Contact Center Solutions Featured Article

Call center managers are of course responsible for the performance of the agents within their charge. As such, these managers must be able to properly motivate call center agents to not only perform their jobs well, but even to go above and beyond.

 

The reality in the call center, however, is that so often there exists an agent-manager disconnect that inhibits motivation completely. One root cause of this disconnect is when managers take a “one-size-fits-all” approach to motivation. Employing only one type of program ignores the fact that each agent is a unique individual with different motivational needs.

 

According to Prosci Research, the disconnect between agents and managers was most evident when investigating motivating job factors. The top five motivating factors reported by agents included – in order of importance – positive leadership skills of supervisors; relationships on the job with co-workers and peers; benefits; work tools and equipment as well as competitive pay.

 

By contrast, managers and supervisors reported that the top five things that they use to motivate their call center agents included structured incentive programs; agent feedback (such as performance evaluations, call monitoring, walk-arounds, etc.); additional training, new responsibilities, special projects and career-path opportunities; group meetings and information sharing; and the ability to choose their work schedule.

 

The number one thing that managers reported that they used to motivate their call center agents was incentive programs. In Prosci’s study, this response was given four times as often as agent feedback, the number two answer on the managers’ list. For the agents, however, incentives did not even appear on their list.  

 

Both agents and supervisors highlighted how important the work environment was to job motivation. There was a difference in the perception of what is important in this environment. The agents, for instance, refer to relationships with co-workers and peers as a motivator. Management did not acknowledge the interactions between people, but instead attributed the culture to the contests, gifts and prizes that are offered for performance levels.

 

Across the board, call centers invest significant amounts of time and money in incentives that are specifically aimed at motivating and thus retaining their agents. These investments are made partially because the baseline turnover rate of 20 to 40 percent in considered the norm in the industry and call center leaders are looking for ways to reverse the trend.

 

Ensuring that there is symmetry between call center management and agents is one way to work toward a more viable workforce with high performance and low turnover. Check back tomorrow as we explore de-motivating job factors in the call center and how agents and managers can reconnect for the better of the business.

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