Contact Center Solutions: Help Your Workforce Increase Their Own Engagement

Written by KOVA Corp

Think back to your school days for a minute. Were you a motivated student? Whether your answer is yes or no, there’s something to be learned from your response. If you were driven to do your best, you probably had some sort of interior motivation egging you on. Your teachers’ initiatives to keep students interested probably helped a bit but for the most part you supplied the determination from somewhere within. 

If schoolwork just wasn’t your thing, on the other hand, then nothing your teachers said or did could completely overcome your own lack of interest and motivation.  They might have come up with a plan that got you motivated for a short while but it never lasted. Your own attitude and internal drive were the decisive factors in how hard you worked in school.

The same principle still applies to all of us as adults in the workforce today. A manager can only do so much to motivate employees; an individual’s drive to succeed has to come from within. How can managers help their employees to realize this and leverage this knowledge to increase motivation, thus improving performance?

Identify Opportunities to Motivate

The most important thing to recognize is that everyone is an individual, and different things motivate every individual. These motivators vary based on personality and career stage. For example, someone who is just starting out in a career may be more motivated by opportunities for advancement, while someone who’s been in a field for years may be looking for recognition.

Ask your employees to consider which of the following motivates them more (They may choose more than one.):

1.      Opportunities for growth and advancement

2.      Ongoing communication and feedback from supervisors

3.      Displays of recognition and appreciation

4.      A deep understanding of the company’s goals and how their work contributes

Once they’ve identified what makes them tick, employees can craft their own self-motivation plans based on their new knowledge.  The simple act of making employees accountable for their own motivation can be an empowering  and therefore motivating step for them.

Exploring Employee Motivators

Growth/Advancement

Employees who are driven by opportunities for growth and advancement should confer with their manager to identify possible career paths and map out the skills and experience needed in order to pursue those paths. Managers should assist in finding ways to showcase talents or gain experience in order to move up within the company. The employee should also have the opportunity to take professional development courses that will help them meet their goal in moving up.

Having a series of goals and deadlines for those goals will help keep an employee on track to getting a promotion. And understanding what is needed to receive said promotion will help them develop the skills they need and avoid the disappointment that comes with being ill prepared.

Ongoing Communication

Those who crave communication should discuss with their manager how often they need feedback and which methods of communication they prefer, such as email, phone, or in-person. Managers should encourage employees to schedule bi-weekly or monthly meetings as well as letting them know that their door is always open for conversation. Some employees need more guidance than others, so employees who are motivated by ongoing communication are looking for acknowledgement that they are on the right track. They may also want to discuss concerns and offer potential solutions to fix problems. These should be heard and validated.

Recognition/Appreciation

Members of your workforce who are motivated by recognition can let supervisors know about their preference by telling them how much a show of appreciation means to them. To create a culture of recognition even among fellow employees, these employees can set the example and make a point of thanking others for a job well done. Recognition does not have to be a grand gesture. A personal note or a “Thank you!” can go a long way for employees motivated by appreciation. For accomplishing a particularly challenging task, consider a certificate or 

Work Contribution

Employees who need to feel that they are an integral part of the company in order to fuel their drive should meet with their manager to make sure they understand the company’s goals and how their particular job contributes to reaching them. Provide employees with data that shows how their contributions have helped, whether this is in monetary growth or in gaining/retaining customers. Being able to see in numbers their contribution to the company can be a great motivator and make them strive to do better.

By giving each employee the tools to discover and then act on their own individual interior motivation triggers, managers will be doing more to increase engagement than they could ever hope to do using exterior motivators. And in the end it boils down to this: Self-motivated employees feel driven to provide great customer service, which can only benefit the company’s bottom line.

A workforce management software solution like the Verint Impact360 Workforce Optimization Suite provides contact center managers with an ideal way to track and act on employee performance. To set an appointment for your personalized discovery session, click here.  

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