From sales and customer service, to retail and hospitality, employers in customer-facing functions are facing a challenging labor market. In fact, there are more job openings than candidates, so high-quality talent is in high demand but short supply. High inflation is also leading to higher wage expectations, making it harder for employers to make competitive offers to job seekers.
How Tech Is Transforming Entry-Level, Customer-Facing Jobs
Takeaways from a survey of more than 800 customer service reps.
May 01, 2023
Olena Koliesnik/Getty Images
Summary.
A survey of almost 900 customer service reps revealed that while some employees outperformed others, it wasn’t because of their level of experience. Instead, what mattered was if their technology connected them to the information needed to complete their tasks.
Leaders have long focused on traditional talent management strategies. But as they make progress on their automation efforts and face a competitive labor market, these strategies are no longer sufficient. Leaders must shift their focus towards enabling customer-facing employees with technology, allowing them to broaden their talent pool and better support the employees they are able to attract. And, because a dollar invested in technology stays even as a dollar invested in people can leave, leaders can retain more of their investment in the face of high attrition. Therefore, technology must sit at the heart of future talent strategies — doing so will reset the bar for entry level talent.