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Covid�19 Industry Survey
Have Your Say
www.EngageCustomer.com MAY 2020
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Introduction Coronavirus is a word that you have undoubtedly heard hundreds of times a day for the last two months at least - each time you turn on the radio, engage in conversation with anyone, or switch to any television channel, you will find facts, opinions and hypotheses flying around about the unprecedented pandemic that has turned 2020 on its head and swept its way around the globe, affecting anything and everything that gets in its way. As a leading source of news and media content to a global industry of customer experience professionals, in April 2020 we decided to ask our community of 48,000 leaders how this pandemic was affecting them from both a business and individual perspective, as Covid-19 has changed the way that both organisations and humans will behave for the foreseeable future at the very least. In a ten-question survey that covers every angle associated with the changes brought about by Covid-19, key leaders in the CX world gave up their valuable time to tell us how they feel, what they’re currently doing, what they wish they’d done differently and what they think the future holds. You’ll find the full list of answers comprehensively listed throughout the pages that follow, which hopefully make for an insightful and interesting read that will help you on your own Covid-19 journey. Key findings • Our leaders are finding it impossible to switch off mentally, with over 80% of respondents telling us that they constantly worry about work. • Teams are responding extremely well – over 70% of respondents say their team have responded positively to remote working. • We’re a proactive bunch – over 60% of respondents told us that they have been proactive in their response to the challenges that Covid-19 has caused. • Working in CX, having to run a remote contact centre without time to prepare has been rated as the most challenging thing at the moment by 30% of respondents. • Perhaps not surprisingly, almost 80% of respondents told us that their organisation has been negatively impacted by Covid-19. • This could change the way we work forever – almost half of respondents told us that, post-pandemic, they will allow more flexibility in terms of remote working. As you can see, these results highlight that significant changes have been seen within the Engage Customer community, and these changes will continue to disrupt the way that organisations and individuals operate going forward. So, if you’re ready to delve into the world of customer experience and how your peers are coping with the impact of Covid-19, then let’s get started…
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Q1
For you personally, what have you found most challenging about remote working all of the time? Respondents rated that working from home has caused issues in terms of finding a peaceful place to work, with problems staying connected to teammates also featuring heavily in the responses we received. We also
“The difficulty in separating work and home life.”
allowed delegates to answer using an ‘other’ option, and 43% of respondents opted to tell us more in their own words. Common themes included
“Not being able to connect remotely to main office
interruptions to individual productivity as a result of more conference calls
system.”
than ever before, being CC’d into email ‘noise’ by colleagues that they wouldn’t usually be included in when in the physical office environment,
“Prefer face to face with colleagues, rather than
having to balance work with home schooling/childcare, and not being able to
electronic communication.”
switch off from work.
“Managing to keep the children occupied whilst
These answers demonstrate the issues caused by Covid-19 in disrupting the
trying to work.”
‘norm’ of the office environment and how this has affected employees working in a structured environment, as we are forced to work in setups that
“Not being able to stop thinking about work!”
we wouldn’t typically choose to be productive in if we had the choice.
conn
ectio
n at
hom
e
8 %
ce
rnet
pa
s ing
14 %
k
Inte
or
f
ce
ga
a pe
w ul
in ind
F
Lack
Other
Ke e key ping tea in to m m uch em w ber ith s
8 %
avoid ble to eing a Not b se/partner ou my sp
Key p due rojects to la l ck o osing co f com n mun sistency icati on
43 %
ee at the of free coff
4 %
23 %
office
0 %
5
“Switching off outside working hours is hard, particularly as my partner is also working from home so my living space doubles as working space.” “The distance from the team is hard - communications are fine but there is no substitute for closer contact.”
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Q2
When leading a team that doesn’t typically work remotely every day, how have the team responded? Here we saw an overwhelmingly positive response with over 70% of respondents saying that their team have responded extremely well to the change. These results demonstrate the commitment of those in the industry
“The only thing is that they spend a lot of time on
to making remote working productive, and are also a testament to the leaders
Microsoft Teams which ends up being
within our community who have engaged their teams to want to be
counterproductive.”
productive regardless of their working environment.
Really well - they're working hard and are adapting 74%
They never log on/they stop working early 0%
They aren't as responsive 2%
They ask too many questions and don’t use their initiative as much from home 2%
They're being more proactive from home and using their initiative more
Other 14%
8%
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Q3
Have you found it hard to switch off mentally when working from home? The results here concerningly show that over 80% of respondents are finding it hard to switch off mentally when working from home. This highlights that an extremely high number of our CX community are unable to switch off, demonstrating the impact of this pandemic on mental health, with both job security and business concerns causing individuals a high level of stress and an inability to stop thinking about work and their future.
82 %
18 %
Yes - I work way beyond my
No – I barely do my contracted hours,
contracted hours and spend a lot
Netflix is way too good!
of time worrying about work
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Q4
How has your organisation responded to the current Covid-19 pandemic? Demonstrating the agile, innovative mindsets of those within our Engage Customer community, the results here show that over 60% of respondents have been proactively responding to the impact of Covid-19 in trying to showcase new products and services to suit the needs of customers. These
“Most offices are closed so we can't get in to work.”
figures demonstrate that when it really comes down to it, any organisation can be agile in their response to a situation and adapt at the most crucial
“Some have been proactive; some are not trying at
of times.
all; some are so busy it is frightening.” Further to these findings, almost 20% of respondents claim that they are still extremely busy during this time, which is a positive sign that 1/5 of organisations are still performing well during these times, with some even flourishing.
63 % We’ve been proactive and tried to implement new products and initiatives to help us through these times
10 % Other
19 % We are very popular during this time and can’t keep up with demand
8 %
We’re sitting tight and are hoping things get ‘back to normal’ soon as we don’t want to invest precious budget into new ideas that may not work
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Q5
What do you do currently to help separate work and spare time? Respondents claim that their usual methods to separate work and spare time include working in a different room or exercising. Both methods are helpful when disengaging from work and enjoying home surroundings with a sentiment of relaxation, and are critical in maintaining good mental health
“Not found a way to switch off yet.”
when both working and relaxing within the same environment. Those who used the ‘other’ comment box told us of their frustrations in not being able to
“I don’t at the moment, too busy worrying about my
switch off at all, as the global pandemic means that they do not stop worrying
business.”
about work.
“This is a struggle being in the thick of the COVID
For those who are able to distinguish their working environment from their
19 crisis.”
home life, this is important in maintaining a work-life balance and undoubtedly has a positive effect on mental health. For the 12% who have taken the time to comment that they cannot switch off, this demonstrates the effect on mental health that Covid-19 has had on business leaders who risk burning out due to stress, angst and worry.
45 %
27 %
14 %
12 % 2 %
I go on my daily outing after work
I exercise
I work in a different room to the one that I relax in
I save my new-found favourite boxset for the evening
Other
10
“Routine helps - I do my daily exercise at lunch and have my workstation set-up in a different location to where I relax. I also always make sure I take my lunch.” “I can’t separate work and spare time.”
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Q6
Working in customer experience, what are you finding most challenging at present? Here we saw over 30% of respondents claim that they’re forced to run a remote contact centre, which is a huge factor of Covid-19 on a department which typically would not be remote. This may result in a disjointed customer
“Our industry has a bad name (insurance), not
journey, and even mean that some methods of customer contact are no
helped by Business Interruption claims being
longer possible.
rejected.” As well as this, over 20% of respondents answered that lockdown means that “Issues getting onto our record system.”
no one can utilise their product/service, and over 10% of respondents told us that customers are trying to claim a refund on their purchase as they can no
“Getting info on service changes out - sign off
longer justify their spend. This shows the impact of lockdown on over 30% of
process is much longer so can take longer to push
respondents in total, who are losing revenue as a result of the pandemic.
out messaging.” Of those who chose to tell us more using the ‘other’ comment box, common “Adjusting to remote and efficient communication
responses included providing a less functional service as a result of supply
and servicing.”
chains being disjointed, and also a lack of team connection meaning that it takes longer to push out messaging to relative communities in regards to
“Adapting and overcoming hurdles, reassuring
what’s happening with certain product/services.
customers.” When looking at the difficulties CX professionals are experiencing, it is “It has more effect on our client’s customers which
undoubtedly a very different playing field in customer experience as a result
has a slight knock on effect. But mostly it is giving
of Covid-19. It is also clear that teams and contact centres are doing
us more time and less pressure which is brilliant.”
everything that they can to adapt during these unprecedented circumstances in order to still maintain positive customer journeys for those customers they hold so close to their hearts.
10%
Customers are trying to return/get a refund on our product/service as they no longer have the budget to justify their spend We are having to run a remote customer contact centre, making our approach non-unified
31% 6% 12% 6%
We have no customers!
Our supply chains are disjointed, which is affecting our service delivery
Our product is so in demand that we can’t produce orders quickly enough Lockdown means that no one is allowed to utilise our product/service
23% 12%
Other
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Q7
Has your organisation been negatively impacted by the Covid-19 crisis? The results here speak for themselves, especially given the responses to the other questions that we have asked our community to this point. It was therefore no surprise to hear that 80% of respondents claim that their organisation has been negatively impacted by Covid-19. This demonstrates that a huge chunk of our community has experienced a negative effect on their organisation, despite a solid effort to remain proactive and deliver on any products/services that are still possible.
80 % Yes
20 %
No, we're thriving
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Q8
If you could change one thing about your organisation during Covid-19, what would it be? Nearly 30% of respondents wish they had invested more in remote working technology prior to Covid-19, demonstrating that organisations have been hesitant to invest in any of the ever-growing remote working solutions on the
“I truly believe we have done all we can in such a
market. By investing in these earlier and allowing employee collaboration
short space of time.”
from anywhere on the globe, organisations would have seen a smoother transition to remote working.
“I wish we had a better infrastructure and focussed on critical services, not free for all.”
The next most popular answer to this question from respondents was the wish that their organisation had a more digital offering that wouldn’t have
“Wish we had a business continuity plan which
been as impacted by a pandemic like Covid-19.
would encompass remote working technology. We also could have been up running and thriving
These results show that organisations who both operate digitally and boast
more quickly instead of building the plane in flight.
products/services that utilise technology are less impacted by this global
One good thing is that it has made senior leadership
emergency.
appreciate IT.” “I wish I’d invested in hand sanitisers ;)”
29 %
I wish we had invested in remote working technology earlier
24 % Other
10 % I wish we were less siloed so that we could have acted more quickly when altering our approach to our product/service
10 % I wish we had more flexible working structures in place before this
2 %
0 %
I wish we were a food retailer!
25 %
I wish we’d hired employees who log in on time
I wish we’d created more of a digital offering
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Q9
Post-Covid-19, do you think your organisation will continue with certain aspects that employees have found beneficial about remote working? Answers to this question tell the future of organisations post-pandemic, with almost half of respondents saying that, as leaders within their fields, they will allow more flexibility in terms of remote working when we go back to ‘work as normal’. To go hand in hand with these figures, almost 30% of respondents reported that they already have sturdy remote working strategies/technology in place, demonstrating the popularity of a move to remote working as the connected world continues to develop. As well as this, just over 20% of organisations claim that they need staff back in the office, which could go hand in hand with answers to question 6, where respondents noted that remote contact centres are far from the ideal, particularly when implemented with the lack of organisational preparation that was experienced as a result of Covid-19.
29 %
49 %
22 %
No, we need Yes, we already had staff back in the office! a lot of remote working as part of Yes, we’ll certainly our culture implement more flexibility as staff have adapted exceptionally well
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Q10
Please use the text box below to highlight any particular issues/annoyances you’re experiencing whilst remote working/keeping your organisation afloat during Covid-19. Feel free to rant! The most popular free text answer here relates to the advantages of face to face meetings not being able to be compared to remote offerings.
“So many emails! The use of 'cc' has increased hugely, and is often not necessary.” “Communication has been tough at times. Face to face is a lot easier to deal with some situations.”
Other common themes included being CC’d into emails that weren’t needed, worry over the future, feeling out of touch with colleagues, and disjointed supply chains affecting products. Most worryingly, mental health during these times was also reported as an issue experienced by respondents, highlighting
“Working remotely is amazing, but not for long and continuous periods. f2f meetings with the team members still needed. Being away from the team sometimes doesn't give a control to follow the guidelines as required.” “Nothing to rant about - just a worry about how much things will return “to normal”.” “We had very good Business Continuity plans and they worked well.... we as an organisation however did not consider how we should co-ordinate the plans and make sure our frontline critical services were prioritised. It was a free for all with the loudest sorted first.” “Hope lessons learned are applied to the future.” “Trying to battle through any issues but overall we are managing alright.” “I find one minute I am super motivated and then as soon as meetings are over I lose it very quickly.” “Peoples’ mental health affected by the national situation.” “General chaos, but due to panic rather than set up.” “Increased anxiety can have an effect on performance.” “No major issues apart from switching off after work & no personal contact with colleagues.” “Many of the staff will feel isolated at home.” “The lack of daily chats with people. Lots of conference calls but no informal relationship building engagement. Not seeing people at all has been tough.” “More interruptions via Teams and calls as people want to discuss things more. Being cc'd into a lot of emails I don't need to be. Difficulty doing my 'normal work' as Covid-19 is currently taking up all my time. Challenges to be proactive when everything has and is changing so often and quickly.”
the impact that this pandemic has on every individual and emphasising the need for us to unite as a community to support one another where we can.
“The main thing for me is when you're f2f with people in the office you can get a direct answer straight away, whereas when you're remote it’s easier to put people off and things can progress more slowly.” “Feeling isolated from my team/office.” “I find people book more meetings that take a 30-min slot where normally they would pop to my desk for a 2 min chat.”
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Conclusion How did you find that? We understand that it was probably a tough read, discovering first-hand how organisations and individuals are coping with a global pandemic that has changed the way the world operates. However, despite the negative impact of Covid-19, we have also seen several positive signs from our community of CX leaders, such as: • A newfound trust in employees when remote working that most leaders will take forward post-pandemic. • An appreciation for the technology available to us and how the digital world can help transform organisations and keep them afloat at even the toughest of times. • The proactive nature of organisations in not just burying their heads in the sand, but looking at ways to survive by quickly turning around new initiatives and ideas. • New opportunities in terms of refining products to be available to consumers online. That’s it from us – we hope you found this research helpful in determining your own approach to life both during and post-pandemic, and we are always open to hear your own stories and opinions by email at marketing@ebm.media Stay safe!
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About EBM Engage Business Media (EBM) is a global media company designed to help its community of 120,000-plus leaders in the customer and employee engagement space to devise and implement sustainable, winning business strategies. Our mantra is that organisations need to cut across their own internal silos, take a more holistic view of their customers, both internal and external, and deliver a consistent and appropriate customer and employee experience. In support of this EBM runs a series of highly respected, CPD-accredited, world-class thought leadership events for its community throughout the year — including our annual flagship Customer Engagement, CX Marketing and Employee Engagement Summits and our Engage Awards. All of these face-to-face activities are underpinned by our websites, as well as weekly newsletter alerts, webinars, and ground-breaking research reports. Visit www.ebm.media for more information.
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