Employee-Centered Programs Drive Engagement in Contact Centers
By Dan Campbell, CEO of Hire Dynamics
Employee engagement should be the rallying cry for 2016. Sweeping advancements in technology is altering the work environment for a continually plugged-in generation of workers. The rules are changing what it means to have a job in today’s economy, and it’s not translating into a very engaged workforce.
In October, the percentage of U.S. workers that Gallup considers engaged in their jobs averaged only 32 percent – based on “engaged” workers’ rating of key workplace elements such as having an opportunity to do what they do best each day, having someone at work who encourages their development and believing their opinions count at work. This percentage has remained flat throughout 2015, going up only slightly (from 28 percent) since Gallup first started tracking the numbers in 2011.
When considering the dynamics of contact centers, engagement is particularly difficult. High attrition, low compensation, training issues, communication challenges, high-stress work environment, and job burn-out are just a few of the obstacles working against you. Because engaged workers represent such a low percentage of the workforce, the companies with high engagement stand out and are attractive workplaces for prospective employees. So what is the special sauce? How can contact center employees find a fulfilling, appreciative work experience where they find they want to stay?
The biggest influences
Start with the right people. Half the battle of creating a positive company culture and improving employee engagement is hiring the right people. I believe a person’s “will” and “values” are more important than his or her skills, but they are often overlooked in the interview process. Try to learn whether a candidate has the will to be successful and the ability to persevere through difficult times, because that will drive his or her work ethic over the long-term.
To complement a strong company culture, look for a candidate’s propensity to believe in the cause of the organization. Generally avoid cynical people who are skeptical in nature; that pessimistic nature is likely to persist no matter how you try to engage them. A culture built around deep-seated values is common among successful organizations, and the same should be expected of employees. Does a potential hire’s value set match that of the company? Determine what is important to them and how driven are they by their moral compass.
Once the new team member is through the door, building and maintaining engagement becomes the focus. Still today, the #1 reason for employee turnover and lack of engagement is an unsatisfactory relationship with an immediate supervisor. This is only magnified in a contact center environment. In many cases, supervisors are promoted from agents and not given the proper training to be successful as a manager, an idea I explored in detail in a recent article for Call Center Times. Training supervisors not only prepares them to take on new responsibilities, but it places them in a position to meet the goals put in place for themselves and the team. It is astounding how most contact centers still do not tie supervisor compensation to the level of retention and engagement of his or her team.
Operationalizing the details
In regards to the day-to-day functionality of contact center operations, there are many opportunities to raise the level of engagement and company loyalty to build a more cohesive and efficient team of agents. Here are a few specific ideas:
Encourage friendships at work. Gallup reported that close work friendships boost employee satisfaction by 50 percent and people with a best friend at work are seven times more likely to engage fully in their work. That’s not surprising considering we spend more time with the people at work than with friends outside of work. In an article for Fast Company, leadership development consultant Jessica Amortegui wrote: “When colleagues can traverse acquaintance status and move into the friend realm, their motivation deepens. A half-hearted effort means much more than a dissatisfied customer or disappointed manager. It means letting down a friend.”
Reward for what matters. Employees are motivated by recognition from their supervisors and the company as a whole, but many organizations aren’t rewarding employees for the things that matter to them most. According to a recent employee “happiness study,” less than half (42%) of employees are happy with the rewards and recognition their company offers, shedding light on how and when workers prefer to be acknowledged for their accomplishments.
Focus on onboarding. What is the impression of employees coming out of their initial training? Do they feel they are set up for success or just thrown into the mix to experience trial by fire? Employees who are given the latitude to bond and connect with fellow trainees start to build a community. The onboarding process needs to drive a sense of continuity with the people who want to see them successful and provide a mechanism for managers and supervisors to show they care about each employee as a person and valued member of the team.
A larger idea around successfully engaging workers is gamification and it requires some special attention here. Gamification is the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals, and it is an expertise of Convergent, a business process outsourcing company. In a recent conversation with Casey Kostecka, president of Convergent, he shared that many employees do not understand how their personal performance contributes to the company’s big picture. There could be many reasons for this – perhaps goals aren’t conveyed well, it’s too complex, or there isn’t interest on the part of the employee. Regardless of the reason, it certainly will make employees feel disconnected.
Engaging teams through gamification addresses that. “When a game is set up to score agents’ performance, they still may not completely understand the company’s overall strategies, but they become engaged with the game itself,” says Kostecka. “If set up appropriately, the results of their active participation and improved performance will help the organization achieve its goals.”
Kostecka continues: “In many gamification settings the game itself is team-based. Individual contributors who have been monitoring their own metrics, such as attendance, sales and customer feedback, are now paying attention to their teammates’ scores. We have found that by incorporating team games into our call center environments, the best employees start to voluntarily spend time with the lower performers, providing advice, coaching and encouragement.”
As a final note on the leading drivers of employee engagement there is no denying the power that comes with clarity of purpose. Contact centers that are able to link – and effectively communicate – how the job of a contact center representative directly impacts the success of the entire organization have higher employee engagement scores. There is no shortage of data that comes from contact center operations and those numbers are continually linked to performance indicators that drive the business. But if leaders do not share those key performance indicators in order of importance to agents and supervisors, there won’t be a collective understanding of what matters most or where the focus should be squarely placed. The adage rings true here that “if everything is important, nothing is important.”
Contact centers are unique, dynamic and changeable environments. That makes them exciting places to work while requiring boundless energy and focus to manage well. Engagement of a workforce, particularly within a contact center, is about the human factor. The companies that do it best hire people with strong values, train supervisors to engage employees, allow room for friendships to grow, rewards for the things that matter, and created an onboarding process that offers a path to stability and success.
About the author:
Dan Campbell is founder and CEO of Hire Dynamics and served as the 2014 Chairman of the American Staffing Association. Putting an average of 4,500 people to work every week, Hire Dynamics is an industry leading staffing provider specializing in contact (call) centers, manufacturing facilities, logistics/e-commerce operations and office support. The company has been recognized and awarded many times by Staffing Industry Analyst’s list of “Best Staffing Firms to Work For” and Inc. Magazine’s 500/5000 List of the Fastest Growing Private Companies in the U.S., among others. More information can be found at hiredynamics.com, on LinkedIn here and on Twitter @HireDynamics.