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Home Page > Business > Management > Motivating Call Center Agents

Motivating Call Center Agents

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Posted: Sep 07, 2010 |Comments: 0
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Call centers have appeared as one of the fast rising branches in last few years. Working with call centers requires a candidate to possess good communication skills. The main task of call center operators is generally to interact with customers through telephone, well connected with computer systems. The level of quick adaptability to working culture depends on the type of a call center, one is working for. Call center jobs are lucrative for many people for a diversified set of reasons. College going students generally prefer this kind of job during the tenure of their studies for variety of reasons ranging from utilization of college vacations, working towards improvement in their communication skills, etc. Students also prefer to take up part time jobs in call centers with a motive of earning their pocket money or to met with rising expenses or may be to compensate for their fee amount. Though a job in a call center pays a good sum of money, it is usually considered to be a monotonous job, due to a reason that it is characterized by routine tasks and the level of control on employees is also considered to be low. Domestic call centers may or may not have fixed shifts but if a person is interested to for an international call center, then it is tacit that the person is open for roaster system. Working culture here involves lot of pressure on employees. This leads to a high level of stress at work.

Stress at times is good for healthy competition, but when it exceeds the limit, it may prove unfruitful for the organization. Over dose of stress may often lead to a higher attrition rate in organizations like call centers. At such a juncture, it becomes imperative for an organization to take some measures which not only can help in boosting the motivation level of employees but will also aid the call centers in retaining their employees for a longer epoch. Motivation and training related activities should take place in an organization frequently and consistently. Various suggestions and motivators can be classified into two broad categories to keep the agents motivated and engaged:

1) On Financial Front –

a) Increment – Annual increments are considered as a best motivating tool. The percentage increase in the salary should be commensurate to the level of performance shown by the employees and the endeavors they have put in during the year. When the employees are satisfied with the amount of their increments, they feel motivated to take initiatives and work towards the attainment of goals.

b) Reward/ Cash Prizes – The highest performing or top three or top ten performing agents may be rewarded with cash prizes at the end of the year. This will not only motivate the high performing employees but will also boost the morale of others to work hard so that next time they can also come in the bracket of high performers.

c) Profit Sharing – This is one of the traditional measures of boosting employee morale. When the management shares a part of their annual with their employees, they feel a sense of belonging to their organization. This feeling often leads to zeal and determination on the part of employees and finally may result into higher productivity and quality task.

2) On Non-financial Front –

a) Hall of Fame – Appraising an employee in front of august gathering brings to an employee a satisfaction of achieving something great. Such an appraisal works two ways, on one side it makes the appraised employee feel that his work is being noticed and praised and thereby he will be inspired to work hard for further accomplishments and on the other side it will prompt others to acquire the level.

b) Intrinsic motivation – Intrinsic motivation arises within oneself. It is simply a feeling of accomplishment which is derived from ownership of responsibility, job satisfaction, sense of involvement and freedom to initiate. If the employees set a belief that they belong to the organization they work for and feel themselves associated, they work with complete ownership of responsibility. In order to give them the feeling, it is necessary to treat them like a family. Arranging tickets for movie together, picnics, trips, dinner or may be Christmas or New Year party. Call center agents are known to work in a stressful environment, such occasional activities aid in diverting their mind from the usual course of task and thereby may facilitate in relieving them from the pile up stress. Stress hampers work productivity and inter personal relations. Eventually such measures work towards creating a conducive working culture in a call center.

Apart from the above mentioned measures, a call center can also follow several other measures to reduce the employee attrition rate. Some of the measures are listed as follows:

a) Clear explanation of the expected role – Call center job is one highly related to targets. The productivity of agents should not only be restricted to quality but also needs to be focused on customer satisfaction. The ultimate goal or target should better be explained to the employees at the time of hiring.

b) Hire the right people – This measure need to be adopted at the time of selection procedure of employees. The interviewer should look for attitude and professional behaviour in the candidate. Those candidates should be selected who either have the requisite kind of attitude for the job or else is ready to adjust in the environment.

c) Train call center agentsfrequently and consistently – Call center employees may wish to perform at a good level but their performance is hampered when they do not possess the knowledge of their task. The best way to help them out is to train them frequently and consistently. At the same time it is also required to give them feedback about their performance and guide them for improvement.

d) Conduct annual survey on employee satisfaction – Management of call centers can plan to conduct yearly surveys concerning employee satisfaction. While planning to have such a survey, management need to be clear with the broad objectives of the survey and should also be ready to share the results with the staff. In addition to this, management should also be prepared to implement action plans, if possible in some of the areas where their agents feel dissatisfied. Such plans and the implementation status should be brought to the notice of the employees.

e) Get to know every employee – It is not possible for a mid-level manager to encourage his subordinates without actually knowing them. Calling a person by his name or pointing on one-on-one basis makes a difference for the employees. Before applying tools of motivation or before counseling an employee, it is important for a manager to identify the set of strengths and weaknesses of an individual. Such one-on-one sessions with employees offers a great opportunity to managers in boosting their subordinates to contribute their ideas.

While implementing any of the measures as discussed above, management need to be very cautious for not over doing any suggestion and look for the reduction in the scope of biasness in evaluating employee performance. Respect the emotions of employees and they will pay it back with significant improvement in achieving targets.

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Ruchi Bhatia -
About the Author:

The Author Ms. Ruchi Bhatia has an expertise in finance and marketing. Presently she is working as a Senior Lecturer at NSB known as one of top business schools in India.

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Article Tags:
call center, call center jobs, call center agents

Motivating Telemarketing Agents

Motivating call center employees is not a tough job. But the call centers have to do that on a consistent basis. I have noted that many of these motivational exercises would mean just a raise in the salary or some incentives and perks. It’s true that money is a prime motivator, but for stressful jobs like telemarketing, money is not the only factor that determines the motivational efforts that a BPO organization can put in. I have listed some ways in which telemarketing services employees can be motivated. These are susceptible to the available resources and conditions at the disposal of the organization. One or several of them can be tried out in a combination process. Let’s roll the list.

Stress eats away the working spirit of the employees in the telemarketing sector. They have to deal with so many consumers and their complaints that at the end of the day it becomes impossible for them to maintain their mental stability! The stress levels at the call center are so high that many prefer to quit their job and look elsewhere even though they were making better money in telemarketing services. The primary aim of the BPO management is to diffuse this stress. It can be done in a number of ways. Dig out the causes of unnecessary stress. For example, the answering services are constantly monitored when they are on call. Then their mistakes are shredded apart in a sort of training exercise. This is not ideal because nothing deflates the BPO service employee worse.

If you want to use the recorded inbound call center calls for training purposes, use them constructively. Make the phone answering agent feel that their work is being appreciated and all you are trying to do is make it better. This will enable the BPO agent to relax when they are taking calls. If they are constantly under the scanner of being pulled up and examined, they are more likely to make mistakes. Reward the deserving call center agents through a transparent appraisal policy. Let the agents know the parameters on which they will be judged. Let the telemarketing floor know why someone got the “Best Agent” or some similar award. Your aim is to make every agent on the BPO service floor feel that they are as likely to win the rewards as anyone else.

Inculcate a sense of belonging in the call center agents. It’s very difficult to instill loyalty among your employees if you take erratic management decisions. If you are consistent with your policy and make the BPO service agents feel part of the organization, you don’t just motivate them. You also cut down on the attrition rate of the call centers, which tends to be extremely high at all times. Research studies among the telemarketing agents have pointed out that a whopping majority of them did not quit because they were underpaid. They quit because they were not appreciated for their contribution to the business process outsourcing firm. Take care of them and they will take care of your call center services.

Motivating Your Call Center Agents- Few Tips To Follow

Working in a call center is highly challenging and demanding. Meeting and maintaining quality is a must for every agent. This is where the importance of motivation comes. In order to inspire and activate the self-motivation and morale of the employees, you as a manger need to become one dynamic leader.

The toughest task for a call center manager is to keep the morale of the employees at an all-time high. If employees are found to be in a miserable state, then low productivity can essentially be the final result or outcome. Therefore, it will be significant enough to keep the agents enthusiastic, happy and also motivated.

Life is not easy if you do not get the motivation to strive ahead. The same goes for the contact center agents working hard to meet up to the expectation of their supervisors. Hence, the contact center stress is common. Maintaining strict quality standards, strict deadlines, handling huge call volumes and satisfying the needs of the frustrated and the angry callers- all these and more happens to be the job responsibilities of the call center representatives/agents.

The job requirements of the agents also require meeting targets in real time within the confines and rules of a customer care center. One major question that happens to revolve round is how to make your employees/agents happy and motivated. When monetary incentives are found to work better, there are other non-monetary tips that can create a lasting effect to transform the future of your organization. Few of these tips are mentioned below. Take a look at them closely.

Coaching and Mentoring

It is considered quite helpful for call center mangers to include a coaching plan from before. Coaching plan for employees should make the employees involved with the company. It will be helpful in making good and better employees.

Communicate Freely

Each agent is different. They have different personalities and you as a leader need to adapt with them accordingly. See the things from the employee’s perspective and try to communicate with them freely. Try to be what you are actually and hence you will be able to find agents to open up quite freely.

Correct any agent in personal but praise in open

There is nothing second to a genuine praise. We always carry forward a thought in which you are found to believe that praising any employee can lead to the distraction and also to over-confidence. So, try to praise sincerely, timely and also public whenever possible.

Share responsibility and Delegate

Give your representatives a chance to manage. By means of rewarding the employees with more of responsibilities, you will not only involve them in your organizational web but also boost the recognition of the employees from the same.

Set example for yourself

Being a call center manager, you have to be different from the conventional. Try out different ideas each time. Allow your employees to judge or evaluate you as a leader. Get the individual feedback and try out to improvise them. Make evaluation and the feedback as a two-way procedure.

To maximize your company’s return on investment (ROI), you have to first reduce the rate of attrition. Keeping your agents happy will in a way help you to reduce the turnover or attrition rates. In this respect, an arrangement of both non-monetary and monetary incentives will help you to keep your representatives working for you happily.

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Posts Tagged ‘Motivating’

Motivating Call Center Agents

Motivating Telemarketing Agents

Motivating Your Call Center Agents- Few Tips To Follow

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