We had the absolute privilege of being part of the Auscontact National Awards on Friday 17th November. What an incredible night to celebrate the diversity and excellence across the contact centre industry! We saw agents, leaders, coaches, organisations and others recognised for outstanding performance, innovative programs, customer-centricity and employee engagement.

We interact with brands every day. Brand connection can hit us at many levels, but the value of genuine human interactions in contact centres stands out as a potential peak (or dip) in our brand relationship. Contact centres are more than just hubs for calls; they’re platforms for building lasting relationships and brand communities.

Imagine: you’re in yet another training session, another generic PowerPoint presentation unfolding in front of you. You can’t help but wonder; ‘Is this the best way for my team to learn?’

Let’s be real – the answer is no.

In almost all contact centres, there's a dimension that's paramount yet challenging – compliance. In a world where customer interactions can make or break brand reputations, adhering strictly to industry regulations isn't just a good-to-have; it's the bedrock of trust and operational excellence.

The 70:20:10 learning model says people learn most of what they know on the job (the 70), and through social learning (the 20). Yet, most organisations invest in formal training (the 10) and leave the rest to chance. GRIST harnesses the power of 70:20 by developing and inspiring team members to learn and leaders to lead.

Over three days of speaking events in Auckland, Melbourne and Sydney, the GRIST team hosted some of our clients at James Clear’s Atomic Habits tour. The principles of Atomic Habits closely align with our micro-behavioural approach, and we saw this as a fantastic opportunity to get a more in-depth understanding of Clear’s methodologies and open discussion with our partners on how we can all use the principles of habit formation when we’re design behavioural change interventions across an organisation.

At GRIST, we believe change management done well has immense power.

Human behaviour feels difficult to influence and yet, when you tap into the right message and techniques, simple, small shifts can make a massive difference.

It starts with doing change differently.

We know that the rate of change is increasing. Updates to technology, ways of working, regulation and customer preferences are all leaping ahead across all industries. To keep up with change and mitigate ‘change fatigue’, we need to reimagine the way we think about and manage change.

On the first weekend in August, the GRIST team met in the stunning surrounds of the Yarra Valley. Our team are scattered across Australia and New Zealand, and our twice-annual conferences are our way to get everyone together to build connections and communicate strategy with all our people.