Two recent trends in call center furniture are a renewed focus on the individual agent and green furniture that has sustainability in mind. The two trends in call center furniture echo trends in the industry as a whole – agent quality/retention and the environment.
The first trend of focusing on the individual agent has gained importance since call centers in the U.S. have shifted to more inbound operations than outbound. Agents for inbound centers typically require more skills and training, so the focus on agent quality/retention has gained even more importance now than in the past. In terms of furniture, this has resulted in larger, more comfortable, and better-equipped stations. The larger stations typically accommodate more storage and workspace, allow for agent personalization, and include ergonomic accessories.
It is also important to allow agents to have some control over their environment. Various studies have shown that when people feel that they have control over their environment, they are more productive. This can be as simple as allowing an agent to hang personal items or including a desktop lamp at each station to provide additional light at the agents’ discretion.
Ergonomics plays two important roles in agent workstations. The first role is that this provides each agent with some control over his or her environment. Since ergonomic accessories allow each agent to adjust their workstation as needed, it can correlate to increased agent satisfaction. The second vital role is that ergonomic accessories directly affect agent comfort and thus, productivity.
Key ergonomic accessories to consider are an adjustable chair, adjustable keyboard, monitor arm, footrest, and desktop lighting. Why are these ergonomic accessories important? If you have ever sat at a computer workstation for hours at a time you know that selecting a comfortable ergonomic chair is an integral part of a workstation.
The second trend in furniture design is sustainability or being “green”. Consumers, businesses, and stockholders are rightly becoming more environmentally friendly, and the importance of green or sustainable products has gained prominence. Regarding call center furniture, this places a greater emphasis on the lifecycle of a product than in previous years.
Of course sustainability is important in furniture design, but what does it mean? As a generic definition, sustainability means wisely using and conserving today’s natural resources so that future generations will have resources available to meet their needs. In the world of call center furniture, the definition of sustainability also includes the often-overlooked product lifecycle. The product lifecycle is important because a furniture system with a longer lifecycle needs to be replaced less often than more expendable products. This means that the impact on the environment is reduced because the resources needed to manufacture and produce the product are reduced.
Since the marketplace has become increasingly aware of the environmental impact of manufacturing products, many furniture manufacturers have put in place business practices that will help to reduce the toll that their company takes on the environment. These practices may include reducing packaging, internal recycling programs, printing literature on post-consumer recycled paper, and utilizing paints that are virtually free of VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds). A company with environmental policies in place generally is conscious of the impact that their company has on the environment and will continually work to introduce and improve current policies that will help conserve resources.
Paying attention to industry trends, including those in furniture, can help to make your call center a more desirable place to work and can assist you in making environmentally aware purchasing decisions.