Call Center Boredom

[SusanD]

I am an assistant manager in a call center. I have tried everything to counter boredom, but my agents cannot be off the phone at all, the nature of the business, so most ideas don't work. I have tried a department newspaper, but we could no longer do that. Recently upper management said that they could no longer read while on the phone. It is a struggle. We don't have any support for an incentive program and besides we have tried competitions which have mainly led to arguments and even more burnout. I need something productive and something that will help them with their jobs. Any ideas???

Susanne

[FourGW44]

wow they run a tight shift huh?? i mean for the most part we dont allow reading while you're at your desk, because there are always calls waiting, but we let it slide here and there if the calls are slow coming in. we do the competitions and incentives to get them to enjoy their job, but as you stated that doesnt always work. Maybe try giving them an extra small break, just to get them off the phone for a few minutes to get a breather and walk around? Shows them that you are on their side and understand its a tough gig to sit and take calls all day long. Its tough to find things that "EVERYONE" enjoys. All in all, sitting and taking calls is the requirements for this field of work, but i do understand trying to make the job better. I hope this helped, it was sort of all over the place. :)

[SusanD]

Can somebody please answer!

[QA Queen]

Susan: I can't suggest anything. It sounds like things are run pretty tightly there. The newsletter was a wonderful idea: I've honestly never been in a call center where you couldn't read even work related material at your desk. I can understand why they are burning out.

Is there a reason management runs such a tight ship? My opinion is management needs to look at their agents needs a little closer before you guys lose more people. Yes, the customers needs are important: but the agents have to be at least satisfied to work there.

Best of luck.

Ann

[mhaqqi]

Hello Susan,

You've to talk with the upper management about the importance of call center morale. High morale in a call center environment can lead to:

Increased job satisfaction, lower turnover rates, higher productivity, reduced absenteeism, higher ownership of customer concerns, less job-related stress, increased identification with the company's mission, higher customer satisfaction, increased customer loyalty and strong "ambassadorship" (for example, through referrals) from your employees to their family, friends and acquaintances.

It's good for you, It's good for them, It's good for the bottom-line.

It's also too important to build team-building activities (e-mail me for some examples)

If you got a team leaders/supervisors; create something called "Team contract" to any agent who joined a team, following is a partial sample of a typical team contract:
Rule 1. If I don't understand something my coworker says or does. I will ask for clarification
Rule 2. If a team member deserves credit or recognition. I will give it.
Rule 3. When I have a disagreement or conflict with a team member. I will follow the approved procedures for resolving it.
and many others .etc

Let your team members come up with their own name for the team, for sub-groups within the larger team, or for specific projects. It will add an element of fun and will help them to feel a sense of ownership.

Try as much as you can to get monthly, quarterly, semi or yearly incentives.

Followings are some general guidelines to keep in mind when you're create new incentive programs or overhauling existing ones.

1. Make sure the goals are achievable
2. Let people choose their own incentives
3. Make it enjoyable
4. Use incentives at crucial times

Why wait? On an agent's first day of work, do something that says, "Welcome to the team." Flowers, merchandise with the company logo, or cards from other agents can help consideraly in getting a new agent off to a great start.

5. Avoid Overkill


For Rewards,

Don't rely on rewards to do your coaching for you
Don't reward people for doing what's expected
Don't be cheap
Reward more than just performance
Avoid extravagance
Make sure it's meaningful to the recipient
Be creative
Keep it fair
Reward employees who complain
Reward agents for companywide successes
Involve Management

For Contests,
Contests can be a powerful energizer in the contact center. They give agents a break from the everyday routine, they rally them around a common goal, and they introduce some (hopefully) good-natured competition to jump-start productivity.

Some guidelines:
Make them relevant, Keep it simple,Vary the length, Make it visual, Disgnate a theme, Avoid overzealous competition, reward progress along the way, adjust as necessary, make the rules and expectation clear, keep up the momentum

Idea 1: Happy birthday (paid day off to people's birthday) honor agents on special day

Idea 2: Random Rewards (Put the names of some rewards on pieces of paper and tape them under agents` chairs or in various other places on the call floor. At some point in the day, tell agents verbally or via e-mail to look under their chairs. They can then come to you to claim their rewards,

Idea 3: Greetings from cyberspace (go to website that provides online greetings and send employees an e-card thanking them..)

Idea 4: Wanted: Customer-Pleasing Ideas (Hold a contest to see what ideas agents can come up with for pleasing customers beyond their expectations. then put the best one into practice. You can hold this contest on a regular basis: the ideas will just keep getting better and better)
and many other ideas

Do some stress techniques too.

I hope this information is helpful to you.

If you need additional information, don't hesitate to contact me.

[SusanD]

Thanks for answering. Yeah, we do run a tight shift. Unfortunately it is not always my call to give them extra breaks, sometimes I can. It is so frustrating. They are not supposed to talk either but sometimes I let it slide, because I know how it is to be on the phone from 1-10pm. I just wish I could think of something else for them!

Sus

[holidayhills]

Hello Susan,
Yes this is a big issue in call centers. I have seen a couple of things that helped...One that was huge in our large call center was puzzles. We had boxes of them and associates would put them together at their desks...We didn't allow reading either. The other thing that helped was placing TV's in the break rooms and we at one time had TV's mounted to the ceiling in the call center with a news channel on.
Just some ideas.

[swot_analyst1]

SusanD; I hear you.

Seems like you stuck- upper mgmnt is making decision that are putting you in a bind and incentives are gettingold.

My suggestion would be to have "better" incentives. The work is BORING lets face it, but nothing is better than having goals for the reps. However- never give MONEY- that is Lazy. Also it can become predictable when all the rep get is Pizza for an incentive.

I would suggest spicing it up some. Have clear goals that will directly effect the companies plans. A place you may want to go is here. I have heard some rave reviews about this program- called "Call Center Games". I have neve rused it, but it suppose to have plenty of INCENTIVIZED programs to last you for over a year. When upper mangment has put the screws to you- sometimes it may take thinking out of the box!

http://www.squidoo.com/callcentergames

[FamilyMan6]

Susan, this is certainly a big issue in Call Centers. Many business leaders think that they can improve the bottom line through extremely tight metrics and heavily monitoring agents' actions and their every movement. Studies have shown that this is absolutely counterproductive - resulting in lower employee morale, higher employee turnover, lower customer satisfaction, and higher customer churn.

I would make a couple suggestions to you. 1) talk to your senior leaders about your observations and be ready to present a well thought out proposal for improving conditions. 2) focus on being an inspirational leader within the confines of your current situation. The #1 reason that employees choose to stay with or leave their job is their direct supervisor.

Hopefully you have the discretion to take employees off the phones for coaching and team meetings. Use these opportunities to build rapport with your employees and build teamwork. Find something that captures the unique identity of your team that you can use in a creative way - a team name, theme statement etc.

You can also find reasons to celebrate even small successes through open compliments on the floor on their efforts or gathering other members of leadership to applaud the agent as a group.

There are certainly ways to energize your team even in regimented settings - but the more rigid the structure, and the less employee focus from your senior leaders, the more work it will be and the less effective you'll be.