Lily Traugh, a supervisor at Novant Health, has a contact center career journey that reads like a blueprint for professional growth. In less than six years, she’s progressed from answering phones at a cancer institute to supervising 57 agents, 17 of those being her direct reports.

“Lily is a standout leader whose own career journey reflects the kind of development culture we strive to foster at Novant Health,” says Melissa Vander Weert, director of operations for Novant Health Care Connections Contact Center. “She brings empathy, strategy and encouragement to every interaction — empowering her agents not just to do their jobs, but to do their jobs well, and grow beyond them. Her ability to spot potential, support professional goals and lead with transparency is what makes her such a trusted mentor and impactful supervisor.” 

Starting as an agent at Atrium Health’s Levine Cancer Institute in 2018, Traugh spent her first year and a half taking calls from cancer patients throughout Charlotte, North Carolina. Then, she moved into a training role. 

That transition into training new hires marked the beginning of a career trajectory that would see her navigate multiple promotions, a pandemic pivot and eventually land in her current supervisory role at Novant Health Care Connections. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, Traugh transitioned to Atrium’s virtual team, handling at least 500 telehealth visits each day. Within two weeks after joining that team, everyone went remote. 

Now supervising a much larger team at Novant Health Care Connections — a 24/7 operation handling calls for offices, specialties and after-hours care — Traugh shared several advancement opportunities that any contact center leader can adopt.

• Ask awesome agents if they want to help train. “Just asking them that question can build some confidence,” Traugh says. 
• Be aware of burnout. Doing the same thing over and over again can lead to burnout. That’s why she’s not afraid to ask her agents, “What else do you want to do here? How can we help you? What goals are you working toward?” 
• Offer special projects that match an agent’s skill set. “These project rotations serve multiple purposes,” Traugh says. “They provide skill development, break up routine and help supervisors identify agents ready for advancement.”

A word of caution: Some employees might feel hesitant to discuss their career goals because they’re worried that expressing ambition might be seen negatively. Traugh counteracts that attitude by being straightforward with agents from the first day on the job. 

“They might be thinking, ‘Oh, if I tell you what I want, you might be scared I’ll leave,’” Traugh says. “But that’s not the case. If someone on my team wanted to go back to school or work outside of this department, I’m all for it. I want to be the person you ask to write a letter of recommendation.”