Culture teams, performance-based incentives, employee recognition programs, and paid volunteer hours are just a few examples of workplace initiatives that impact morale—and morale affects profitability.
A 2026 Gallup study reveals that highly engaged teams accomplish 23% higher productivity and 78% lower absenteeism. Contact center agents are at the frontlines of customer interaction; their disengagement can be detrimental, making their buy-in all the more important.
Angie Flury, Chief Call Center Officer at Morgan & Morgan, guides her team through a complex legal environment where every client and case require high-level care. She has built a reputation for boosting agent performance by prioritizing a human-centered, strategically operationalized culture.
During our webinar, she shared what it all looks like in practice.
Like many, Flury found COVID to be a monumental hit to her company culture. They’d had to transition to remote work, then years later, a return to office. Having worked from home for an extended period of time, employees understandably felt the discomfort and tension of having to adjust to a major transition once again—causing some of them to leave.
“Every time we implement a significant change, I try to be as honest as I can possibly be,” said Flury. “I try to educate [my team] and explain why everything is happening. It might not feel good for you, and we understand. But we want you to understand the reason why we’re doing it.” Naturally met with resistance, she persisted, remaining transparent and communicative, and unwaveringly committed to providing support.
Most initiatives start out strong, then with time, stop. For instance, leaders begin serving monthly lunches for top performers, but only do it twice before fizzling out. Or, a manager forgets to keep their team in the loop, and employees begin to fill in the blanks themselves, often with speculations far from the truth.
Flury’s warning was clear: if you don’t commit to a habit, people will take note and internalize your actions accordingly. She explained further:
“I’m very careful with my presence and how I act. If I’m not present enough at various times, people make up stories of why I’m not there, when the reason is that I’m simply too busy. Leaders have to be conscious. If you do something regularly and stop with no explanation, employees will get suspicious, and their suspicion will damage the culture. Focus on where you put your efforts, because it can really pay off or hurt you.”
Some leadership models feel militant: lacking warmth, humanity, and intention. But in a highly automated, incessantly digitized age where empathy is increasingly becoming a must-have, workplace authoritarianism is simply not sustainable.
Flury ensures that every one of her employee connections is built on positive rapport. She shared:
“For every new hire class, I spend two hours with them and let them ask me anything. We go around the room, introduce ourselves, share fun facts, and share questions. They tell me, ‘You’re approachable. I can talk to you any time.’ And I think my approach has made such a huge difference in helping everyone feel like equals. My door is always open. People know they can come see me.”
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