Employee Engagement
Building a people focused contact centre
Employee engagement – the secret to building a highly connected culture By Jeff Doran
I
t seems that every new generation entering the workforce has more to say about how things should be run. But it’s not just Millennials. Almost all employees want to be actively involved in decisions that affect them. They also want to have more personal and professional development opportunities. The problem is that they are not getting enough of either. According to the CCEOC Best Practices report, 28% of contact centre employees disagree that their contact centre involves them in decision making. The survey data also shows a strong correlation between decision making and training and development. In order to build more engagement, contact center managers need to look at these issues and start creating development plans that have a higher degree of employee involvement and with a focus on training. If one employee can make a difference, a group of employees can make a big difference. But in order to make a difference, they need to be committed. In order to be committed, they need to be engaged. In order to be engaged, they need to be involved. In order to be involved, they need to be interested. This is known as the “Employee Connectedness Ladder”. It is important to know what level of connectedness exists in your contact centre. If you are trying to create an engaged workforce, and most of your employees are merely at the involved stage, it will be very difficult to achieve your goal. In order to create an environment where people are engaged and committed, you must build a culture of trust and respect. Employees need to know that their efforts will be supported, recognized and rewarded. As a result, they will be more motivated to contribute and become much more productive. In the contact center environment, it is difficult to get people involved in extra activities without adversely affecting productivity. But creative managers are introducing some interesting and unique opportunities for
employees to be more engaged with their company, community and each other. Here are a couple of examples: • Community Involvement - A manager at a large Canadian contact centre, invited her team out on a Saturday to volunteer with her favourite charity – Habitat for Humanity. Almost everyone on her team came out, not because they had to, but because they wanted to. They put on hard hats, picked up hammers and spent the day building a house. They all had a lot of fun but more importantly, they developed a real sense of connectivity to their team and the community. Helping a family achieve their dream of owning a home, instilled a tremendous sense of pride and accomplishment. Interesting to note, they are the highest performing team in the contact centre. • Idea/Innovation Management Systems – organizations need to develop idea systems that will stimulate employees to think in new ways and encourage them to submit their ideas. Toyota, for example, asks employees to submit ideas on a regular basis. It’s measured in their performance reviews. The company receives over 700,000 ideas from its 70,000 plus workforce. Their system is called “Creative Ideas Suggestion
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System”. It is designed to capture and process ideas quickly so that the good ones can be implemented immediately by the people who submit them. Having an idea system in place not only improves employee morale but also allows you to measure and manage the employee involvement process. Suggested reading on this topic: Ideas Are Free by Alan Robinson and Dean Schroeder. The secret to building an engaged, committed workforce starts at the top. If you can determine your level on the Employee Connectedness Ladder, you can better understand your culture and determine what you need to develop a more supportive, successful and connected contact centre. Jeff Doran: CCEOC Inc. recognizes and develops world class, Employer of Choice® work cultures. CCEOC oversees the administration and delivery of Employer of Choice® recognition programs for various of market sectors and regions. For the past 10 years, CCEOC has been delivering the Contact Center Employer of Choice® Certification and Development program to the customer service/call center industry. Employer of Choice® training, seminars and workshops are also provided through the CCEOC Consulting group. For more information, please contact info@ccemployerofchoice.com or call 416.886.7007.
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