Every busy contact center relies on careful scheduling. As a manager, you make sure you have adequate staffing for peak times, and you’re working hard to minimize attendance issues with a strong work environment, good employee/manager relationships, recognition and motivation, and adherence to disciplinary procedures.
But right in the middle of each day, when your call volume is likely at its peak, you have a problem: lunch breaks. How can you give your employees the break time they need without hurting your call time and the floor morale?
It is easy to allow break time abuse to get out of hand. Busy, distracted managers are attending to personnel and call issues while employees are frustrated by hunger and fatigue. As a floor leader, you set the tone and hold the key to getting the issue back in hand. Here are three suggestions to help you stop break time abuse and get your mid-day breaks running smoothly.
Good contact center management is about a relationship, and every relationship is built on strong communication. Take time to communicate to your associates what your expectations are – exactly how long is each break, where it should be taken, and how breaks are scheduled.
Don’t forget to explain the ramifications of break time abuse; your employees have likely never considered the effects on not only fellow teammates but also on the company production. Without blaming or making an example of any one individual, share some examples of how break abuse trickles down to hurt subsequent employees, robbing them of the break time they need. Share data on the call cue effects, how much longer wait time grows when staffing is inadequate due to break time abuse.
Finally, tell your team what the individual consequences of break time abuse will be – loss of later break time, warning, write up, or other disciplinary procedure. Be clear yet professional so there are no misunderstandings.
The majority of break time abuse is simple lack of work habits. New employees may never have developed the discipline of conscientious time management at the work place. For these employees, additional coaching, reminders, and mentoring can go a long way toward developing a stronger work ethic and professionalism that will benefit the company as a whole.
As a rule of thumb, one of the best ways to gauge how your employees are spending their time is to keep an eye on their performance. This doesn't have to be limited to designated performance reviews, either. If you suspect someone of slacking off, don't hesitate to check up on the quantity and quality of their work if you feel it necessary.
Keep looking at your contact center as a team with shared goals and vision. Emphasize that shared team vision not only by frequent coaching sessions but also by contributing to the teamwork yourself. Let the employees see you, as the leader, being the first one at the shift and the last to leave. Make the hard choices, take the tough calls, and give the team the recognition it deserves for its achievements.
Because when it comes down to it, strong contact centers are the result of that strong team relationship, each member doing his best to achieve results. Through great communication with your team, guidance for employees who are struggling with time management, and sharing your vision with your team, you can eliminate break time abuse in your contact center.
We here at KOVA can help you achieve your contact center time management goals as well. Our Verint Media Recorder Workforce Management software can help you get a strong handle on scheduling and employee training. Contact us today for more information about how KOVA can make your contact center even better.
Your employee morale, like everything else in your business, is either growing or dying. Make sure the line is going “up and to the right” with careful attention to team building.
Building your contact center team spirit isn’t easy, and it isn’t a one-time event. It takes dedication to each member of the team, meeting their needs and genuinely caring for their success. Your team can sense your sincerity and will respond to honest care and concern.
Are you ready to take your contact center to the next level? Start by implementing these six strategies.
Make sure each day starts off right for your entire team. Gather together before the phones open for twenty minutes. This is when you will share vital new information, help on recent customer concerns, and even a quick role playing exercise. Be upbeat and positive, sharing goals you recently met and where you would like to see continued improvement. This is your most important time of the day, when you give your team what it takes to be successful.
Stimulate their competitive spirit with some team competition. Divide your associates into two teams and let them compete on the metrics you most want to see improved that day, like wait time, sales, or customer satisfaction. Give the winning team a desirable reward like pizza for lunch the next day, first break times, or a traveling “trophy” of sorts. Make it fun and rewarding to be a winner with your team.
Don’t let your associates think you only care about the work they do for you nine to five. Have drinks on Thursday nights or dinner on Tuesdays together to relax and get to know one another. Celebrate a major achievement or goal you reached with a nicer dinner party.
Or coffee. But just bring it. A spontaneous display of gratitude for their hard work with lunch “on the boss” or breakfast pastries will put a smile on their face and demonstrate your loyalty to them.
Always be recognizing. Recognize great calls in your daily huddle. Recognize the team member of the week. Draw attention to great call handling and above-and-beyond service. Use team members as positive examples of the kind of service and support your company stands for. Post photos of recognized team members prominently and give tangible rewards for achievement. Make sure your team knows you notice their efforts.
Make sure you are the first one there at the team huddle, and that you’ve already greeted every team member before it begins. Be the last one to leave because you are busy thanking each associate for their hard work. Be the example of loyal dedication you want them to aspire to, and be the leader they can count on when they need it.
Show up in their lives, too. If you are invited to a wedding, baby shower, or baptism, attend. It is an honor to be invited into your associates’ lives, and take that privilege seriously by showing up. If a team member is sick or injured, be sure to not just send flowers, but visit to say you care.
KOVA cares about you and helping your business succeed. Call us today to find out how we can support you now.
“Because I said so” or “Because I’m the boss” just doesn’t cut it with your contact center employees.
Especially since they're likely to handle stressful customer service or public safety situations on behalf of your company.
So while your knowledge of the product, hard work, and creativity prepared you well for leadership of the team, it's your relationship with your employees that determines your team’s success – and thus, yours.
How good are you at building strong workplace relationships? Answer these six questions to find out.
Most contact center team members sincerely want to excel at their job and meet or exceed expectations – they just need to know what those expectations are. Be sure to clearly explain procedures and policies verbally and post written reminders as well. Use daily huddle time and weekly meeting time to bring team members up to speed on recent changes and to provide coaching on common mistakes.
A simple “Hi, how are you?” one-on-one each morning does so much to build relationships. Take time at the beginning of each day to speak with every associate and let them know you are genuinely happy to see them. People function infinitely better in an environment where they know and feel that they're wanted and appreciated. Show them that you really care!
At the end of each shift, do you dash for the parking lot, or do you wait to express appreciation to your team members? Let each one know individually you are proud of their hard work that day and grateful for their effort. It’s a simple step, but it means so much to the employees who put themselves on the phone line every day for you. No one wants to feel like they have been forgotten, especially at the end of a long and particularly frustrating day.
Shadowing and coaching is not just for risk management – it’s for team building, too. Work hard to catch your associates doing great work, then recognize them publicly for it. Make each one a hero by bringing their effort to attention. This increases their motivation to continue going the extra mile, relieves any fears of workplace inadequacy, and ultimately boosts their confidence in their progress and in their abilities.
Strong relationships are built on trust, and you want your associates to know they can trust you to be there for them. That means taking the irate customers or stressful public safety calls, or at least standing beside them in encouragement when you notice they're on a difficult conversation. If they know you are there quickly with an answer to their question, a solution to the customer’s needs, or a calming help to perplexing situations, your team members will look forward to working with you long-term.
It's easy, when engulfed with the cares of management, to forget what life on the end of the phone line is like. Make a concerted effort to listen to the suggestions of your team members and to look for creative solutions to their needs. Not only will alleviating unnecessary stress from your teammates' shoulders boost morale and reduce their stress, but it will also enable them to work more efficiently, handle customers with greater ease, and potentially even inspire them to stay with you long-term.
We at KOVA want to provide some of those creative and innovative solutions your team needs to be successful. Talk with us today.[/fusion_text]
One of the most crucial variables to your customer service team’s success is employee attendance. Your queue rate, customer satisfaction, and sales metrics all depend on your team’s availability and responsiveness. Quite simply, you can’t adequately meet your goals and the needs of your customers without your team.
So how can a contact center manager or supervisor increase his or her team’s responsibility and availability? A top priority for leadership on the contact center floor must be this issue – motivating employees to ensure they will be on time each day. But that’s easier said than done. Here are some tips for increasing your team’s attendance record.
Keep in mind, these changes take time. Contact center managers and supervisors must consistently pay attention to these issues, building strong relationships over weeks and months, to see measurable improvement. Conversely, haphazard attention to these areas is likely to result in greater attrition and attendance issues. Guard against problems and build a strong, reliable team with these four steps.
The contact center management must take the lead in creating a positive work environment every day of the week. This goes beyond personalizing desk areas and ergonomic work spaces to the mental and emotional atmosphere of the work place.
Leadership helps build up the floor by maintaining positive communication and body language throughout the day. Employees work under the stress of knowing any incoming call could potentially contain a difficult situation. Counteract that with a warm, welcoming environment to work in. Employees should feel secure knowing that leadership “has their back” and is always ready to help.
Part of this help is wise scheduling. By ensuring proper coverage for peak times, the manager is protecting each employee against undue pressure. This also helps the manager meet those all-important que metrics of call answer time.
At the end of the day, the employee must feel motivated to come back to work on time the next morning and to make sure he is back from break in a timely manner. And no, the paycheck isn’t enough. A successful contact center manager will use multiple streams of motivation to keep employees enthusiastic and sensitive to customer needs.
Recognition is one of the most powerful motivations a manager has in his toolbox. Be liberal with small and large recognition opportunities with daily and weekly mention. Create a special place for pictures and notation of customer service professionals who hit milestones of achievement for your company.
Employees respond well to managers they know and respect. Be empathetic and approachable, demonstrating in the little things each day that you are in their corner. Respond quickly and tangibly when asked for help with difficult calls or for more information. This growing relationship will induce your contact center employees to give their all on your behalf.
Make sure that your contact center’s standards for punctuality, break times, and lunches are clearly stated. Remind the staff periodically of the standards and how adherence to those standards impacts the team, the customers, and the bottom line. Then consistently apply warning and write-up procedures so employees see you are fair and unbiased in your approach.
With time, application of these principles should dramatically improve contact center attendance and thus your valuable analytics. Let KOVA help you meet your customer needs with our services and software - contact us today!
