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Motivating Agents Hot
Topic Checklist
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How connected
are you to what your agents think? According to Centerserve research,
when agents
talked about "culture", they described their relationships
with co-workers in the call center, and whether the overall
environment fostered a sense of
family and mutual caring.
However, when managers discussed culture, they talked mostly
about contests and prizes. |
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When Centerserve talked to
agents, agents were very clear about their need to be on
a team. Being a part of a team motivates agents to
work harder with their team members
toward a mutual goal. This concept is fundamentally different
from performing or competing solely as individuals, which generally
fosters a sense of competitiveness, as well as a reluctance to assist
their co-workers. |
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Call center managers and supervisors who encourage their agents'
participation and involvement
in
various company and extra-curricular activities (such as team
competitions, volunteer events in the community, etc.) inspire attitudes
of mutual caring and responsibility among their agents. |
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Motivation is a process.
Motivation is NOT an event, a gimmick or a company
T-shirt. If agents don't value the incentive, it's not
an incentive! Are you confident you know what motivates
your agents? |
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Five items that de-motivate
your agents according to agents: |
- Poor leadership skills of supervisors
- Inadequate tools and equipment
- Poor work environment
- Inadequate or no benefits
- Irrelevant incentives
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A call center manager must-know:
The Motivation Lifecycle. Would it
surprise you to discover that there are actual time
indicators that can help you anticipate
pivotal opportunities
for intervention with new agents? It is possible to
prepare for these opportunities, which are common to
most people involved in new experiences, including new
agents in your call center.
The Motivation Lifecycle will show you how this
natural evolution works, and the critical timeframe
during which supervisors and managers can have the most
impact on their new agents. |
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The number one motivating job factor for agents,
according to agents,
is "Leadership skills of supervisors and
one-on-one interactions".
Your call center supervisors should make 'increasing
one-on-one interactions" with their agents as their
first priority in terms of motivation. |
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Solicit the input of as many agents and supervisors as
possible, if not all of them. If you are looking to
motivate agents, you must sincerely and openly ask the
agents. What motivates you as a manager or supervisor
differs for agents as much as your job roles and
responsibilities differ. |
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It is worth saying again: motivation is a process not an event. The
process requires specific prescribed action steps
including preparing, planning
and implementing a change plan. What's the
change requiring the action steps? You are planning to
change your call center culture from it's current state
to a culture in which agents are motivated, growing,
productive, vested and most importantly, retaining their employment.
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