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Motivation

Guest Blog, Sharon James: 5 ways to improve workforce management

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Call centres are a vital and growing part of the UK economy. According to statistics from ContactBabel, there are now 6,200 contact centres across the country with employees making up over 4 per cent of the UK workforce. The call centre industry can be a tough environment to work in with a unique set of pressures. Despite the growing significance of the industry, mistakes made by firms are hitting headlines more than ever. In order to minimise the risk of reputational damage and maximise quality output, organisations should prioritise rising productivity by focusing on positive workforce management. Sharon James, operations director at charity helpline provider, Connect Assist, has compiled five ways to improve workforce management.

 

Maintain workforce motivation

Agents making outbound calls might have challenging sales targets to meet, while those taking inbound calls are often left to deal with difficult customers or service users.

Therefore, one of the main concerns should be keeping your workforce as happy and motivated as possible. There are several methods for achieving this, but essentially your goal should be to create a supporting culture from the top down; with a primary focus on wellbeing at all levels of the business.

Providing regular feedback, encouraging an open dialogue and celebrating when a member of staff or a team does well is all important.

 

Training and access to knowledge base

Be sure to train agents regularly. In order to give the best support to customers, agents must obtain a substantial amount of information, and have this on hand at all times. Agents need to fully understand and communicate everything that is relevant to your organisation’s key messages including products, services or brand philosophy.

It is also a good idea to train agents in communication and how to handle different types of customers, in addition to time management and system training.

Call centre agents are often encouraged to stick to a written script for efficiency, but this isn’t necessarily the most appropriate way to communicate with customers and service users. At Connect Assist, our call centre agents deal with vulnerable callers on a daily basis, and their ability to be flexible and human in their approach is crucial to providing the right level of support.

 

Make it a career

Call centres are great places to gain temporary or stopgap employment, but the industry is often overlooked as a long-term career option. Much of this has to do with the recruitment philosophies of call centre managers rather than the reality of the work.

When possible, promote all opportunities for career development within the contact centre, and make sure staff members understand there is a journey to progression. This is a great way for an organisation to demonstrate that the expertise of its workforce is valued, and will help to boost motivation and better results on a longer-term basis.

Make sure all job descriptions have clearly defined experience and skill requirements, and establish career development plans to help staff climb the ladder.

 

Maintain quality of staff with flexible working hours

The out-of-hours nature of a contact centre makes it the ideal environment for offering flexible working hours.

Although call centre work is considered as a challenging and emotionally-charged career path, more flexibility around working hours can encourage staff members to take more ownership over their working lives and help them to manage daily pressures more effectively.

 

Develop a clear data policy and ensure staff members are properly trained

Paying attention to data security is incredibly important for a call centre company. An increasing number fail to acknowledge this, which can have devastating consequences on both reputation and credibility.

For organisations handling service user information in-house, a clear policy must be created and implemented at all levels. This should always state exactly how information is collected and how it will be used, and provide a clear strategy for protecting it. Staff members handling data of any sort must be fully trained on the importance of keeping that information secure.

As an organisation, this needs to be communicated from the top down, because if a data breach does occur, the responsibility will always fall on those at the top.

 

With a background in service delivery and team management, Sharon has worked at Connect Assist since the company was founded in 2006. In her role as operations director, she is responsible for ensuring quality of output for all the organisation’s multi-channel contact centre contracts. 

Guest Blog, Louise Roberts: The importance of staff engagement…

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Louise Roberts is head of resources at RSVP. Based at the Docklands, London office, her role involves overseeing all areas of human resources, recruitment, facilities and social media. Starting her career on the phones 15 years ago, Louise has worked across many areas of the business, including as a PA and account manager.

A significant topic of conversation in the industry of late is staff engagement and the priority it plays in the success of a call centre business. The universal ideal is that a happy workforce results in happy customers; therefore focusing on employees and their engagement with the business and its products is essential. RSVP’s head of resources, Louise Roberts, shares the most effective ways to increase staff engagement, broken down in simple and easy steps to follow

Communication

It is easy to forget the motivation behind why staff members work for you. Initially, this will almost always be down to the need for employment. However, if you want staff to develop loyalty to the company, then communication is key. Merely telling staff to complete tasks is not enough; there needs to be clear information about the company’s goals, what you as a member of management expects, the ethos and work environment. In addition, the tone in which managers communicate with their staff is paramount to making clear communication work both ways. In a high pressure environment, stress is commonly passed down the chain and this can lead to unrest and uncertainty. Staff members who feel they are not valued will reflect this attitude into their work, so respect must always be maintained with clear emphasis on company guidelines.

Motivation

In order to motivate your workforce, you must understand who they are. Tailoring incentive packages to employees is a great way to do this. If you work in a sales environment and offer incentives to boost sales, ask staff members what would be beneficial to them.  Maybe take a poll and pick the most popular incentives.

Environment

A positive office environment can vastly improve the effectiveness of your workforce.  While some companies can be restricted by a building’s structure, below are a few simple and cost-effective ways to achieving a comfortable office environment:

Notice board: Grant staff members the opportunity to have their own notice board to share out-of-work activities or even advertise products and services they may provide. Regardless of what it may be, this gives staff a voice that is not related to their working persona.

Healthy options: Providing water, tea and coffee, including decaffeinated options, can contribute to increasing energy levels – not to mention a boost in capability.

Break area: Try to make all break areas inviting. The inclusion of photos from company events, work nights-out and homely furniture – such as a sofa and comfortable chairs – can create a community feel and give space a welcoming personality.

Be charitable: Getting staff involved in charity days is a great way to bring the team together. Bake sales, clothes swaps and tea parties are a great way to bring staff members together and make everyone feel involved.

The rules

For your workforce to feel comfortable and happy, they need to know what is expected of them. Setting clear guidelines on lateness, absence and specific job requirements are essential, but your workforce must know that there is an open line of communication that allows your HR team to deal with the ‘grey’ areas. A call centre is nothing without its employees and any viable business has to realise that, as such, there is a responsibility to those employees, including understanding life factors that could potentially affect their work.  It is important to understand these ‘grey’ areas, and effective handling of these can improve the relationship with your workforce.