Sit-Down | CCO | Contact Centre | CHRO

Overview

CCO: Navigating through a recession without compromising customer experience.

Economists are predicting that a global recession is coming. This means that brands now need to be more creative about how they provide good CX as their budgets tighten.

Contact Centre: Employee experience as a top priority in 2023.

This year will prove challenging for Contact Centre employees, as consumer expectations go up the contacts will become more frequent and harsher therefore employee morale will decrease. During this time, the most important task for Contact Centre leaders is to look after their employees.

CHRO: Taking control of employee turnover.

Employee retention will be a key focus for most CHROs in the year ahead. Understanding and predicting the reasons why employees leave an organisation will help leaders in reducing their turnover.

Join Sit-Down in May as we explore:

Strategies CCOs can employ to deal with an expected downturn in economic activity.

The role automation and self-service technologies will play in slowing global markets.

Creating effective omni-channel experiences.

Realising customer expectation and preparing your workforce for the year ahead.

What we will cover

• Integrating the Customer Experience Pulling together physical and digital elements to create a better customer experience.
• Maintaining a Virtual Connection Strategies to make sure you stay connected with customers, even in virtual environments.
• Automation to Augment CX Why the use of automated self-service options will increase.
• Creating Immersive Experiences How to take advantage of augmented and virtual reality technologies to create more captivating customer experiences.

Agenda

• 8:30 am Welcome coffee & registration(CHRO Sit-Down)
• 8:30 am Welcome coffee & registration(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down)
• 9:00 am Welcome address and introduction by Sit-Down(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down)
• 9:00 am Welcome address and introduction by Sit-Down(CHRO Sit-Down)
• 9:05 am CX and AI—The Future and 10 Practical Use Cases(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down) AI plays a significant role in CX, as more businesses adopt various AI-powered tools to interact with customers. Discover insights into how AI will manage practical use cases for contact centres in the future.
• 9:05 am CX and AI—The Future and 10 Practical Use Cases(CHRO Sit-Down) AI plays a significant role in CX, as more businesses adopt various AI-powered tools to interact with customers. Discover insights into how AI will manage practical use cases for contact centres in the future.
• 9:30 am Looking at EX before you tackle CX.(CHRO Sit-Down) Customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) are very closely connected. Any business leader worth their salt will tell you that if you treat your employees right, they will take care of your customers. If your staff feel supported, they are far more likely to create better customer experiences. It’s a simple message that sometimes gets lost as enterprises everywhere work overtime to provide the best service to their customer base while not spending enough time on making sure their staff are engaged. Join Sit-Down’s Director of Research & Production, Byron Connolly; Tabcorp’s Head of Wagering & Media Customer Service Centre, Mary Durkan; and :Different’s Strategy and Operations Director, Sian Rowlands for a panel discussion on why you should look at EX before tackling CX.
• 9:30 am Looking at EX before you tackle CX.(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down) Customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) are very closely connected. Any business leader worth their salt will tell you that if you treat your employees right, they will take care of your customers. If your staff feel supported, they are far more likely to create better customer experiences. It’s a simple message that sometimes gets lost as enterprises everywhere work overtime to provide the best service to their customer base while not spending enough time on making sure their staff are engaged. Join Sit-Down’s Director of Research & Production, Byron Connolly; Tabcorp’s Head of Wagering & Media Customer Service Centre, Mary Durkan; and :Different’s Strategy and Operations Director, Sian Rowlands for a panel discussion on why you should look at EX before tackling CX.
• 9:55 am Building Effective Leaders at Every Level in the Modern Workforce(CHRO Sit-Down) Leadership is the foundation of every business. And as businesses look to retain top talent and fill the talent pipeline, building effective leaders has become an integral part of skilling across the organisation. In a world that has become rapidly virtualised, real-world leadership application training, such as digital coaching, has started to play an increasingly critical role in the employee lifecycle. Hear from a panel of Skillsoft clients to learn about the evolution of leadership development in today’s workplace, how to scale leadership training across the organisation, and modern, hands-on leadership training tactics that will ensure your employees succeed.
• 9:55 am Building Effective Leaders at Every Level in the Modern Workforce(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down) Leadership is the foundation of every business. And as businesses look to retain top talent and fill the talent pipeline, building effective leaders has become an integral part of skilling across the organisation. In a world that has become rapidly virtualised, real-world leadership application training, such as digital coaching, has started to play an increasingly critical role in the employee lifecycle. Hear from a panel of Skillsoft clients to learn about the evolution of leadership development in today’s workplace, how to scale leadership training across the organisation, and modern, hands-on leadership training tactics that will ensure your employees succeed.
• 10:20 am Morning Tea & Networking Break(CHRO Sit-Down)
• 10:20 am Morning Tea & Networking Break(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down)
• 11:00 am Taking a More Holistic Approach to Building your Workplace Culture.(CHRO Sit-Down) Some organisations believe that building a good culture starts with making sure their staff members are present at the office. REA Group is taking a different approach to ensuring it creates a workplace culture that works. REA’s chief people and sustainability officer, Mary Lemonis, will discuss how the organisation is building a more holistic and effective workplace culture. She will talk about how a best practice culture has been rolled out at the online real estate giant, how the company recognises and rewards its staff, and strikes a good balance between in-person and virtual communication between teams.
• 11:00 am How to Not Only Survive, but Thrive in an Economy on the Downswing(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down) The successive increases to interest rates that has been occurring since last year has significantly altered the home lending landscape as home loan applications decrease and existing mortgage holders look to refinance. This was one of the biggest fluctuations that home loan lenders have seen in quite a while. Join Louise Portelli, Founder, Melita Consulting as she shares some of her experiences in helping Financial Services organisations pivot to customer centricity in an economy on the downswing. During difficult times, consumer spending habits decrease, simultaneously the expectation in CX increases, so it’s important to understand where and when to serve the consumer using technology and when a personal touch is required.
• 11:20 am Customer Centricity 3.0- Strativity(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down) The new paradigm in customer centricity that challenges leaders to take their organisations to the next level in terms of behaviour, insight-driven decisioning, visibility and purpose
• 11:25 am Empowering your Leaders to Understand the Importance of Mental Health.(CHRO Sit-Down) True leaders show empathy and try to understand how the mental health struggles of their staff have the potential to impact their work performance. These leaders intervene early when they see cracks starting to show and work hard to find a solution for staff who are facing personal challenges. Sonya Leyds, head of HR, Oceania and Southeast Asia at Elgi Equipments, will discuss the global programs she created to equip organisational leaders with the tools they need to look after their own mental health and that of their employees. Sonya believes that if you care and look after your team, the result will speak for itself. Join this session to gain insights to: Understanding and helping your employees in their mental health journey in a tough economic environment. Educating leaders about the importance of looking after their teams.
• 11:45 am How to Create a Purpose-Driven Initiative that will Connect your Entire Organisation: A Case Study into Working with Cancer(CHRO Sit-Down) Creating a purpose driven initiative that connects an entire organisation can be a powerful way to drive engagement, motivation & retention amongst employees. Anushka Methananda – Head of People & Culture at Publics Groupe is going to talk through the case study of the Working with Cancer initiative which has fostered a culture of support and empathy across the organisation. 1 out of 2 people will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lifetime 50% of them will be too scared to tell their employers 92% of cancer patients agree that support at work positively impacts their health Anushka will be discussing how the concept came to be, how it has been brought to life, the challenges but also how you and your organisation can get involved. The goal is to erase stigma not just in our workplace but many and build cancer supportive workplaces.
• 11:45 am Macromanagement Over Micromanagement(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down) Stepping back and letting the team make decisions while providing guidance might not be the first instinct for most leaders, however in today’s post covid environment where you don’t always have access to all your employees, being an intuitive leader is the best approach to take. Joining us in this session as the Head of Sales, Marketing and Customer Experience at Origin Energy, Sahra Burton, will be speaking about her most powerful tool as a leader, knowing the nuances of her staff’s personal and professional life and investing in building their capabilities.
• 0:05 pm Finding Qualified Talent, While Keeping Diversity in Mind.(CHRO Sit-Down) Finding qualified people to do highly technical and physically-demanding jobs, while ensuring the diversity of your workforce, can be difficult. Sydney Water’s head of people and culture, Zubyer Athar, will be discussing the water utility’s approach to closing the gender gap, building a diverse workforce from the ground up, and the potential drawbacks to outsourcing.
• 0:05 pm 2023 State of the CDP: Asia-Pacific & Japan - How Innovative Brands Deliver Value with a Customer Data Platform(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down) From creating memorable experiences to improving operational efficiency, the customer remains at the heart of any business. This means the need to better manage customer data is now critical. In the APJ region, organisations utilising a CDP have reported outperforming those that do not, and are continuing to prioritise a hyper-focus on growth and retention. Hear from Marie-Louise Dalton (VP, APJ Marketing, Tealium) and Matt Parisi (Director, Product Marketing, Tealium) on how adopting a CDP can predict marketing spend, ramp up customer-centric objectives and promote agility to survive and thrive amid macroeconomic headwinds.
• 0:25 pm Peer Connect(CHRO Sit-Down)
• 0:25 pm Peer Connect(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down)
• 0:55 pm Lunch & Networking Break(CHRO Sit-Down)
• 0:55 pm Lunch & Networking Break(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down)
• 1:55 pm How to Onboard ‘desk-less’ Workers and Control Staff Turnover.(CHRO Sit-Down) Work is changing and many organisations are allowing their staff to do their jobs away from the office. This creates new challenges around how to provide these workers with the same experience and access to systems and software that they would have in the office. Join Garth Quinn, head of people experience at Healius as he explains how onboarding staff the right way could help you, as a people leader, distinguish yourself from others when you pursue your next role. Garth will discuss: How to develop good onboarding, systems, and processes as well as engagement to keep your workforce from leaving your organisation. How to keep desk-less employees engaged. Creating a balanced working environment to find the best talent Retaining staff in a post-covid and mid recession environment.
• 1:55 pm The Art and Science of CX StorySelling.(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down) This fresh, energetic and interactive session focuses on why every CX Professional now needs to be a world-class storyteller to ‘sell’ their ROI and impact into C-Suite and stakeholders. See how the art and science of CX StorySelling not only translates data into action but transforms stakeholders into CX Evangelists by turning insights into game-changing opportunities with a human touch. Learn how to Harness the infinite power of storytelling to drive change Elevate your CX storytelling and focus on Experience Improvement (XI) Create an intelligent AND emotive impact with your storytelling Leverage the Voice of the Customer to inspire and influence
• 2:15 pm Why Developing ‘Trust’ is Key for CX Leaders.(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down) Inflation is rising and a global recession is a possibility. This means consumers are certainly being more vigilant about how they spend their money. Consumers are also choosing to spend what money they do have at their disposal with businesses that they trust. Building this trust starts with your employee’s trusting you. Join Susan Redden Makatoa, executive vice president, head of corporate APAC at Edelman, as she discusses what you need to do to gain the trust of your customers, particularly Generation Z, who will soon be joining the workforce.
• 2:20 pm Winning the War for Talent(CHRO Sit-Down) Since 2020, work has changed dramatically. Hybrid work environments and more flexible employment agreements are giving workers more choices around where they work. This means employers are having to work harder to attract and retain staff. Join Kerryn Champion, head of talent at Amgen as she discusses the best strategies to retain staff, particularly younger people who have different ideas about work. Join this session to gain insights to: Creating a balanced working environment to find the best talent Retaining staff in a post-covid and mid recession environment.
• 2:35 pm Why the Wellbeing of your Contact Centre Staff Should be your Biggest Priority.(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down) Being a contact centre agent can be quite hard. Dealing with irate and seriously stressed customers every day can have a real impact on an agent’s mental health. Join James Green, contact centre manager at Boral, who will discuss his experience keeping staff happy and engaged during a previous role at employee assistance program provider, Benestar. James will detail how looking after your staff means they will look after your clients.
• 2:45 pm Dealing with psychosocial hazards in the workplace(CHRO Sit-Down) City of Canterbury Bankstown’s director, people and performance, Simone Robards, is studying counselling so she can gain a better understanding of what are known as ‘psychosocial hazards’ in the modern workplace. These hazards are described as anything that can impact the health of a staff member such as bullying, aggression and violence, a lack of clarity around a role, poor job design or change management, or limited support from a manager. A broad focus for Robards is helping staff become more resilient by putting in place guard rails that protect staff from burnout and these other potential hazards by strengthening social connections across the western Sydney council. Join Sit-Down’s Shahida Sweeney and Simone Robards as they discuss how City of Canterbury Bankstown is helping council staff deal with common mental health pressures in the workplace.
• 2:55 pm How Mastercard Engages Staff to Deliver Good Customer Experiences.(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down) High inflation and weakening growth across Asia-Pacific economies is forcing enterprises to think harder about how they can reduce costs and better engage their staff to drive high productivity levels. Join Sit-Down’s director of research and production, Byron Connolly, and he chats to Amitabh Khanne, head of customer implementation services, Asia-Pacific at Mastercard about how the payment and technology provider ensures employees are delivering better experiences for customers. They will discuss: How the organisation uses ‘people engagement scores’ to determine the willingness of staff to commit to helping the organisation meet its objectives. The role that good staff engagement plays in ensuring Amitabh and his customer team are delivering products that solve customer problems. How to make sure that people are well equipped and trained on processes and systems so automation technologies can be easily introduced, particularly when dealing with legacy infrastructure.
• 3:15 pm End of Day & Closing Remarks by Sit-Down(CHRO Sit-Down)
• 3:15 pm End of Day & Closing Remarks by Sit-Down(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down)
• 3:20 pm Networking Reception(CHRO Sit-Down)
• 3:20 pm Networking Reception(CCO | Contact Centre Sit-Down)

Speakers

• Janet Daubney · Head of People & Culture, BDO
• Mary Lemonis · Chief People & Sustainability Officer, REA Group I'm inspired by growing and creating value for individuals and organisations. I truly believe in helping people find their 'sweet-spot' - the intersection between what they love to do, what they're great at and what helps them live the life they want to lead. Harnessing this for individuals and teams is what makes businesses thrive! If you're motivated by keeping it real, doing it with heart and re-imagining it, in a place were you can learn, develop and have impact, a career at REA may be the
• Sonya Leyds · Head of HR - OSEA, ELGi Equipments Australia
• Zubyer Athar · Head of People & Culture, West Region Delivery Team, in partnership with Sydney Water, Fulton Hogan
• Louise Portelli · Principal/Founder, Melita Consulting
• Nicole Hatherly · Global Brand Strategist, Brand True North Nicole is a Global Brand Catalyst and Thought Leader, a multi-award-winning Brand Strategist, Profile Activation Specialist and Leadership Expert, International Keynote Speaker, Industry Awards Judge, Executive Coach and Board Advisor with over 27 years experience delivering award-winning brand and growth strategies for organisations, executives, teams and global thought leaders. Holding long-term Senior and Executive Management roles working with iconic brands including CommSec, Commonwealth Bank and Foxtel and global brands such as Leo Burnett, JCPenney, Subaru and Acer, Nicole now specialises in working with organisations, executives and Thought Leaders to create valuable brand strategies that position their brand on purpose that build valuable networks and communities for maximum impact. Trained by LinkedIn for LinkedIn Social Selling, Nicole co-led a strategic team to implement the successful CommBank Social Selling Program for 500 Business Bankers over 5 years - and is consistently ranked in the top 1% for her industry and network across LinkedIn. With a flair and passion for entrepreneurial business, Nicole uses her training in Design Thinking Methodology to focus on problem-solving with an authentic customer lens to strategically position and align teams to drive performance with their customers at the heart of success. With valuable negotiation skills and business acumen, she’s also run successful small businesses (with both a corporate and retail client base) and has valuable high-level leadership and team management experience.
• John Kiprovski · Head of Contact Centres, Aramex Experienced Head Of Customer Service with a demonstrated history of working in the package/freight delivery industry. Skilled in Mentoring, Coaching, Communication, Coaching & Mentoring, and Customer Experience. Strong support professional with a DIPLOMA in BUSINESS _ MAGOR IN TOURISM focused in Business Administration and Management, General from syndey technical college (UTS).
• James Green · Contact Centre Manager, Boral
• Mary Durkan · Head of Wagering & Media Customer Service Centre, Tabcorp A Contact Centre Manager, with 20+ years experience in Contact Centre Industry roles (Customer Service Manager, Operations Manager, Outsourcing Manager, Contact Centre Manager and Director CC, ) across the Financial Services, Entertainment and Public Service industries. Currently managing the Customer Service Centre fot Tabcorp (TAB) Australia. Delivering inbound/outbound CS and sales business ranging from 50 - 250+ seats. Passionate about this industry, I am committed to creating and deliverin
• Nigel Jupp · Director Contact Center Partnerships, Optus A highly motivated Business Executive with over 20 years general management and leadership experience across telecommunications, IT and financial markets. Extensive commercial experience with the ability to offer pro active solutions to meet customer expectations, a strong focus on results and an accomplished lead by example style. Proven negotiation, analytical, strategic planning and implementation skills gained in an international environment. Effective leadership of teams across culturally d
• Sahra Barton · Head Sales, Marketing and Service, Origin Energy
• Garth Quinn · Head of People Experienc, Healius
• Cormac Maguire · Global Head of Customer Experience, LexisNexis
• Amitabh Khanna · VP Customer implementation Servies AP, Mastercard
• Kath Greenhough · VP Asia Pacific, Skillsoft
• Brad Meehan · Managing Director, Strativity Brad is the Managing Director of Strativity Group. He has been at the forefront of helping organisations drive customer centric change for over 15 years. He advises leading brands globally and locally on how they can evolve their strategies and adapt their operations to deliver differentiated value and experiences. Brad brings expertise in strategy development, design thinking, operating model alignment, analytics, the psychology of change and large scale transformation programs. Prior to a move into consulting, he held executive roles in customer strategy and transformation in the financial services sector. He gained his MBA with distinction from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in 2007 and has completed Harvard Business School Leadership Programs in Customer-Centric Strategy, Competitive Strategy and Change. Brad has also lectured in QUT’s MBA program in the fields of strategy and customer experience management and is a sought after speaker both locally and internationally.
• Simone Robards · Director People and Performance, Canterbury-Bankstown Council
• Matthew Carracher · Chief Operating Officer, Acquire BPO With more than 20 years' experience transforming and building high-performance businesses, Matt provides strategic direction to achieve operational excellence in key areas of the organisation—from streamlining operations and maximising performance through leveraging technology and process.
• Nathan Park · VP of Global Sales, Acquire BPO Adept at achieving business outcomes, Nathan has a strong customer focus with a broad business experience gained in the finance, retail, and distribution industries.

Partners

• Acquire BPO
• Skillsoft Skillsoft (NYSE: SKIL) delivers transformative learning experiences that propel organizations and people to grow together. The Company partners with enterprise organizations and serves a global community of learners to prepare today’s employees for tomorrow’s economy. With Skillsoft, customers gain access to blended, multimodal learning experiences that do more than build skills, they grow a more capable, adaptive, and engaged workforce. Through a portfolio of best-in-class content, a platform that is personalized and connected to customer needs, world-class tech and a broad ecosystem of partners, Skillsoft drives continuous growth and performance for employees and their organizations by overcoming critical skill gaps and unlocking human potential. Learn more at www.skillsoft.com
• Strativity For over 20 years, Strativity Group has led hundreds of organisations around the world into a new era of strategy, creativity and customer-centricity. We have impacted millions of customers and employees and created over $3B in commercial value. We take a disciplined, holistic approach to both design and activation, fostering profound cultural changes that support both the journey of a customer and the profitability of a business. We are expert analysts, insightful strategists, and action-oriented consultants, all focused on a single objective: building businesses by creating new value for customers, promoting excellence in customer interactions, and fostering a lasting commitment to exceptional customer experiences.
• Tealium Helping brands make data actionable, in realtime, across every customer experience touch point. Tealium revolutionizes today’s digital businesses with a universal approach to customer data orchestration – spanning web, mobile, offline and Internet of Things devices. With the power to unify customer data into a single source of truth, Tealium offers a turnkey integration ecosystem supporting more than 1,000 client-side and server-side vendors and technologies. The Tealium Customer Data Hub encompasses tag management, API hub, customer data platform and data management solutions that enable organizations to leverage real-time data to create richer, more personalized digital experiences across every team, technology, and customer touchpoint. www.Tealium.com

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