customer service morale = creating a culture of engagement

Customer Service Morale = Creating a Culture of Engagement

Session Objectives

• Understand what employee engagement is and the relationship between culture, commitment, and performance.

• Understand what culture is and its importance in organizations.

• Learn how to build employee engagement by motivating your workforce.

How Many of You Would Like to…

Work in/with an organization where

ALL EMPLOYEES say,

“I LOVE MY JOB!”

Reality Check

What percentage of your employees…

Love their job? _____% It is OK, do just enough to get by? ____%

Don’t really care much the job? ____%

The Reality

Actively Disengaged: 17%

Do just enough to get by & get paid: 54%

Love my job, Engaged 29 %

Source: Gallup Management Journal http://gmj.gallup.com Gallup Organization Study

Current Commitment/Engagement Levels

Commitment and Morale Defined

• Commitment: loyalty - devotion or dedication, e.g. to a cause, person, or relationship.

• Morale: a: 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 b: a sense of common purpose with respect to a group.

Engagement Defined

• “Engaged employees are defined as those who are “mentally and emotionally invested in their work and in contributing to their employer’s success.”

• “In a nutshell, engaged employees brings all of themselves to work.”(JoAnna Brandi, president of JoAnna Brandi and Co.)

*Excerpt from “Learning’s role in employee engagement” ASTD Research Study sponsored by Dale Carnegie training

** Excerpt from ICMI’s Call Center Management Review , March 2006

Excerpt for “Learning’s role in employee engagement” AN ASTD Research Study, A Dale Carnegie training

Employee Engagement

The Business Impact of Employee Engagement:

The Corporate Leadership Council has completed a study of the engagement level of 50,000 employees around the world. And found that…

Those employees who are most committed (engaged) perform 20% better and are 87% less likely to leave the organization.

Source: Corporate Leadership Council

Organizational Culture Defined

• Organizational DNA

• Culture = Sum of values, virtues, political environment and behavioral norms

• In short, is it the “Way We Do Things Around Here”

What management pays attention to and rewards is the strongest

indicator of an organization’s culture

What Is Your Culture?Think About….

1. What words would you use to describe your organization and/or team?

2. How are decisions made?

3. How are promotions determined?

4. What is focused on more?

5. What gets rewarded?

6. What does the physical environment look like?

7. How is feedback given?

Importance of Culture

Culture

High Performance

Employee Engagement

Direct link between

culture and

the level of employee engagement

Contractual External

Internal

Levels of Commitment = ENGAGEMENT

Internalization

Identification

Commitment Levels

External Commitment

Internal Commitment

ENGAGEMENT

Source: First Break All the Rules

Motivation

“You can’t motivate other people. You can only influence what they’re motivated to do.”

“People don’t change that much.Don’t waste time trying to put in what was left out.

Try to draw out what was left in.That is hard enough.”

Motivation is…….

“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.”

Dr. Stephen Covey

“Motivation is a function of growth from getting intrinsic rewards out of interesting and challenging work.”

“Motivation is based on growth needs. It is an internal engine.”

Frederick Herzberg - Retrospective Commentary on 1968 HBR article “How Do You Motivate Employees”

Motivation Ladder

•Competitive pay/benefits•Job fit•Working conditions•Relationship with supervisor

•Money•Prizes•Awards•Celebrations

•The work itself•Responsibility•Social interactions•Achievement•Recognition•Growth •Advancement

Price of Admission:Covering Basic Needs

Sustained Motivation (Internal Commitment)

Meeting Advanced Needs

Short-term Motivation (External Commitment)

What Is a High Performing, Motivated Workforce?

• Greater than 1/3 employees consistently exceed expectations

• Average worker performs higher than industry

• Strong emotional commitment

• Collective performance of major segments…forms core of competitive advantage

• Leaders believe front line people are key to success and engage employees emotionally and rationally

Source: Peak Performance, Jon Katzenbach

“Things that matter to Employees that most Companies aren’t doing well!”

1. Feeling appreciated for the work they do.

2. Not working in a stressful environment (i.e. call handling time pressure).

3. Being valued and respected within the center and organization.

4. Career opportunities for advancement within the center and organization.

5. The Center effectively utilizes employee’s knowledge and skills.

Source: SQM Group Study for Manpower

As many as 34% of employees who quit a job cited a lack or limited appreciation of their contributions as the reason. Robert Half International

A Motivation Problem?

Gallop Dozen (Q12) Survey

1. Know what is expected of me at work

2. Have everything to do my work

3. Opportunity to do what I do best every day

4. Recognition or praise in last seven days

5. Someone cares about me as a person

6. Development is encouraged

7. My opinions count

8. Mission/purpose makes me feel my job is important

9. Co-workers committed to doing quality work

10.Best friend at work

11.Talked about my progress in last six months

12.Opportunities to learn and grown this year

source: adapted from First Break All The Rules

A Motivation Problem?

The most powerful motivation is __________________________________from a manager for a job well done. Dr. Gerald Graham,

Wichita State University

personalized, instant recognition

Call Center Psychology 101

____________________ are consistently cited as the #1 and #2 primary employee motivators.

Original source: Frederick Herzberg et.al, The Motivation to Work, 1959

Achievement and Recognition

Achievement

We aren’t motivated by the threat of failure; we’re motivated by the promise of achievement.

Achievement

The perception that occurs in a agent’s mind that he or she...

...has done something for the first time or has done it better than ever before.

Recognition

The easiest, most satisfying & effective way to offer ongoing recognition to employees is through one-on-one feedback.

When someone achieves something and ...

...someone else recognizes that accomplishment in some way

Recognition

What Happens in the Center…

• No news is good news, we’ll let you know if something is wrong

• Negative reinforcement is common• Attempts at positive reinforcement are

disconnected and remote (financial incentives, contests, reports)

• Constant redirection & correction

What Happens in the Center…

It doesn’t matter if I do it or not…

No response

I think that’s how I was supposed to do it?

No response

Wow! I did it!

I’m motivated because I just achieved something. I’d be more motivated if you would recognize my achievement, which would motivate me to go out and achieve more!

I’ve got to get out my productivity reports, revise the schedule because of all the people who are out, field calls from irate customers, explain to my boss why we didn’t achieve our service level…I’m too busy to coach!

The Big Question

If we know all this, why don’t we praise more?

The Big Question

1. We don’t have enough time

2. We’re unaware of the power of verbal praise

3. We have an unrealistic sense of what achievement means

If we know all this, why don’t we praise more?

The Big Question

3. We have a unrealistic sense of what achievement means…

Don’t punish people for their shortcomings, thank them for what they achieve.

Source: Ferdinand Fournies, Coaching for Improved Work Performance

Opportunities to Praise

Agents do what they are supposed to be doing __% of the time….95%

…yet we spend 95% of our time correcting the 5% of things they are doing wrong.

Agents do what they are supposed to be doing 95% of the time….

What do we miss? • Moves closer toward a goal

• Achieves part of an expectation

• Meets an expectation

• Exceeds an expectation

• Exhibits a positive behavior which is not required

Common Approach

Correction

Praise

Don’t Correct LESS

Common Approach Positive Approach

Correction

Praise Praise

Correction

Don’t Correct LESS

Praise MORE

Praise Should Be . . .

• Specific

• Sincere

• Individual

• Proportionate

• Frequent & ongoing

• Encouraging

Praise Should Be. . .Specific

• Eliminate generic, blanket praise (e.g., “nice work”)

• Use descriptive language, quotes, examples

• Describe exactly what was positive - the behavior, the result

Praise Should Be. . . Sincere

• Communicate your concern, excitement, interest, investment

• Express confidence the agent can/will succeed

• Convey through word choice, tone of voice, body language

Praise Should Be. . . Individual

• A view of the “big picture”

• Continuity between coaching sessions

• Refer to individual challenges, struggles, talents, strengths

Praise Should Be…Proportionate

• Behavior being praised

• Extent to which a goal was achieved

• Importance of the goal

Praise Should Be. . . Frequent & Ongoing

• Praise customer communications, adherence, productivity, special projects, peer interaction

• Analyze the praise to correction ratio - consider the 4:1 ratio

• Cultivate the habit

Praise Should Be. . . Encouraging

• Clarify exactly what you’d like to see happen in the future

• Provide recognition to inspire reoccurrence

• Stress that the behavior is valued, applauded

Practical Application

• Practice, Encourage throughout the Center Manager to Reports Peer to Peer Across the Call Center Coach to Agent

• Make it part of your weekly To-Do list

• Track the type & amount of praise being delivered

• Measure the Results

• Celebrate!

International Customer Management Institute (ICMI)102 South Tejon Street, Suite 102

Colorado Springs, CO 80903USA

800-672-6177719-268-0184 fax

icmi@icmi.comwww.icmi.com

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customer service morale = creating a culture of engagement

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