How companies can bolster the well-being of their support teams with Tade Anzalone at Calm

As any support team manager can attest to, the deleterious effects of stress and burnout have very real consequences for customer service teams. From heavy employee turnover to impacted levels of service, the pressure of rising customer expectations and heavy workloads can hobble teams and exact a human cost that goes beyond business metrics.

But as Tade Anzalone of Calm points out, it doesn’t have to be this way. As senior manager of customer experience at the mindfulness app, Anzalone has more than a decade of experience in the customer support space. That experience, which includes stints in the healthcare and banking industries, has helped her develop proven tactics that make life for support teams easier—and healthier.

In the latest episode of Conversations with Zendesk, Anzalone chatted with host Nicole Saunders about ways businesses can shore up their support teams. One key tactic, Anzalone said, is to lay the groundwork for emotional well-being before problems arise. That means properly supporting them with the resources, training, and documentation they need to do their jobs well.

“Proper agent enablement is very impactful for employee engagement and stress management,” Anzalone said.

Yet even with those tools in place, companies must place great emphasis on the need for breaks. Doing so gives support employees a chance to recharge physically and mentally, which leads to better service outcomes, she said.

“Having a company-wide culture that acknowledges breaks are necessary is incredibly important,” Anzalone said.

Be sure to check out the next episode of Conversations with Zendesk on September 20, when Addie Wallace, senior director at Wine.com, talks about her company’s subscription model and the important role personalization plays in it.