Employee Motivation & Performance |
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Employee Motivation & Performance
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Employee Motivation & Performance
Motivating Call Center Employees In 3 Easy Steps Working
as a customer service representative can be a very challenging position
for many reasons. In an inbound operation, for example, employees must deal
with a relentless stream of difficult customers, while having most of
their actions micromanaged and monitored.
Under such conditions, it is not rare to encounter low morale and
a total lack of enthusiasm for the job at hand.
However, dwindling motivation should not be considered as an
inevitable attribute that all call center operations must share. It is possible for contact center supervisors and managers to
create an environment where a culture of optimism can flourish.
This can be accomplished through modeling desired behaviors,
enforcing policies and instituting appropriate reward systems. Modeling desired behaviors As
important as it is for supervisors to make sure that their team members
adhere to a standardized set of rules, it is much more important, and
effective, for people in charge to consistently model the behaviors they
wish to reinforce. Call
center representatives
must follow very strict policies regarding
attendance, call handle time, and breaks just to name a few.
In contrast, people in management roles may have more lax
requirements, which permit them to attend to duties such as coaching,
meetings and various administrative tasks.
The obvious difference between the phone agent’s level of
freedom and that of a supervisor can be grounds for discontent if not
properly managed. During
periods of heavy queuing, for example, representatives must handle
dozens of calls without respite between interactions.
If their supervisors can be seen taking extended breaks, or
loitering instead of helping with the call volume, morale will suffer.
Moreover, the initial resentment that may begin with an isolated
incident has the potential of achieving epidemic proportions as other
examples of perceived unfairness are observed.
That is why it is crucial for supervisors to follow the
behavioral standards applicable to all employees.
In terms of attendance, supervisors must set an example by being punctual in all endeavors. Also, they must resist the temptation of breaking inconvenient rules in front of their underlings. Answering a personal call, while putting a customer on hold, would illustrate such a situation. Above
all, supervisors must remain professional in all their interactions with
customers. As the leaders
of their teams, supervisors are tasked with handling calls where
representatives and customers have encountered an impasse.
In general, such calls require a great deal of diplomacy, poise
and eloquence on the part of supervisors in order to be successful.
On the contrary, following in the footsteps of customers who have
reached the end of their civility is a recipe for disaster.
Even
more grievous than treating a customer poorly is having the interaction
witnessed by phone representatives who can lose their jobs for
displaying similar behaviors. Such paradoxes are always detrimental to employee motivation
because they reinforce the notion that supervisors get paid more, but
are held to a lower standard of conduct. Enforcing Policies It
is difficult to envision a successful call center operation without
associating it with stringent requirements for call handle time,
attendance, up-sell/cross-sell quotas, quality scores, etc.
In addition, it would seem implausible for a call center to reach
any level of consistent achievement without the presence of competent
management. A
hallmark of proficient supervisors and managers is their consistent
enforcement of the policies and guidelines established to ensure the
smooth running of their businesses.
Without this quality, supervisor’s actions can undermine a key
component of employee motivation, clear expectations.
Call
center representatives who don’t have a clear understanding of what is
expected of them cannot perform to their full potential. To illustrate
the point, let’s look at a fictional character we’ll call “John”. Imagine
that John is the type of agent that never misses a day of work.
Although he has never received any recognition for his attendance
record, John feels that being a reliable employee will eventually
differentiate him from other representatives who may be in line for
promotions. Now imagine
what would happen to John’s attendance if he found out that his
supervisor only followed the attendance policy when it didn’t affect
his best sales people? Given John’s work ethic he may not change his attendance
habits, but he may begin working less diligently in order to restore
equity. One
reason why supervisors may not enforce current policies is that they may
want to be perceived as being on the agent’s side.
However, such an approach would probably do more to foster
mediocrity and lower morale than to benefit the team.
People need to know the repercussions of their actions, positive
and negative, if they are to work to the best of their ability.
As a call center representative, it would be difficult to remain
positive about the daily challenges of the job, while knowing that
coworkers who don’t do their part are treated the same as those who
do. The
result of not enforcing exiting policies may best be highlighted by the
remarks that agents make after being transferred to a new team.
When new supervisors inherit what we’ll call “Trained Poor
Performers” they often encounter comments like “I know I have 25
occurrences, but that was never a problem before”, or “My old
supervisor said that QA scores didn’t matter as long as I met my quota”. Instituting appropriate
reward systems A
final tenet of call center motivation is the implementation of
appropriate reward systems. While
the definition of what is appropriate can vary from one call center to
the next, the basic characteristics of a good reward system remain
constant. In order to
achieve their objective, rewards must appeal to various motivators,
encourage only desired behaviors, and have incentives that are of value
to the agents. Successful
reward systems begin by appealing to the various motivators that impel
people to action. Employees may be motivated by money, recognition, job
flexibility, a sense of accomplishment, and many other intrinsic and
extrinsic factors. In
addition, things that motivate some people to excel can just as easily
discourage others. That is
why it is important for call center managers to identify and consider
the most prevalent motivators within their groups before finalizing any
type of incentive program. Assuming
that money is the best, or only, way to motivate call center
representatives can prove to be a very expensive and counterproductive
proposition. Along
the same lines as targeting the right motivators, rewards must be based
on behaviors that should be encouraged, while minimizing the possibility
of abuse. Unless they are
careful in the design of their incentive programs call center managers
can find themselves promoting the opposite of what they are trying to
accomplish. Let’s
take a contest to reduce average handle time as an example of what can
go wrong. In
theory, encouraging representatives to reduce their handle time would
induce them to work more effectively and efficiently, which in turn
would promote faster resolution of customer issues. Unfortunately,
the reality of such an undertaking would be very different unless strict
controls are put in place. As
an agent, the reward would look the same whether the contest is won by
disconnecting as many calls as possible, as it would by working
conscientiously. Not taking into consideration such obvious pitfalls can turn
almost any contest into a true customer satisfaction nightmare. Even if a reward system is well thought out and managed, it must still offer incentives that are of interest to the agents involved. This characteristic is different than the targeting of relevant motivators. People can be motivated by money, for example, but offering them $20 to do something that will prevent them from making $200 would probably fail as an incentive. Rewards must represent things that cannot be gained by sticking to the status quo, or conflict with more attractive propositions. |
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