Call Center Motivating Agents Tutorial Series

Module 3 - Desired vs. required job factors

The Call Center Learning Center is excited to continue the tutorial series focused on how to motivate call center agents. This tutorial series will pull from Prosci's research-based toolkits and best practices reports.  Module 1 revealed the most motivating job factors for contact center agents.  Module 2 dispelled an agent motivation myth uncovered by research done with hundreds of call center managers, supervisors and agents.  This final module will focus on the importance of both required and desired job factors for agents.

Required job factors - necessities of the workplace

A satisfier, according to Herzberg, is simply any basic, generic, company-wide job factor which is provided to everyone, such as a paycheck or a safe work environment. These can also be considered required job factors. While these items may meet some standard requirement for an agent to do his or her job properly and efficiently, they do not necessarily motivate the agent to do a better job than s/he's already doing. However, if any of these factors are missing, eliminated or allowed to erode, they can become de-motivators. This is why we refer to them as required job factors. Call centers often overlook their responsibility to invest in basic on-the-job necessities for their agents. Attempting to substitute other motivators, such as career-pathing opportunities or structured incentive programs, will have very little value to your agents until their basic workplace needs are met. Satisfiers must be addressed before motivators. Required job factors are more urgent than desired job factors.

Examples of required job factors:

• Personal aspiration or ambition. This job factor refers to the degree to which employees align their personal expectations and career aspirations with their current job. This alignment could be influenced by many factors, including age, immediate financial needs, or things they are doing outside the job, such as going to school. For example, a 35-year old woman who has been out of the workplace for 15 years raising children may view a position in a call center as a starting point for her career, but only a beginning. A 20-year old college student may view the call center job as a great way to earn money while in school, but when she has completed her education, she is ready to move on. A 50-year old man may view a call center role as necessary to meet immediate financial needs, but may consider the job to be beneath himself because it falls below his expectations and ambitions for that point in his life. Every agent's personal aspirations and ambitions will influence their decision to continue working in the call center regardless of other aspects of the job.   

• Competitive pay and benefits. This job factor refers to the pay scales for each job position based on the location, type of call center and type of work performed, as well as benefits which may include medical plans, vacation time, flex-time and child care.

• Physical environment and facilities refer to a safe and healthy environment, adequate lighting, comfortable temperature, adequate break room and lunch room facilities, sanitary restrooms and ample, safe and well-lit parking.

• Tools, equipment and work station include the overall desktop and equipment provided to CSRs, including ergonomic seating and desks or work areas, computer equipment, telephones and headsets, and other hardware and software used to properly perform the job.

• Basic knowledge refers to agent knowledge about the job they are performing, the mission and goals of the company, adequate skills training for the position, call center communications and notices of upcoming product changes or new offerings, explicit metrics, the general expectations of their role in the call center (including parameters laid out in an employee handbook or personnel guidelines), and a clearly defined evaluation process with timelines.

Desired job factors - motivating agents to do their best

A motivator, according to Herzberg, appeals to a person's "ability to achieve, and through achievement, to experience growth." In other words, most people have an instinctive desire to achieve goals and grow as human beings. What truly motivates them to grow and achieve must address their individual desires.

What we have learned from agents is that a genuine motivator is something that they personally value. It is not generic; it is specific. Even if it is presented in the form of a company-wide program, if it holds value for the agent, it will serve as a motivator to that agent for greater performance. These can be considered desired job factors.

Once the basic and required job factors are met and de-motivators are eliminated, desired job factors will become your next focus. For example, agents rank the leadership skills of their supervisor, a desired job factor, as the Number One motivator in the work place. Therefore, addressing incentive programs and contests would be premature. Recall from Module 1 that managers ranked incentives first, and agents did not even include incentives in their "Top Five" list.

Examples of desired job factors:

• Culture and teams. In Prosci's research study with hundreds of agents and supervisors, 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. What agents were also clear about is that being part of a team helps them 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. 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.  

• Leadership style and supervisor-agent interaction. Call center agents told us that great supervisors, among other things, have good overall people skills, are approachable, recognize contribution, show appreciation for the job performed, and are competent communicators. In other words, agents respect supervisors who are great coaches. "The mark of a great leader is the ability to inspire greatness in others."  The relationships agents have with their supervisors can motivate performance.

• Incentives and rewards. For agents, this means tangible but relevant incentives. Most call centers use company-wide gift and incentive programs, offering prizes which are random and generic, therefore, not necessarily motivating for everyone. Agents told us that the most motivating incentives are geared to their own preferences and recognize them as individuals. Whether it's an award for Agent of the Month or an acknowledgement for fielding a particularly difficult call, agents prefer gestures which are personal, specific and relevant.

• Career advancement and growth refers to: opportunities for advancement and promotion, based on abilities and individual goals; increased skills training; cross-training and job rotation; participation in special projects, seminars and workshops; and tuition reimbursement programs.

Bringing desired and required job factors together
Prosci's Threshold Model

Prosci's Threshold Model combines required job factors and desired job factors to create a model that allows you to decide what you should do first to motivate and inspire your agents and when to take various steps in the process.

This model divides all job factors into two areas: desired job factors and specific motivators on top, and required job factors and basic satisfiers at the bottom.

Below the line are the required job factors. If any of these basic satisfiers are neglected, they become de-motivators and can lead to turnover and lower productivity. Above the dividing line are the desired job factors which can become genuine incentives and motivators for agents.

Now notice that we have given a label for the line that divides the desired job factors and specific motivators, and the required job factors and basic satisfiers. This line is called the threshold. A threshold is a limit. Beyond a threshold, things change. Below the line are requirements that must be met or they can become de-motivators. However, after the basic requirements are met below the line, doing more in this area does not necessarily increase motivation or productivity. Above the line are job requirements that have a unique attribute. The more you do to improve these job factors, the more motivated and productive your agents become.

The picture below shows the complete Threshold Model. It shows the relationship between required and desired job factors, including the major categories identified by our research with hundreds of call center agents. The model is a way for you to begin to understand what really drives your agent's to perform at their best.

How to use the model

The model is designed to help you understand how your call center is doing for each category - both required job factors and desired job factors. You can use the templates and assessments in the Motivating Call Center Agents Toolkit to identify where you have potential de-motivators and where you have opportunities to truly inspire your agents to perform at their best. Prosci's Motivating Call Center Agents Toolkit is designed to help you  create a workplace that motivates agents to optimize productivity and retain key employees in your call center.