The Keys to a Happier, More Productive Contact Center

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February 11, 2021

The Keys to a Happier, More Productive Contact Center

As a contact center manager, retaining quality agents can be a real threat to your quality objectives.
High churn rates not only affect morale, but your business’ bottom line will likely take a hit as a result.
So how do we at Call Criteria recommend you motivate and reward existing agents in order to keep them engaged?
While tiered pay scales derived from performance metrics may be effective in motivating or penalizing your agents, there are three psychological needs that can more directly affect their performance output.

The Keys to a Happier, More Productive Contact Center

Autonomy, having the competence to complete tasks, and feeling a sense of working towards an objective greater than the individual, are all things that provide intangible fulfillment that when combined, can trigger sincere motivation in your agents and team as a whole.
Below are a handful of actionable steps you can take in your contact center today to create an environment brimming with motivational momentum;

Give your agents more control

  • Allow your agents to deviate from the script in ways that allow for creative small talk while still fulfilling compliance requirements
  • Keep the lines of communication open in both directions, giving your agents an increased level of comfort so they can make suggestions for improvements

Make your expectations and goals very clear

  • Make the goals and objectives of the organization clear to everyone so the mission can be carried out effectively
  • Provide reliable and accurate metrics transparently so your agents can monitor how they’re performing over time, and in relationship to the contact center as a whole

Give them tools to improve

  •  Use internal and external examples and best practice case studies to reinforce positive agent behavior and performance
  • Hold regularly scheduled meetings to share ideas and to promote peer evaluations and improvement strategies

Develop a more collaborative and connected work environment

  • Create smaller, more closely knit group sizes to foster a more fun and competitive environment where comradery and morale can thrive
  • Recognize and reward strong performance and effort as part of a comprehensive motivation building strategy

Compensation

  • Remember that compensation can come in many forms outside of financial incentives such as bonus vacation time, gifts, or upgrades to agent stations
  • Be consistent and reward agents equally for the same or equal actions, so as not to confuse or deteriorate the value of the compensation system

Conclusion

The tools that a 3rd party QA provider like Call Criteria offers can free up untold resources, so you’re able to focus more on managing and motivating your agents and less time on reviewing their interactions with customers.
Motivating and rewarding exceptional agent performance is no easy task, but when you get it right, the increase in job satisfaction and agent output will have you on your way to a more productive and profitable contact center.