Learning how to motivate your call center agents is a process. There is a reason why it can be difficult to keep agents engaged. This is mostly due to them being often given very little freedom of how they can execute their tasks and responsibilities.
Freedom and autonomy is important in any workplace. Even if guidelines are necessary to keep a call center running smoothly, giving your call center agents the tools to make more complex decisions without escalating them to the supervisor every time can give them a stronger sense of autonomy and control over their work.
There are a couple of ways to do this, and a few methods that you can try. For example, one way to do this is to give agents a limit of credit to use as a last resort when handling more complex customer issues. Doing so empowers agents to problem solve on their own, making them feel more valued and respected as an employee.
How to Motivate Your Customer Support Team
This is only of the four ideas on how to motivate your call center agents that will be explored in the article below.
1. Happy Team Leads to Happy Customers
Motivation your call center team and making sure that they are content with their job should be your priority. Finding ways to keep your team engaged and motivated will result in a lower churn rate and better performance.
This should be your first focus. As there are aspects of being a customer service agent that make it difficult to stay motivated, finding ways to motivate agents from within is extremely valuable. There is no exact guidelines on how to do this, as this depends of your company culture and the nature of your call center environment. Some of these incentives will work better for certain individuals than others, so take note on what each team member reacts the best to.
If you are wondering how to motivate your call center agents, take into consideration their personal interests and likes. This is a critical part in providing a consistently positive customer experience. Your call center agents represent your company to your customers, so they must always be giving their best effort in whatever they say or do.
The rest of the article contains tips that should help you in determining the best strategy to keep your customer service teams motivated and engaged.
2. Encouraging Friendly Competition
If you are thinking of gamifying your call center environment, team competitions are the way to do. Thee is a big advantage of creating distinct call center teams because it providesthe ability to foster a cohesive team-building environment.
You can incentivize the work in your call center by pitting teams against each other while driving agents to surpass a sales target. Your call center employees are much more likely to encourage and motivate teammates to perform better if there is a competitive atmosphere or the opportunity to win recognition or prizes for exemplary performance.
Of course, bear in mind that these competitions are friendly and that the team that doesn’t come out on top should not be punished. The best team should be rewarded with merchandize or recognition, in order to motivate the team members further. The competition within call centers should be managed carefully to ensure all employees are following company guidelines and not engaging in questionable business practices in order to exceed sales goals or win contests.
Due to the nature of the work, it’s easy for an agent in a call center to feel like a cog in a machine. In order to prevent this, make sure team leaders are recognizing employees for doing good work and encouraging those who may not be performing up to expectations by providing helpful coaching and feedback. An employee who feels valued and empowered is much more likely to work harder and do what is expected than one who feels neglected. A simple thank you or a card showcasing your appreciation for an employee’s hard work can make all the difference in the world.
3. The Impact of Workplace Relationships on Employee Motivation
This goes hand in hand with building a friendly and happy work environment. We all know that going to work every day can be stressful. This is more so when there is an employer or colleague with whom you struggle to get along.
Situations like these can leave anyone feeling unsatisfied at the end of each workday, and this can also happen at the start of it. If this goes on for a long time, you may start looking for other employment. If each person did this, the business would suffer because of its retention issues. The fact is, it already suffers from a morale issue, yours and maybe others’.
It is important for the employer to recognize the impact of workplace relationships to employee satisfaction. In addition to this the employer should encourage flexibility and interaction, and be able to transform a brittle workplace into a productive, satisfying environment.
Another thing is the work-life balance. Balancing work and family or personal life can be a challenge. It is important for employers to allow a certain volume of flexibility. A flexible employer recognizes that employees cannot all work on the same schedule, and can make concessions for occasional unforeseen events.
Management flexibility is a sign of respecting employees and encouraging employee satisfaction. In turn, management benefits through the employee’s loyalty and dedication. This makes for a healthier workplace.
Adding on to the suggestions number two, a method of engaging in workplace relationships is for employees to participate in team competitions. As mentioned before, these can be sales competitions, for example, which can give employees a sense of control over their success. Team activities encourage employees to work together for a common goal. Working together encourages employees to support each other. The winning team also feels a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction and improves teamwork.
4. Building Your Workplace Culture
It is a fact that work can be serious business, but focusing on tasks and goals doesn’t have to preclude having a happy workplace. If you want to keep the churn within your call center to a minimum, you will need to make sure that your employees love working there.
Satisfied, productive and fulfilled employees are the key to good morale in a company. The best way to do this is by creating a sense of shared purpose, with management and employees working in tandem toward company goals.
Don’t forget to reward people for accomplishments. You don’t necessarily have to spend much on rewards and perks. The goal is to let employees know they are valued, which can help create a happy atmosphere.
You should also focus on the on-boarding process. After you hire new employees, bring people on board who fit your company culture and who are enthusiastic about the company goals and mission. It is important to assess a potential employee’s personality through pre-employment tests and interviews. Personality traits such as optimism, resourcefulness and cheerfulness can help create smooth working relationships among co-workers. People who smile regularly tend to contribute to a happy atmosphere in the workplace.
Adding onto the important of flexibility, you should try to allow your employees the freedom to make decisions and be responsible for their work. Try to refrain from monitoring every move an employee makes. This can cause dissatisfaction, low morale and low productivity. Instead, delegate tasks and trust employees to be responsible for completing them. People who feel valued and that they are doing meaningful work contribute to a happy workplace.
Keep the lines of communication open between management and employees for feedback. An open-door policy allows employees to air concerns or complaints before they become serious issues. Offer a way for employees to leave feedback for improving the efficiency of the company and make it clear that suggestions will be considered. Be as transparent as possible about company goals and initiatives to prevent rumors and speculation from running rampant in the office.
Employees are increasingly concerned about work-life balance and companies that offer flexibility in working arrangements often find increased levels of satisfaction among employees. If it is appropriate, consider offering employees flexible work hours, job sharing, time off to attend family events or the ability to work from home on certain days.
Group work, such as meetings and planning sessions, can be highly tedious or highly productive. Make group work more effective by only scheduling meetings when necessary, and sticking to a schedule. When your team members work together to achieve a goal, they can become more closely bonded, but when they’re artificially forced together through endless meetings, they may begin to feel stressed and resentful.
