Much like the human body, a company cannot perform optimally if its internal systems are ailing. For David Payne, ensuring the health of The Standard's contact center means taking an agent centric approach designed to build employee engagement.

This strategy goes hand-in-hand with the insurer's customer-centric ideology. "Our company doesn't necessarily position itself to be a price leader in the industry," says Payne, assistant vice president, contact center, for The Standard. "What we pride ourselves on is the differentiation in the service that we provide. It's giving customers what they want, how they want it, when they want it."

Achieving this starts with enhancing the employee experience for the nearly 200-person call center team. Payne knows that engaged agents are more empathetic—and when it comes to The Standard's customer interactions, empathy from agents is essential for customer satisfaction and retention.