Discover the impact of COVID-19 on your business culture and how to enable small shifts to tackle implications on employee mental health. Gain insight into social pain and how COVID-19 is exacerbating this. 

The World Health Organisation have issued advice and guidance on Mental Health Considerations during the COVID-19 Outbreak.

Rising Vibe understand the impact on both employees and leaders at this difficult time. Whether employees are feeling fear around catching the virus or economic implications on their life, or leaders are experiencing stress and anxiety around managing a business or keeping an SME afloat during this time, we are all experiencing some low vibe emotions in this current climate of uncertainty. 

Listen in and find out how you can learn from this and make changes in your business.

The switch from bricks & mortar to work-from-home contact centres during the current crisis has posed challenges for IT, HR and Operational Management. But it’s also proven to be hugely beneficial, delivering substantial benefits for organisations and work-life-balance benefits for employees.

In this webinar we examine innovations in Planning and the homeworking operating model - including micro scheduling, peak shaving and split shifts. As well as explaining the meaning of these terms we’ll show how, by applying these innovative techniques to example scenarios, organisations can boost productivity, cut costs and deliver improved work-life-balance.

Harnessing AI and automation for your customer journeys can do wonders. But how? Join us as we cover how you can fully harvest the ROI of technology: delivering better service and improving your operational efficiency. 18th February 2021 12.00.

According to Business Insider, everyone’s ‘freaking out’ about AI stealing jobs, while – according to new research – 46% of UK respondents actually still have no idea what AI is all about.

Harnessing AI and automation for your customer journeys can do wonders, offering a customer facing service 24/7, helping agents deliver a better service and improving operational efficiency. But in order to fully harvest the ROI of technology, companies must take the right approach, following a few simple steps.
Join Phil Anderson, Director at The Forum and Stu Dorman from Sabio as we highlight opportunities for automation and AI along the entire customer service journey. We will discuss the common pitfalls to avoid and some practical steps to identify their right place and role.

Why change doesn’t happen.

“Nothing in life is guaranteed except change, but I guess that could change”- Brent M. Jones

A considerable amount of investment is lost on change projects, change programmes and change initiatives, because barriers to change are rarely explored in enough detail, at individual level.

We need to be dissatisfied enough with where we are, and excited enough about where we’re going, to enable ANY change to happen.

In this webinar we will explore the Rising Vibe change equation which will help you identify and unblock (if you choose to!) your own barriers to change, which will also enable you to help others get out of their own way too.
 

How people communicate is fundamentally transforming due to the rise in digital channels. These changes include how consumers interact with companies they choose to do business with. For the contact centre, this means challenging long-standing assumptions about contact interactions, how they are measured, and how WFM tools need more sophistication via machine learning to handle the rigors of forecasting and scheduling in a digital channel-driven world.

Some of the takeaways from this session will include:
 - The evolution of digital channels and its impact on customer services
 - Understanding the challenges digital channels present with respect to the WFM process
 - Gain a sense of the considerations to address challenges with digital channels
 

Forecasting and scheduling accurately within a contact centre is key to a successful operation.

However, many contact centre leaders and workforce planners face challenges with their forecasting and scheduling accuracy, with these challenges ranging from hybrid working, historical data, agent engagement and the rise of digital channels. 

Join Phil Anderson, Director at The Forum, he will be discussing how contact centres can address their top scheduling and forecasting challenges with Scott Budding and Neil Draycott of Business Systems.

Our webinar will cover:
 - How to forecast with historical data which may be skewed 
 - Top tips on addressing a hybrid workforce in 2021 and beyond
 - Top tips on how to address employee wellbeing and agent engagement
 - How to position your contact centre with the transition to self-service and digital channels while providing an exceptional customer service

Remote and hybrid work was historically seen as only for the lucky few, and certainly never for the likes of contact or call centre workers. That all changed when the pandemic sent all non-essential workers around the world home. It not only worked – many businesses saw productivity increases.  Twelve+ months later, with lessons learned, the question on many leaders’ minds for their business critical contact centres, is should we bring them back?

The right decision is not obvious, and must be anchored to the business goals and strategy. We will spend this session sharing approaches and highlighting some of the dependencies and variables to consider as you navigate the future of work for your organisation.

Traditional forecast models and techniques have been undermined by changes in customer behaviour as a result of the pandemic which have made demand levels increasingly volatile. Instead of being a cause for concern, is this an opportunity for Planning teams everywhere to change their focus?  Is it time that the focus was placed on flexibility and the ability to respond to volatility? In this webinar, David Preece from QStory and Dave Vernon Director at The Forum will discuss the drive for accuracy vs the drive for agility and highlight the key role that Intraday Automation can play in helping planners to adapt to 'the new different'.

Understanding our customer. Historical seasonality and demand profiles have changed making forecasting harder than ever. How can we identify short-term changes to long-term trends? 
 - Understand the current top challenges from across the industry.
 - Hear how different organisations are approaching these with new and innovating ideas.

The ability to attract and retain qualified talent remains a top concern for most business leaders and executives, but these challenges have been compounded by the pandemic, causing shifts in the workplace, people moving between and out of jobs, and rising salaries and wages.

Join our webinar to discover the best way to eliminate siloed planning and foster real-time collaboration across your business functions. Phil Anderson and Anaplan Vice President, HR Practice Rupert Bader will discuss how you can:  

 - Save time and costs by eliminating cumbersome spreadsheets
 - Bring transparency to your workforce and manage key metrics for talent costs
 - Create a comprehensive, up-to-date digital model of your organisation to streamline workforce planning and increase business impact and resilience
 - Drive engagement and collaboration on talent and budget decisions that are aligned with business strategy and priorities

Talent continues to be one of the biggest risks and costs to many organisations today, with all eyes on HR to effectively utilise data to ensure the workforce aligns with objectives for business growth and success. HR and workforce planning must become dynamic, continuous, and an extension of strategic, operational, and financial plans.

Phil Anderson, Director at The Forum will be joined by Scott Budding from Sabio and Phoebe Asquith of People Matter to discuss the importance of monitoring and supporting the mental health of contact centre agents.

This session will focus on how psycho-social research has presented new ways for us to surface tailored insights and understand root causes of poor mental health. 

Goals, targets, outcomes and objectives are important. Having a focus and something to aim for is motivating for most people. However according to research 98% of us will die without fulfilling our dreams* and only 8% of people achieve their goals.**
 
So why is this? Based on our experience working with many individuals, and entire organisations, it’s all about trying to do too much too quickly. Baby stepping might not be as sexy as a quantum leap, however it is a sure way to move forwards.
 
In this webinar we will explore:
 - The difference between a baby step and a quantum leap
 - The impact of negativity bias on our motivation
 - The 4 steps to define the perfect baby step outcome
 - How to breakdown our barriers to breakthrough and move forwards using the Rising Vibrational Scale
 
*Wealth Research Group **University of Scranton

We are not short of data when it comes to managing contact centres. But how do we best translate data into action? What do we really mean by insights? And how do we embed the right behaviours within our teams? Join this session to learn about the power of people data and how to best drive ownership and change within your teams

The continued challenge of recruitment and retention is nothing new for the contact centre industry, with increasing levels of staff turnover and the challenge of retaining knowledge. The potential impact on costs, service and customer experience are clear – but what are the underlying reasons for this and what should organisations be doing to tackle this problem head on?
 
A broad range of initiatives are being adopted, some of which previously may have been restricted to start-up and high-tech organisations. Unfortunately, there isn’t a “one size fits all” silver bullet and the broadening chase for talent means that a range of dimensions needs to be continually reviewed and addressed.

Join Philip Michell, Consulting Director at Davies on the 08 September for The Forum’s webinar, as he reveals insights into the issues and explores the underlying reasons why the “Great Resignation” is impacting contact centre teams disproportionately, and what employers should be doing to address these reasons to return to stability.

BPA Quality share their Top 3 tips for improving your Quality Assurance programme.  Hear from BPA’s Pete Dunn & Martin Teasdale as they join The Forum’s Chris Rainsforth to discuss three critical ways that will deliver immeasurable improvement to your QA Process. This interactive session will give you new thinking and approaches that you can apply in your organisation today!