Employees are leaving their companies in great numbers. According to a BBC report, 41 percent of workers are considering quitting or changing their jobs this year due in part to how their employer treated them during the global health crisis. The pandemic proved to be an incredibly tumultuous period for the global economy, as FXCM highlights how there has been a dramatic increase in unemployment due to travel restrictions, lockdowns, and quarantines. This, combined with the mass resignation that we’re seeing now, will surely negatively affect the performance and gains of organisations this year.
In order to keep your contact centre safe from the mass employee exodus, you should strive to keep your agents engaged, make sure they are healthy, and address their needs. Here, we list down some tips that can help you improve the engagement and wellbeing of your agents.
Offer mental health support
Your employees will need ample mental health support in order to perform their best. Programs that are focused on improving the mental health of your agents are all the more needed now, as The Guardian reports that 81 percent of workers want their employees to assist them with their mental wellbeing. For this reason, you should aim to create a mental health program in your contact centre where your agents can find the right support. Your mental health program should employ professionals such as therapists and psychiatrists, who can provide the right advice to your agents who are going through an emotional or mental ordeal.
In addition, you should also strive to develop emotional resilience in your organisation so your agents can have a better chance at managing their stressors. Be sure to find how to nurture emotional resilience in your contact centre — whether it’s through workshops, meaningful messages through meetings, or internal campaigns.
Enable gamification incentives
One way to motivate your agents is by providing them with incentives and rewards, especially if you approach this through gamification. Aside from making your agents happier and more engaged, gamification also pushes your agents to do their tasks in a fun and entertaining manner. In addition, agents who are more focused on achieving their targets are more likely to perform customer service engagements with optimism and clarity. What’s more, you can increase the overall engagement with your agents through gamification incentives since this will encourage friendly competition. If you introduce a gamification where the whole team has to work together to win a reward you will also increase collaboration within the office.
Encourage flexibility and creativity
A huge challenge for those who manage teams of contact centre agents is creating positive engagement. Because agents are focused on providing superb service, there might not be a ton of interaction within the workplace. This can make contact centre agents feel isolated, even within their teams. To remedy this, you should find ways to encourage your agents to be flexible and creative with their tasks. One way to do this is by allowing your agents to forego scripts and be more flexible when it comes to communicating and handling customers. This allows them to perform their tasks with a personal touch and work on improving their quality. As you permit your agents to do things their own way, they create a personal connection to their tasks and be more motivated to perform well at work.
If you don’t want your contact centre to be at the mercy of dissatisfied and unhappy agents, be sure to follow the tips we’ve listed above. Doing so can help you significantly raise the levels of engagement and wellbeing in your organisation. To have an easier time managing your agents, be sure to check out our Intraday Automation platform.
Guest blog written by Rian James