Why QA + coaching integration has been slow - and what needs to change

For decades, contact centres have relied on QA and coaching to improve performance. But despite heavy investment in these areas, many centres still struggle with bridging the gap between the two.

GRIST's experience shows that treating QA and coaching as separate functions means frontline teams often receive performance scores without structured development. As Peter Grist noted, "Coaching needs to be the bridge between QA and real performance improvement." This highlights how QA has traditionally been treated as a compliance function rather than a development enabler.

YakTrak + GRIST are changing that.

Why QA hasn’t solved the coaching problem

Even with robust QA programs, major gaps remain:

• Low sample sizes

  Less than 2% of interactions are typically assessed, meaning feedback is often based on an incomplete picture

• Inconsistent scoring

  Assessor variability results in mixed feedback that confuses agents and managers

• Limited follow-through

  QA highlights issues but lacks a structured way to ensure coaching closes performance gaps

• Focus on metrics, not behaviours

  Coaching conversations are often driven by KPIs rather than the actual skills that improve performance.

One of the key challenges QA teams face is ensuring that coaching addresses the issues identified in QA, creating a closed-loop feedback system.

"The biggest challenge QA teams face is the lack of visibility into whether coaching actually addresses the issues identified in QA. There’s often no closed-loop feedback to confirm that issues are resolved"

- Seb Cox, Head of Customer Experience at YakTrak,

The shift: using QA to drive smarter, more targeted coaching

From the GRIST perspective, effective coaching is about reinforcing the right behaviours and driving tangible results. We understand that the best-performing contact centres no longer treat QA as a standalone function. Instead, they’re embedding QA insights into structured coaching programs that are anchored in behavioural psychology.

YakTrak + GRIST are leading this shift by:

• Ensuring QA data flows directly into coaching workflows, so coaching is informed by real performance trends, not just isolated observations.
  
  

• Providing visibility into coaching quality and frequency, ensuring coaching isn’t just happening, but that it’s effective.
  
  

• Helping leaders coach to behaviours, not just scores, reinforcing the right skills that improve performance long-term.
  
  

Now: Contact centres can integrate QA insights into coaching with structured, trackable coaching workflows grounded in GRIST’s behavioural approach.

Future: AI-powered insights will not only track coaching frequency—they will highlight not only what needs improvement but also suggest specific behaviours to focus on, ensuring coaching is always relevant and timely, providing real-time recommendations to help leaders refine their coaching approach.

The impact: when QA feeds coaching, performance soars

When QA is connected to coaching and structured leadership practices, performance outcomes improve. GRIST and YakTrak worked with an Australian energy provider to align QA with structured coaching, and the outcomes prove the impact:

• QA results turn into actionable coaching plans, driving a 15% improvement in first-call resolution and fostering a culture of continuous development
  

• QA scoring inconsistencies dropped by 35% after aligning QA with structured coaching, leading to more accurate feedback
  

• Coaching frequency increased by 60% within the first two months, ensuring agents received timely development
  

• Agents who focused on micro-behaviours like summarising and checking understanding saw their NPS scores improve significantly from 15.79 to over 35
  

For leaders, this isn’t about more QA or more coaching—it’s about ensuring coaching is directly informed by performance insights and leads to measurable improvement.

The future of QA: AI-enhanced coaching & QA alignment

Contact centres that thrive in the future will stop treating QA and coaching as separate tasks. Instead, they’ll use AI and structured coaching methodologies to ensure:

• QA insights drive high-impact coaching conversations.

• Leaders track coaching effectiveness, not just frequency.

• AI helps pinpoint skill gaps and refine coaching quality in real-time.

YakTrak + GRIST are making this a reality, ensuring that coaching doesn’t just happen—but that it actually works.

Follow us on LinkedIn for expert insights on QA and coaching transformation.
Want to embed structured development into your QA process? Join our newsletter for exclusive strategies.