The invisible workload we keep adding to contact centre roles

29 January 2026

As we finalised the 2026 edition of our Vulnerability Guides, I found myself stopping more often than expected.

Not to tweak wording.
Not to check compliance.
But to reflect on what we are actually asking contact centre teams to carry.

Because when you step back and really look at it, the job has become immense.

The role has changed. The expectations haven’t caught up.

In 2026, frontline teams are expected to:

• Resolve complex customer issues efficiently
• Navigate emotional, sometimes distressing conversations
• Spot vulnerability early - often without disclosure
• Adjust communication style in real time
• Apply policy and judgement
• Stay regulated, accurate, and consistent
• Manage their own emotional response
• Move seamlessly to the next interaction and do it all again

We often talk about “skills.”
What we don’t talk about enough is mental load.

Recognising vulnerability is not a single skill

One of the strongest reminders from updating the guides was this:

Recognising vulnerability is not one action.
It’s a stack of cognitive and emotional tasks happening at speed.

Agents are listening for:

• What is being said
• What isn’t being said
• Changes in tone, pace, clarity
• Signs of stress, confusion, fear, fatigue
• Risk - without escalating unnecessarily
• Opportunity to adjust - without overcorrecting

All while holding the practical aim of the contact.

That is not “soft.”
That is not “instinctive.”
That is skilled, deliberate work.

The emotional regulation required is rarely acknowledged

What struck me most during the refresh was how much emotional discipline the role now demands.

Agents are expected to:

• Stay calm when customers are distressed or angry
• Use their voice carefully - even when they’re being shouted at
• De-escalate without absorbing the emotion
• Show empathy without taking responsibility for outcomes they can’t control

And then… reset.
No decompression.
No pause.
Just the next call.

We talk about resilience a lot.
But resilience without support quickly turns into exhaustion.

The gap isn’t commitment. It’s capacity.

Most frontline teams want to do the right thing.

What they struggle with is:

• Too much to remember
• Too many judgement calls
• Too little space to think
• Too few opportunities to reflect safely

That’s not a people problem.
It’s a system problem.

And it’s one reason we were so deliberate with the 2026 Guides - simplifying where we could, clarifying where it matters, and anchoring everything in practical judgement rather than theoretical perfection.

A quiet question for leaders

As we move into 2026, there’s a question I think leaders need to sit with:

If this were your role, day after day, would the tools and support you’ve put in place genuinely be enough?

Because contact centre work hasn’t just become more complex.

It’s become more human.

And that deserves to be recognised - not just in policy, but in how we train, coach, resource, and lead.