This blog is about call center incentive
Before joined hotel chain International as vice president three years ago, it was doubtful that he had any idea just how important the concept of motivation and incentives would become to him.
joined at a time when the company's Irving, TX-based call center was experiencing annual turnover of about 150% and was conducting between 20 and 25 training classes per year to keep up with all the new hires.
"When I started, my number one goal was to reduce turnover," says .
His first step was to examine the call center and the agents who worked there to find out why employees were so unhappy. He conducted informal and formal focus groups to find out directly from employees what they liked and didn't like about working in the center.
"I spoke with every single employee, from the reservations agents to the highest directors," he says.
With the information garnered through the focus groups, Mussa was able to construct a motivation and incentives strategy. The program was so successful that within one year, turnover was down to just 35%, and the center was able to reduce its staff of reservations agents from 200 to 135 without increasing average handle times.
"I knew that by focusing on motivation we could make some improvements but I didn't realize just how far we would go," he says.
We'll go into more detail about 's motivation strategy a little later on. But one of the fundamental reasons that it is such a success is because the company recognizes that motivation takes more than pizza parties and company prizes. To motivate reps, had to address the underlying cause of agents' dissatisfaction
"You have to stop and think about what really matters," says Gibson, performance and education consultant with ICMI . "There's no magical prize that's going to save your call center."
Before you can implement a motivation and incentive program, you must first understand the difference between motivation and morale.
" focuses on long-term values," says, a consultant with InterWeave (Tampa, FL). "But parties and games don't touch . Morale happens when you create a trusting environment where supervisors communicate with agents in an honest, direct and inspiring way."
Webster defines morale as "the mental and emotional condition (as of enthusiasm, confidence, or loyalty) of an individual or group with regard to the function or tasks at hand."
While it sounds simple enough, lack of morale is often the underlying problem in many call centers. When agents don't feel trusted, respected or valued, it translates back to their work.
For example, in an anonymous blog maintained by a call center agent, the author frequently states how lack of recognition from supervisors and other high-level executives has taken a toll on employees' morale. In one entry, the blogger tells the story of a pizza party meant to be an incentive for reps. However, during the entire meal, the call center's general manager (who sat in a nearby office) didn't take the time to join them or even acknowledge their presence.
The story illustrates how easily something that is meant as a motivational gesture can actually have the opposite effect. In this case, agents were actually de-motivated by the manager's lack of attention.
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