Motivation Tactics for Call Center Employees

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Motivation Tactics for Call Center Employees

Incentive Planning By Mary Paige Forrester

The following information is a compilation from many sources and reflects my personal experience in management in the call center industry. The author takes no credit for creating these ideas, only in compiling them in a manner consistent for use in a customer service/call center environment. Originally developed for use at Bedford Fair Apparel, Inc. in Wilmington, NC, it is hoped that these ideas can be used to increase morale and build employee loyalty in many other customer contact centers. It is ever-evolving and not all-inclusive.

(NOTE: Due to the success in the contact center, this was eventually adapted and rolled out in the Distribution Center at the request of the Vice President, using goals and objectives suited for that unique environment. It has also been published in portions by the periodical, “The Customer Service Advantage”, and is therefore copyrighted/protected in its current form.)

When implementing an incentive program, there are various considerations to be made. Management needs to be cognizant of the physical cost, as well as the time involved for staff members responsible for maintaining the program. Incentive programs do not require a massive amount of staff time or monetary resources. This plan, like many others, allows for flexibility based on company resources and budgetary constraints.

Initially, it is easy to be motivated and to aggressively start an incentive plan. To be aggressive at initiation, however, can cause too much expectation and can later result in loss of interest. Remember this when starting your incentive plan. Too much too soon can be detrimental. Continuous variety and an element of surprise are fundamental to success. If the program begins with a bang and then loses momentum, the positive effects are also lost. Employees may begin to expect incentives, in which case the program can actually add to lowered employee morale. Start slowly. Build steadily. Keep it fresh.

Looking at published studies regarding what employees say motivates them versus what management thinks motivates employees, the difference in desire of the employees and assumption of management is apparent. Take a look at the study results below.

What motivates Call Center Professionals?

What Employers Think		What Employees Say
1	Appreciation	4
2	Involvement/planning	7
3	Sympathy	10
4	Job Security	5
5	Higher Wages	1
6	Interesting Work	3
7	Promotion Opportunity	6
8	Employer Loyalty	8
9	Working Conditions	2
10	Tactful Discipline	9

Considering this, think about what might work in your company’s environment.

Important things to keep in mind when building your plan:

Keep goals attainable for all employees. If every employee does not have a chance to reach at least some of the goals, you will see only the top performers participating. The employees who need the motivation the most will be the least likely to take an interest in participating.

Have a wide variety of goals and incentives that will include all employees at all levels of performance. Include incentives that do not focus entirely on productivity.

Start small and then add. Starting big can spell disaster. Staff members must be able to maintain the program itself and employee interest in the program - without having employees grow to expect additional rewards.

Make the reward process “fun” so employees will want to be included.

Publicize winners in your company newsletter. Post winners names on the company bulletin board for all management and staff to see.

Have senior management announce new program ideas and distribute rewards. It will make employees feel noticed, and will prove that the company takes recognition seriously.

Encourage incentive program ideas from the front-line staff. They know best what they want, and they can provide you with the most successful ideas. (You can even incorporate an incentive for employees who provide usable ideas!)

No incentive should ever detract from the customer or the ultimate goal of providing exceptional sales /customer service.

If you do not already have a company suggestion box, get one ASAP. Have forms designed specifically for company suggestions, policy suggestions and incentive ideas. (Samples included.)

Remember that incentives do not all have to be a contest/reward scenario. There are lots of perks you can provide your employees to express gratitude for their hard work that have nothing to do with competition.

BE CLEAR TO EMPLOYEES WHAT THE INCENTIVE PROGRAM IS AND HOW EACH INCENTIVE WORKS! Nothing puts a damper on things faster than employees not knowing about an incentive or how it works. Use whatever means best suits your company environment. At Bedford, we often used a memo regarding new or ongoing incentives. This way, the staff had a written explanation of the purpose, the goal and any associated rewards.

It is not recommended that individual stats be displayed for all to see. The preferred method is a weekly/monthly “report card” given to each representative showing his/her stats in comparison to the whole group being evaluated. Your top “calls per hour” performer may not be as customer-oriented as one who takes fewer calls. The focus should be for the employee to be aware of their personal performance and how it compares to the group, not to be concerned about what other individuals might be doing – or not doing. Posting all employee stats for everyone to see can cause undue animosity, lack of morale and poor relations between teammates.