Next-gen KPIs for agent experience: Redefining customer experience measurement

Despite what its name suggests, customer experience (CX) success doesn’t start with the customer — it starts with employees. A motivated, engaged workforce is the foundation of great CX.

As Ian Golding, author, founder and CEO of Customer Experience Consultancy, shared in the Questions for now podcast episode, Is experience management the new customer experience?, “The most customer-centric organizations on earth have always believed and known that you can't deliver great customer experiences until or unless you're delivering great employee experiences. The way you make your people feel is the way you want your people to make your customers feel.”

This connection is reinforced by Gallup’s 2024 State of the Global Workplace report, which found that highly engaged teams experience 10% higher customer loyalty, an 18% increase in sales productivity and are 23% more profitable than disengaged teams.

Fortunately, when it comes to making the employee experience a priority, CX leaders are on the right track. The majority (66%) of respondents surveyed by TELUS Digital, in collaboration with Statista, stated that improving the agent experience was a critical/high priority for 2025.

The evolution of agent experience measurement

While improving the agent experience has been a growing priority for organizations, and the impact of employee experience is now widely recognized, its exact definition is open to interpretation.

“Too many organizations think that employee experience is about the onboarding of employees. That’s not what it means, in my view,” explained Golding in the aforementioned podcast episode. “Employee experience is about exactly the same [thing] as customer experience. It represents the entire relationship that an employee has with an organization, end-to-end, from before they work with you to the point that they decide not to work with you anymore and everything that happens in between.”

Everything that happens over the course of a team member's tenure influences their overall employee experience: from the tools and processes they use in their day-to-day, to the relationships they build, to the social programs they participate in, to the learning and development programs offered, and so much more.

Given this complexity, organizations need a thoughtful measurement framework to assess employee experience in a meaningful way. Any single metric that provides a static, high-level snapshot of sentiment, will miss real-time shifts in employee engagement or specific departmental challenges.

Instead, businesses today need a more comprehensive, continuous approach to agent experience measurement. This means going beyond operational metrics like turnover and absenteeism to include subjective and experience-driven indicators. A balanced framework should combine both quantitative data — such as productivity trends and retention rates — with qualitative insights that capture evolving employee needs, motivations and pain points.

Next-gen agent experience metrics

The following metrics have been identified by experts and analysts as providing a more comprehensive view of the agent experience. By adopting these metrics, businesses can foster a more engaged workforce and drive better CX outcomes.

Employee satisfaction (ESAT) and engagement

Regularly tracking ESAT and engagement allows businesses to uncover potential issues before they impact retention and performance.

What is employee satisfaction and engagement?

Employee satisfaction tracks how fulfilled employees feel with their work environment, job responsibilities and overall experience within an organization. A high ESAT score typically signals a motivated workforce, while low satisfaction can indicate challenges such as inadequate support, high stress or limited career growth opportunities.

Closely related to satisfaction is employee engagement — which goes beyond how content employees are and measures how motivated they are, as well as how committed and connected they feel to their work. While satisfaction is about how employees feel, engagement reflects how invested they are in the company’s mission and goals.

Why does measuring employee satisfaction and engagement matter?

Without measuring ESAT and engagement, organizations risk missing early signs of disengagement, leading to higher turnover, lower productivity and declining service quality. Engaged employees are more likely to go above and beyond, contribute to company success and create positive customer experiences.

By actively tracking and improving both satisfaction and engagement, businesses can foster a workplace where employees feel valued, motivated and aligned with organizational goals — driving better performance, stronger retention and long-term business growth.

Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)

In the same way that customer loyalty reflects satisfaction with their experience, employee loyalty can provide a strong indicator of workplace culture and engagement.

What is employee Net Promoter Score?

Employee Net Promoter Score is a metric that gauges the likelihood of employees recommending their workplace to others. It measures employee sentiment by asking one simple question: "On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our company as a great place to work?" Based on their response, employees are categorized into promoters (would recommend the company as a great place to work), passives (satisfied but not likely to actively recommend the company) and detractors (dissatisfied and may possibly share negative feedback with others), which provides a clear snapshot of overall employee satisfaction.

A high eNPS score signals a positive company culture, strong leadership and high employee engagement, while a low score indicates potential concerns, such as dissatisfaction or an increased risk of turnover.

Why does measuring employee Net Promoter Score matter?

Imagine an organization with a growing number of disengaged employees who continue working but aren't advocating for the company. Without measuring eNPS, leadership may assume everything is fine based on performance metrics alone. However, tracking eNPS could reveal that while employees aren't actively leaving, they’re also not willing to recommend the company as a great place to work — signaling deeper issues in leadership, culture or engagement.

This is especially critical for organizations looking to scale their CX operations. Employee referrals are a key part of recruitment, and if your team isn’t willing to vouch for the company, attracting top talent becomes much more difficult. A low eNPS score serves as an early warning system, highlighting potential concerns before they lead to higher attrition and recruitment challenges.

By tracking and acting on eNPS insights, organizations can strengthen company culture, boost engagement and foster a workforce that not only stays but also actively promotes the company — helping to attract and retain the right talent for long-term growth.

Employee flexibility

In today’s evolving work environment, flexibility is a key component of employee satisfaction and performance. As businesses embrace remote and hybrid models, giving employees more control over their workday has become critical for boosting engagement and productivity.

What is employee flexibility?

Employee flexibility measures how much control agents have over their work schedules and tasks, as well as how these arrangements affect both employee experience and business outcomes.

Why does measuring employee flexibility matter?

Many organizations assume that flexible work arrangements simply boost morale and satisfaction. However, tracking flexibility’s impact on productivity, efficiency and retention offers deeper insight into its business value. This requires a combination of quantitative and qualitative insights.

The following metrics provide a unique perspective on how flexibility impacts operations and engagement:

• Productivity metrics: While flexibility can enhance work-life balance, organizations need to ensure it doesn’t come at the cost of performance. Tracking task completion rates, deadlines met and customer service outcomes helps businesses determine whether agents maintain efficiency while working remotely or on flexible schedules. If productivity dips, it may indicate that employees need better resources or clearer expectations in a flexible model.
• Retention and turnover: One of the biggest challenges in CX operations is agent burnout and high turnover. Measuring retention trends can help organizations assess whether greater schedule autonomy reduces burnout and increases long-term engagement. If turnover remains high despite flexibility, other issues — such as lack of career growth or inadequate support — may need to be addressed.
• Collaboration efficiency: A flexible work model should not compromise teamwork and operational effectiveness. Measuring how well teams communicate and complete shared tasks can reveal whether flexible arrangements foster collaboration or create silos. If collaboration declines, organizations may need to invest in better communication tools or structured team engagement strategies.
• Employee sentiment: While engagement surveys provide useful insights, they should be analyzed alongside performance and operational data for a more accurate picture of flexibility’s impact. If employees report high satisfaction but productivity lags, businesses may need to reevaluate workflows or set clearer performance benchmarks.

By combining these metrics, organizations can move beyond self-reported satisfaction scores to create a data-driven strategy for workplace flexibility.

Drive CX success from within your organization

The link between employee experience and customer experience is undeniable. As organizations continue to recognize the importance of a highly engaged workforce, tracking next-generation metrics such as ESAT, eNPS and employee flexibility becomes critical for driving both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Equally crucial is the adoption of cutting-edge tools that empower employees to perform at their best. Next-generation technologies, such as AI-powered assistants and advanced analytics platforms, play a pivotal role in enhancing the agent experience. These tools not only streamline workflows, but also provide real-time support, enabling agents to deliver more efficient and personalized customer service.

At TELUS Digital, we take pride in fostering one of the most engaged work environments within the CX industry, with world-class employee engagement scores of 78%, as measured by Kincentric. Fuel iX™ Copilot, our advanced AI assistant, has been instrumental in creating an environment where employees across the organization feel supported and equipped to excel. By providing instant access to relevant information and guidance, this innovative tool reduces friction in daily tasks and allows our agents to focus on what they do best — delivering exceptional customer service.

Let us help you drive long-term success. Reach out to our team of experts to explore how we can equip your business with the right tools, metrics and support to create an employee experience that positively impacts your bottom line and elevates CX outcomes.

This article is part two of our series on redefining CX measurement, where we explore the next-generation KPIs that CX leaders should consider. Missed part one? Read it here: Next-gen KPIs for CX. You can check out part three here: Next-gen KPIs for digital transformation and process improvement.