Open to both in house and outsource contact centres, this category embraces contact centres who have built hybrid working into the ‘main frame’ of their respective operation who are able to demonstrate that they have
released the potential of hybrid working by creating a positive hybrid working culture within the business.
The programme will reflect the provision of outstanding customer service through its hybrid teams with tangible results reflected in CSAT/NPS and how such teams have positively underpinned the business in terms of the Customer Journey and Customer Satisfaction despite often dealing with unpredictable demand.
Of particular interest will be the Communications Plan or infrastructure which is in place to support both the Leaders managing their hybrid teams and the advisors for maximum inclusion, productivity and engagement.
The programme should give tangible evidence of attracting or developing talent in the hybrid teams, reflecting how such talent has been attracted outside of the normal geographical recruitment area, showing evidence of how this has had a positive effect on the recruitment strategy within the business.
Managing Hybrid Teams and what is in place to do so will be of particular interest, how the teams have been empowered to work in their hybrid capacity with the positive impact this has achieved on engagement and retention, releasing the potential of the teams.
Key to any Hybrid Programmes is the Resilience build in terms of IT infrastructure, supporting Compliance and Data Protection as such these factors need to be demonstrated along with the successes achieved by the programme on all operational levels including any efficiency gains for the business.

This award recognises how you deliver exceptional levels of service to your customers and should include details of how you measure customer engagement – targets, performance against targets, KPIs, etc. Evidence can also include details of a multi-channel approach eg: via digital, social, voice and web.

This category applies to all ‘Frontline Teams’ who sit directly within the contact centre and whose primary role is to engage with customers (B2B or B2C) service or sales. This may include (but not exclusive to) a specialist team such as escalations or a team of advisors within a larger centre, a team looking after a specific account, product or service. Consideration should be given to team spirit, performance against targets and objectives, the team’s biggest achievements in the past 6-12 months, innovation and leadership.

From a support function team based in a contact centre (eg finance, HR, IT), this award will recognise an initiative delivered by teams or departments. The entry needs to outline the process, the driver(s) for implementation, key performance indicators and provide evidence of positive outcomes. It must also include evidence of the impact of the initiative on the objectives and performance of the business.

This award will recognise companies that successfully address ongoing development needs for individuals, departments and whole organisations to see that business needs are met. The judges will be looking for examples of how people development affects the company ethos and how it is embedded in the company culture.