We recently launched our second Benchmarking Whitepaper, aimed at gaining insight into the current trends and challenges facing New Zealand’s Contact Centre industry. With tenure and attrition the key focal points of the research, it really got us thinking about employee engagement. Having a team of content and fulfilled agents will pave the path for an effective and productive service but the days of having a fruit bowl, mufti days and decorating work stations just won’t cut it anymore. So, how do Contact Centres go about retaining their staff? We work alongside various Contact Centres around the country who have implemented some fresh and innovative ways to address employee engagement. Here, I’ll discuss some of those ideas, and why it needs to be driven from the top and tapped into by everyone on the team.

A Planned and Personalised Approach

Many of the leaders I have spoken to in the contact centre industry know that engagement is something that needs to be addressed. However, how do they go about executing a strategy that works? Although it may seem unreachable, developing an engagement program that works well won’t happen overnight. To improve morale and boost the quality of customer service, it requires a personalised, multi-pronged approach that is crafted with the long-term future in mind.

One of the centres that stood out recently has been redecorated by the team – and when I say redecorated, they’ve painted the walls and taken responsibility for interior design, so a step beyond posters and bunting! Another one has thrown out their previous KPIs and introduced new measurement systems after consulting with customers, and the team. I know these approaches won’t work for everyone, but it did highlight a couple of key points I want to expand upon, that can be adapted for your Contact Centre, whatever the size, and whatever your budget.

Optimise the Workspace

The Contact Centre environment can be an intense, frenetic environment. That is why it’s important to optimise the workspace for productivity and convenience.

Give Employees a Sense of Purpose

The level of employee engagement in contact centres can be steered by a sense of purpose. However, to ensure employees deliver their best work, they must feel empowered. They need to know that they are valued, and that their opinions matter. This means involving employees in improvement programs and being open to continuous feedback; inviting opinions and taking the time to know how they feel through one-to-ones and meetings.

Let People Play to Their Strengths

Contact centres are a melting pot of different energies and strengths, so take the time to figure out what these are and channel them in the right places. Not only does this allow you to keep control of the atmosphere but it also improves employee engagement. Determine what makes your agents tick and allow them to play to their strengths:

• Let creative employees plan incentives, charity days and team activities.
• Analytical employees can check the details of your plans.
• The laidback ones can be the calming voices on a stressful day.

Don’t forget to relay the value of their input in a way that benefits the entire contact centre.

Leadership

Historically, there have been many contact centres who have abided by the “We’ve always done it that way,” type of mindset. And this is probably due to tracking results and a desire to continue with a proven method over that which is unproven. To embed change and fuel growth, effective engagement programs must start from the top and permeate throughout the team.

We know that most managers have the best intentions when it comes to lowering attrition rates. However, they are often faced with competing priorities like call centre performance and efficiencies (that always come out on top!), so an action that is quickest to execute is often chosen.

With the need to be more innovative to help energise teams and to do more, leaders need to be creating environments where staff feel they are part of something special. It’s a good idea to constantly review your leadership style – does it reflect current demands or did it evolve to suit different scenarios? Do current leaders support autonomous working or are the foundations still built on historical statistics and KPIs that will only lessen engagement.

Summary

When it comes to driving engagement in Contact Centres, the basics just aren’t going to cut it anymore. Contact Centre leaders need fresh ideas and a longer-term approach to stay ahead of the curve and cultivate better customer relationships. If you would like to discuss how to improve employee engagement in your business, or for your copy of the latest Contract Centre trends in our Benchmarking Report, get in touch with me today.