One of the worst things call center supervisors can do is nothing.
Though it’s easy to tell your team to keep up the good work every so often, better management consists of helping employees improve their skills. Better-trained, better motivated and happier employees are more likely to offer a better experience to customers.
Effective managers can offer different strategies to aid development, from formal training to team-wide activities, which can boost morale and improve working conditions.
Managers seeking ways to boost individual or department-wide performance can try the following:
- Regular training. Continuing education can be incorporated into the team’s schedule, maybe even a weekly check-in to update employees on new procedures, software or policies, and advise them about interesting things happening in the company and industry. Also, refresher courses can help team members improve on accounts or call situations they may be currently struggling with.
- Automated workforce performance measurement. Besides knowing basic call volume and how many calls are in queue, call center agents and supervisors may also want to know other metrics like error rate, team member occupancy or who has skills that can be used in other areas of the company. This will allow team members and managers to know where training is needed and will help them progress on future goals.
- Employee/workplace incentives. You can, and should, let your staff know regularly how well they’re performing, but you need to go beyond this by making or maintaining a positive atmosphere. Start with small gestures like rewards, recognition programs and public praise. All of these don’t take much time and go a long ways towards positive motivation.
- Training accounts. Rather than taking time away from incoming calls for training, managers can create training accounts for team members to utilize. These can be convenient for employees who may want to go through an account they may be struggling with during down time.
- Small group discussions. If you have a large team, doing a training session for everyone at once can be inefficient, and depending on schedules and call volume, it may be hard to schedule. Instead, consider smaller group discussions with fewer employees per session. These can still have the same moderator or trainer to make sure everyone’s information is consistent. This can also create connections within the groups.
- Shadowing. New employees can work with more seasoned employees for a certain amount of time. This mentoring will give the newcomers a good perspective of what the job truly entails, and may create some connections within the workforce. It also frees up a manager/trainer to focus on other projects.
- Demonstrations. Veteran employees can present during a training session which will allow new employees to get a different perspective on how to handle certain situations.
Hiring good people for your customer service center is smart, but it’s also important to make sure the ones in place also continue to perform well and have the proper training in place to enhance their performance. For a free quote for our contact center services contact us today.
