By
Jeff Sheehan
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Date Published: March 11, 2025 - Last Updated March 11, 2025
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Comments
If any of these questions resonate with you, read on:
- How do you objectively understand the emotional state of your call center agents and know where to spend your management time?
- What are the 'Moments that Matter' in the work week that drive positive and negative behaviors from your staff?
- How can you provide proactive predictions to your WFM platform to account for unplanned absences?
- How can you predict and reduce attrition with a multi-location, remote, and partner workforce?
- How can you predict the impact of customer loyalty on the contact center experience and the emotional state of your agents?
What if you could predict which contact center agents are about to burn out, call in sick unexpectedly, or quit in the next 30, 60, or 90 days? How would that change the way you lead?
Contact centers face a crisis. Burnout, absenteeism and resignations are draining budgets and disrupting customer service. Losing just one agent can cost over $35,000 to replace. That includes recruiting, onboarding, and training — not to mention the hit to team morale and customer satisfaction. Traditional methods like surveys and blanket incentives try to address these issues, but they often come too late or miss the root causes.
54% of contact centers experience attrition ranging from 21% to over 50%, with nearly 80% citing that attrition has either increased or had no major change.
Source: The 2024 US Contact Center Decision-Maker's Guide by ContactBabel.
The solution? Predictive Behavioral Analytics (PBA) gives leaders insights into how to act. Adding PBA enables a new dimension to your operational data to manage your workforce proactively — keeping agents engaged and costs under control.
Why Traditional Retention Methods Fall Short
Many companies still rely on outdated solutions like annual surveys or generic perks. These reactive approaches rarely offer the full breadth of contextualized insights to act on. At best, they guide management in making one-size-fits-all attempts to improve.
But the reality is that not every agent should be retained. High performers and engaged employees are crucial for excellent customer service. However, disengaged or underperforming agents can hurt team morale and slow operations. The challenge is knowing who to focus on and when to act.
This is where PBA excels. By spotting early warning signs, leaders can make smarter, faster decisions that prevent attrition and boost performance.
What is Predictive Behavioral Analytics?
Predictive Behavioral Analytics examines data linked to human actions and anticipates future choices. Rather than focusing solely on historical activities, it draws from advanced statistical methods, machine learning and behavioral science. The goal is to look beyond “what took place” and “why did it happen” to “what might be around the corner.”
How PBA Transforms Contact Center Management
Relying on guesswork or lagging data leads to missed opportunities. PBA changes that by providing these real-time insights into agent behavior, including:
1. Prevent Burnout Before It Starts
Burnout doesn't happen overnight. Once calibrated to your organization's dynamics, PBA solutions track data like workload, schedule adherence and engagement levels to flag risks early. Leaders can then adjust shifts, offer support or redistribute tasks — keeping agents from reaching a breaking point.
2. Targeted Retention That Works
Throwing generic perks at everyone wastes resources. PBA identifies high performers worth retaining and helps craft personalized incentives for them. At the same time, it highlights agents likely to leave, allowing you to plan or let natural attrition occur without disruption.
3. Measure What's Working (and What's Not)
Are your new training programs improving retention? Is remote work helping or hurting productivity? PBA provides quick feedback so you can adjust strategies in near real time. Once calibrated, Predictive Behavioral Analytics identifies the moments that matter to your employees, allowing for solving engagement and productivity issues at their root causes.
4. Manage Remote and Hybrid Teams Effectively
Out of sight doesn't have to mean out of mind. Predictive Behavioral Analytics lets managers "see" what's happening with remote and hybrid agents. It provides insights into engagement levels, burnout risks and team dynamics — no matter where your employees work. You can also manage by cohorts of new hires and experienced staff, as well as by site and BPO partner locations, to see trends from hiring, training, and leadership that can be leveraged or enhanced.
The Predictive Behavioral Analytics Pay-Off
Investing in predictive analytics delivers tangible results:
- Lower Costs: Preventing turnover reduces recruitment, training, and lost productivity expenses.
- Better Performance: Engaged agents resolve issues faster and improve customer satisfaction.
- Stronger Teams: Focusing on agent well-being creates a positive, resilient work culture.
- Operational Stability: Retaining experienced agents keeps service levels consistent.
When leaders use PBA to guide decisions, they save money and strengthen their workforce.
Actual Results: The Operational Impact
Companies using predictive behavioral analytics see impressive gains:
25% drop in agent turnover within six months.
15% boost in first-call resolution thanks to more engaged agents.
30% fewer unplanned absences by addressing burnout risks early.
One contact center used predictive insights to improve its onboarding program, increasing new hire retention by 20%. Another is adjusted workloads for remote agents, reducing burnout and raising satisfaction scores. These aren't isolated wins — they're the norm when you leverage your existing data with Predictive Behavioral Analytics.
PBA into Service: The Anthrolytics example
Many solutions offer predictive capabilities, but Anthrolytics is a practical example of PBA. The Anthrolytics platform uses predictive AI built on the Plutchicks Wheel of Emotion to create an emotional profile of every employee on an intra-day basis using their cumulative experiences. These profiles determine that person's next likely behavior as insights integrated into the existing WFM platforms.
Leaders can spot trends, see the impacts of seasonality in operations, anticipate challenges and implement solutions before issues spiral during an organizational change event.
While several options exist, choosing a tool that aligns with your organization's needs is the key. The goal isn't just to collect data — it's to act on it to protect your agents, your bottom line, and your customers.
Looking Ahead: Data-Driven Leadership Is No Longer Optional
Customers expect top-tier service. Agents need support to deliver it. Predictive analytics bridges this gap, providing contact centers with a new dimension of insight to create empathetic environments where employees thrive, and customers have a better experience that translates into better business results. Leaders who adopt these predictive AI tools now will be better prepared for the challenges ahead.
Don't wait until attrition drains your budget. Learn how predictive insights can transform your workforce today!