quality of advice and guidance your callers receive remains high at all times.
Meanwhile, your own staff can take a break and enjoy time with their families and friends over the festive period. They’ll enter the New Year with a spring in their step!
