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Steve:
The concept of working from home was not new, but the pandemic made it not only a more popular option for companies, but a necessary one.

Shanika:
We were all pressured to get home as quickly as possible. However, if you've already have things set up and you already understand what your customers need, it's easier to make sure that you're taking care of your employees in order to support your customers in the best possible way.

Steve:
How the work from home trend affects the employee and customer experience on this episode of The CX Leader Podcast.

Announcer:
The CX Leader Podcast with Steve Walker is produced by Walker, an experienced management firm that helps our clients accelerate their XM success. You can find out more at Walkerinfo.com.

Steve:
Hello, everyone. I'm Steve Walker and welcome back to The CX Leader Podcast. Thanks for listening. I'm your host. On The CX Leader Podcast we explore topics and themes to help leaders like you leverage all the benefits of your customer experience and help your customers and prospects want to do more business with you. You know, it's been over a year since the global pandemic has forced companies and organizations across the globe to rethink how they do their work. While not an option for many companies some began moving their operations to a work from home model. And it's a trend that most CEOs think will not totally go away. In fact, a recent study by PWC found that seventy eight percent of CEOs surveyed felt that remote collaboration is here to stay. So how will this new work trend affect the employee and customer experience? Will my guest on the episode this week is Shanika Ofori, director of Key Accounts at 5CA, a company specializing in work from home global CX in any language, anywhere, any time for any of your customers. Shanika, thanks for being a guest on The CX Leader Podcast.

Shanika:
Thanks for having me, Steve.

Steve:
Well, I am just fascinated by this as a small business owner myself, you know, the the whole work life balance thing has been changed over the last year. And I know not just for our clients and for the profession that we're all dealing with this, but even personally just for how we're doing it here at our company. So just for the context of our listeners, maybe a little more background on 5CA so that people know a little bit more about it. And if you wouldn't mind, just sort of your own personal journey into CX and how you came to this role in your career.

Shanika:
Sure, sure. So, you know, as you mentioned, it has been interesting for all of us in these pandemic times that we're facing and in with 5CA one of the most interesting things about 5CA for me, especially having joined the company, maybe consider recently within the last six or seven months, is that 5CA really is built for times like this and really was an early adopter of work from home. So with with 5CA being around for around 15 years, again, early adapters to work from home experience, which is not the same as what you may see from a lot of companies out there that we have been struggling to try to do what we're all doing now, which is working from home and balancing life and balancing cats, dogs, kids and noises and all sorts of things. That's really the work from home or the home life wasn't really necessarily equipped to handle. Everybody doesn't have an office somewhere with soundproofing and things like I'm wondering right now if a siren will come by and distract us from what we're talking about. So things like that. So with 5CA being, again, early adopters to work from home experience, it really gave the company really an edge on being able to make sure that right people were being hired, that that are conducive to the able to work from home lifestyle. It's it's not an easy thing for for everyone. It's really something that people think that they want to do. Right. You think, oh, gee, I would love to to work from home, but is that person the right fit? Are they a good fit for work from home? Is their environment set up? Are the clients that they deal with day in day out comfortable with a work from home environment for their employees supporting their customers. For example, security is one of the things that you may hear about a lot. But what I've noticed again about the company and other companies, it's really the strategic transition, right? With 5CA being strategic and already having the capability set up, it really enables people to do what they need to do and to take care of the customers using the highest possible service. Whereas if you have companies that really went for a scramble. Right. We were all pressured to get home as quickly as possible, whether it's equipment, whether it's people themselves. But it was something that a lot of companies were almost in an Helter-Skelter type situation of how quick you can do it. However, if you've already have things set up and you already understand what your customers need, it's easier to make sure that you're taking care of your employees in order to support your customers in the best possible way.

Steve:
Yeah, and you said you've just been at 5CA for six or seven months. What was your background in your career before 5CA?

Shanika:
Sure. So I have a very blended background starting working in BP, very young. I always say that I start out when I was I'm now going to tell my age and 18, I was in college and I just never got away from it. So my actual major and my concentration in school was biology. So nothing to do with what we're doing right now. But that's the same story that many people will tell. But I just fell in love with with customers in helping clients improve their CX and improve their solutions. And I just stuck with it over the years. And most of my background has been in the finance world working for different banking institutions and then just traveled outside of that a little bit more in project management and then ended up back where I started, which is more of a business process outsourcing. So it's been a pretty wild ride, but it's something I wouldn't trade for the world, not even for biology.

Steve:
Yeah, well, actually, I think you mentioned it, but a lot of us kind of got into this business by accident almost. But it comes back to having kind of a passion for the customer. And, you know, the realization that, you know, most front line employees really want to try to do the best job they can for that customer. And front line employees have in many ways the toughest job in terms of, you know, overcoming some of the issues that maybe the product has or the way it was sold or, you know, the front line customer service folks are the ones that actually see how the product or service really does work for the customer.

Shanika:
For sure. For sure. That's why it's important for their area to be set up correctly so they can thrive. Right. It's already hard enough to deal with customers sometimes. So the last thing you want to do is have the wrong person, the wrong environment, handling customers front line. So that's why having the right space and having the right environment is very important. And also, like I mentioned, the profile is very important. And so with 5CA, that's that's really a specialty of ours is to make sure that we're matching the right people. We call them fans of brands. But if the important thing is, is that our employees are fans of the brands that we support. So if, for example, if you have a client that's in the fashion industry, then we would have fashionistas supporting them. Or if we have companies that have peripherals and equipment, like, for example, equipment that we would use on the podcast and we would have people maybe love podcasting or DJs or things like that. So we really make sure that we match the employee and what they love to do every day to our clients. And it just creates the the best environment for us to service our clients and make sure that we're giving them white glove VIP treatment when we speak to their customers.

Steve:
So 5CA has no offices or very few offices, almost…

Shanika:
Very few offices. There is definitely, obviously an office where we're based out of in the Netherlands. And I believe there is one still hanging around out there in South America. But everything else is remote. For example, I've never met anyone that I work with in person, but I don't feel that way. I feel that, you know, even like I said, within six or seven months with these people that and that I work with them day out because of the way that we do our engagement. We are all very connected. We do a virtual happy hours and we have all sorts of channels for different interests. And that's key in order to make sure that you're setting up a proper work from home environment to deliver the type of customer experience that counts so that customers or clients are really looking for.

Steve:
Yeah, it's fascinating. So you said it's been around for 15 years, but it's it was always built to be kind of a work from home environment, which would have a totally different approach to the work than those of us that were more office centric. But I have often reflected in the past year, you know, we're lucky in our business that we can do a lot of it from home. And, you know, your heart goes out to some of those folks that make a living in places where you can't do that. For example, first responders, health care workers, people that work, you know, in retirement communities, restaurants, retail stuff where you really have to, you know, be present to do the job that that is required. But having a business has been set up this way. You have tremendous insights for those of us that are trying to adapt to it. So without giving away all the secret sauce, you know, what are just a couple of tips that you would give to somebody that could help improve the work from home experience for people that, you know are kind of new to it here in the last year?

Shanika:
Sure, sure. That's a really good question. It's an important one. The most important thing that I'd like to point out is that right hire. It's interesting because when you're being forced or like like you mentioned, we've many companies that weren't essential workers like the one that you described could work in an office, but you can convert your home to an office and then work from there. But the thing is, is if you don't have the right person to start with, it may be something that they adapt to for a little while. Right? And it's something that they'll do for a certain length of time before they start maybe getting burned out or start missing the day to day interactions of actually having people around. So it's important. Number one, the number one tip I can give is to make sure that you're profiling your employees right – that that these candidates are someone that are intrinsically able to do the long haul to not necessarily interact with people in person, but it Zoom or Microsoft Teams that you're doing this all day long. And so it's you have to make sure that you start off with the right profile.

Steve:
Yeah, it's like a lot of HR it starts with selection and having a good idea about what type of person that fits your organization, not just only from a skill standpoint, but a cultural and how the personality of that company. So having a really good idea of what you're going for is always a good idea in HR.

Shanika:
Absolutely. And then making sure that you have the right level of support. So, for example, if you have people on your team that have done this before and it work from home, then those people can help support people that are new to this so that help them make sure how to separate their work from from their everyday life. At the beginning, you would hear stories, I've read plenty of articles about people who would set up their, for example, their bedrooms for their office. And that may be OK for a little while, but that starts to it… blends your life too much to your work and you can't separate the two and you're always really at work. So it's little things like that…

Steve:
And nap time is just a little too convenient there too. Right?

Shanika:
Right, right. [Laughing] Even so, I mean, I've read plenty of articles and studies of people actually working even from their bed. And after a while, I mean, you're cramping or, you know, it's not ergonomic.

Steve:
It is not ergonomic.

Shanika:
It's it's not. And you have to make sure that that you're making sure your employees understand how they set up their office. It sounds like a no brainer, but it really isn't. If it's not done strategic and you're doing it because you're forced to where you have to in a certain amount of time. I've worked with companies who who didn't have a work from home solution set up and they were rushed to make it happen.

Steve:
Yeah. And, you know, I think, again, that's where the even though you have work from home employees, what would it say to like a customer if the employees sitting in their bed, you know. [Laughing]

Shanika:
Right.

Steve:
That that's not the kind of the brand image I think that most organizations would want to show.

Shanika:
Absolutely not. Not not even if it was a mattress company, they still would not want that. [Laughing] Still would not want that. And it does. You know, another thing that I share with people is to actually get dressed up. It again, no brainer type of thing, but it changes your your attitude. And let's yourself know I'm ready to work. At the beginning, you would hear stories about people who just, you know, turn the camera off and you stay in your pajamas all day. It really psychologically impacts you to do things like that. It's it's better to make sure you go ahead and turn your camera on and get engaged with with your other employees. And it helps you be more engaged with the customer and turn it all trickles down to customer engagement based on how you're engaging with your fellow coworkers and colleagues as well.

Steve:
I'm glad you mentioned the camera on, because that's that's kind of one of my pet peeves. It's sometimes it's a bandwidth issue and, you know, maybe they have several people in their house. But, you know, companies could can help their employees with that, too, right?

Shanika:
Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. You have to have the right tech stack as well. So that's it can come down to a situation where, you know, this person is a great hire and a great fit for work from home. But there is some equipment issues. So oftentimes we'll have companies that will supply those types of things, cameras or laptops or or things of that nature to get the person started on the right foot, make sure that that they're set up properly.

Steve:
Yeah, I know one thing we did is we just start doing kind of a stipend once a quarter. And, you know, if you needed it for, you know, bandwidth or people can come into the office, grab paper, we let them take home the chairs. Whatever it took to kind of help people adapt, I think is again, but we were just making it up as we go along.

Shanika:
Exactly. And I'm smiling, which which hopefully you can hear. But that's that's exactly my point in terms of of having a strategic rollout or having a company that's familiar with how this works from the nuts would do it differently. But at the beginning, of course, I mean, we all had to pitch in and do what we have to do in order to get everyone set up. Many companies faced that situation is just I'm proud to say that with 5CA that, that was not necessarily the issue. And the number one thing outside of the right hire that I noticed right off the bat is just the level of engagement. It's the engagement leaders and engage the engagement profile to have in your company is super important as well. And we have people who just pop up and send a message, hey, how's it going? How are things going for you today or have you checked out this new channel? Or here's a picture of our dog or all sorts of different things to so people don't always say feel like you're on a little mini island.

Steve:
I want to take a break here and tell you about Walker's newest report, "Deliver More Value with X- and O- Data", which provides a practical framework for integrating experienced data and operational data to drive better decisions. You can download the report for free at cxleaderpodcast.com/xoreport.

Steve:
My guest on the podcast this week is Shinka Ofori, the director of key accounts for 5CA. We've been having a fascinating discussion because 5CA has been work from home before work from home was cool or necessary. Shanika you mention channels earlier? Can you talk a little bit more about that? Because I'm kind of fascinated by that.

Shanika:
Sure. So in 5CA. Yeah, I mean, there there is literally a channel for everything, for all sorts of different interests. It reminds me of social media. So you have people making comments about different things or posting things. So there's two separate things happening. So you have channels then that you would traditionally use for help, like a knowledge center or knowledge base type of situation in which you have all of your core trainings and things like that and you're using to be able to assist the customer. So obviously that's that's important. You can't do like the old days back when I was in call centers and raise a flag or tap a light and someone's going to come and ask you, hey, what helped you? So it's more of a fishing situation in which we're teaching them how to fish. So you have those types of channels, obviously, like I say, that's important. And then you have your fun stuff. Right. It's more for engagement. So it could be different interest, even like, for example, International Women's Day. There were a lot of different celebrations and things happening for that and different channels in which you can engage with your colleagues and and shout out people and and talk about your heroes or sheros and all sorts of things. It's St. Patrick's Day or whatever holiday or whatever things that people are celebrating or things that aren't even relevant. It's just the bottom line is, do you have an outlet for engagement for your employees to replace the the people interaction? So it needs to be some sort of virtual engagement channels that really help with that.

Steve:
Yeah. You know, you think about it after you get done with school, you're know, outside of your family, you spend most of your time with the people you work with. But if you work from home and, you know, people obviously develop friendships and even romance happens in the office and all that stuff. But because it's just part of, you know, it's where you spend your time. Right. So trying to approximate that in a work from home environment is a little more complex. But it looks like you guys have figured out some of the secret sauce there.

Shanika:
I think we have we've done a really good job. And it's something that I noticed coming from other places that that I've worked with or other companies that I've consulted with. There's a key difference. And as I mentioned outside of the profile, it's definitely making sure that you stay engaged, that your employees are not feeling, again, like their own little mini island. Like it's just like it reminds me of what's the Tom Hanks movie with with Wilson. Even he created someone to talk to. [Laughing] Oh, it's just that's that's the human nature. So it's important to replicate that virtually across your organization, regardless if if you have a person that is a front line answering the telephones or if they're engineer or a designer or whatever it is, they can interact with people that I necessarily don't even work with everyday just because I may see something that pops up in the in the channel that's interesting. And I'll end up learning more about a person that probably wouldn't speak with if we were in an actual office.

Steve:
You know, actually, that's another thing I think that I've learned over the last years, you know, in some ways the work from home is even more intimate in a way, you know, because if you you know, if you interact with somebody only in a physical office, but now you're like, you know, people are letting you come into their homes and, you know, you're seeing their you know, their surroundings. You might see one of their kids, you might see their spouse, you might see their pets, you know. So in some ways, it's even more intimate in a way.

Shanika:
I'm glad you brought that up, because that's also important. I've seen many of my coworkers, children pop up and my coworkers have seen mine as well. And it's important to have a culture that embraces that, because no matter sometimes, no matter what you do, no matter how many signs you put on the door, because I have things like that do not come in – mommy is on a conference. But, you know, an eight year old who wants pizza doesn't care about the sign that's on the door and they may show up. And I may be in the middle of speaking to a client or my team. And what we do at 5CA is like, oh, look, we'll we'll talk to the kids, will wave at them. And, you know, I've had conversations with people who have babies on their laps. So the moral of the story is that culture needs to also support it so you can have the right technology, you can hire the right people, and you can have all the engagement channels in the world. But if a company has not adapted a work from home type of culture in which we understand that those types of things happen, then none of nothing else really matters. I mean, you've made a lot of effort for nothing, basically. So that's important. I'm glad that you brought it up. It's extremely important for the culture to be accepting for for some of those types of things.

Steve:
Shanika, you use the word "adapted" and "adopted" multiple times over the past discussion. And that really is what it comes down to. Right? You know, people who were kind of forced to adopt this in many cases, but we've really adapted pretty darn well. And then there's there's folks like 5CA that can really help you even take that to the next level. So we've reached that point in the program where I ask every guest to kind of give their best tip. We call it take home value, but the idea is that one of our listeners could could take your advice and and go back and do something to improve their own organization in this respect. So Shanika Ofori, what is your take home value for our podcast listeners?

Shanika:
So my take home value and I've mentioned this as well, so I kind of gave it away. But it's the right hire. It's looking for intrinsic motivation. So that's something that a company can do immediately. Right? You don't need a whole lot of things that you have to purchase or consultants you have to bring in or all of this expertize. It's really connecting with the right employee and making sure that that person has the intrinsic motivation to actually work from home long term. Because, as we mentioned, you talked a lot about, you know, adapting. So we're adapting to work from home. But does this person have the ability to do this long term? So something that I would offer to the listeners is to make sure that you're looking for the motivation to do this on a more permanent basis.

Steve:
That's a great tip. And again, thank you so much for all the insights you provided. I'm sure our listeners are going to get a great benefit out of this, hopefully enhance what they're already doing. Shanika, is there a way people can check out 5CA, do you have a website or some other resources that people may be able to get to?

Shanika:
Sure, our website www.5CA.com and also I'm on LinkedIn. Listeners can feel free to reach out to me. Shanika Ofori and LinkedIn. You can look me up and I can also help as well.

Steve:
Well, thank you for doing that. And yes, absolutely. If anybody would like to continue the conversation with Shankia or check out 5CA we would definitely encourage you to do that again. And Shanika Ofori is been my guest this time and she is the director of Key Accounts for 5CA. Thank you Shanika, for being a great guest on the The CX Leader Podcast.

Shanika:
Thank you for having me. My pleasure.

Steve:
And if you want to talk about anything else you heard on this podcast or about how Walker can help your business's customer experience, feel free to email me at podcast@walkerinfo.com. Be sure to check out our website, cxleaderpodcast.com, to subscribe to the show and find all our previous episodes, podcast series, and contact information. You can drop us a line, let us know how we're doing, or even suggest an idea for a future podcast. The CX Leader Podcast is a production of Walker. We're an experience management firm that helps companies accelerate their XM success. You can read more us at Walkerinfo.com. Thank you for listening and we'll see you again next time.

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