CREATING CONTACT CENTER CULTURE

Most contact centers want to create a customer-focused culture. Setting the tone and determining the most important values is tricky, but getting it right is critical. Turning around a contact center with a poor culture can take a lifetime—many attitudes and behaviors never die.

Many people confuse company culture with the company’s mission statement. A mission statement states the company's mission regarding its quest in the marketplace. Culture is the day-to-day working environment created by the management team. Everyone wants to work where they feel respected and valued, proud to serve clients, and generally good about their work. While this is easy to put in a statement, it’s not easy to create and implement.

When agents know, and understand what the brand, owners, managers, and their coworkers are working toward, it’s easier for them to share that message with the customer. Daily communication is key. Constantly drill in on company messages and allow people to connect with them. Communicate company and site progress daily. Be transparent and share KPIs. Create fun yet informative dashboards that are visible and simple to understand.

The bottom line is that a culture should be one in which people are proud to come to work and want to work with customers. Employees are happy to walk through that door each day. Many managers don’t understand the fact that they work for their team. The manager’s team doesn’t work for the manager. Management's job is to create an environment where people want to be. Managers' job is to reduce and/or eliminate obstacles that prevent team members from excelling and doing their best. Agents feel valued when supported and know you are working on their behalf. When agents recognize that you’re making their jobs easier, they want to come back the next day, and they want to do a great job. Don’t let agents down.

It’s simple, especially when employees have options. If it’s not a pleasant workplace, agents will go elsewhere and the turnover will keep rising. When it’s not a nice place to work, agents get angry and frustrated and take it out on callers, who are customers. This impacts the customer satisfaction scores you so diligently work to improve. Agents disengage, lack commitment to their job and the company, and are overall dissatisfied. Some become disgruntled. Many organizations prioritize improving their culture last. However, by prioritizing it and consciously creating a purposeful and positive culture, many other issues, like turnover, will take care of themselves. A poor culture will increase the turnover rate, which costs money.

In new contact centers, the management team is often assembled at the last minute and thrown into the fire. This hastiness ignores the importance of new management needing time to “gel.” Team building for the management team should occur before the contact center opens. The team should include the site manager, all the contact center managers, and all floor supervisors.

Team building doesn’t mean heading out to the ropes course, but it does include time to get acquainted and discover each team member's skills, knowledge, and experiences. It is critical that top management teams share the mission and vision with their teams and that everyone hears it from the horse’s mouth, putting the new team on the same page. Eliminating “I thought we were doing…”. Everyone has a different interpretation. Synchronizing the entire management team must happen before the opening. The front line will see an unorganized management team, undermining success. Management team building is a time to align personal values with company values. If managers are new to the company, this is a critical time to learn the company values and walk and talk about those values daily.

This new management team is the foundation of the site culture. How this team evolves, works together, provides direction, when unified and organized, will determine and set the tone for the contact center culture. Get your act together before show time.

An inspiring contact center doesn’t mean expensive benefits, activities or over the top surroundings. People want to feel valued at work, connect and build relationships, and desire a positive environment in which to do it.

Make time to connect. Daily team huddles give people time to connect. Agents work individually most of the day with little interaction with their teammates. Have a “stand-up” meeting which sends the message that this will be short and helps you keep the energy high. This is a time for the team manager to take a pulse check of the team and each team member. Check in with each team member. Who is feeling stressed, overwhelmed, excited, or challenged? Who needs extra motivation? When you identify how people think, you can find ways to help them manage those feelings. Why are folks stressed or overwhelmed? Is there something you as a manager can do to help that agent? Do they need help with an account but are afraid to ask? What obstacle is in their way? Who is excited and why? Positive energy will spread, and there’s no better way to do so in a team huddle. It is far more difficult to spread one person’s positive energy when everyone’s working alone all day. Make team huddles fun, informative, and high energy. You’ll set the tone for success every day.

This is an ideal moment to assess team performance, celebrate achievements, reinforce company values, and inform everyone about that day's events. Take the opportunity to connect. Starting each shift is a fantastic way to establish a positive tone for the day, and over time, your team will appreciate this connection and you'll see heightened productivity.

Lead by example. Too many management teams send the messages “it's ok for me but not you” and create this “us against them” mentality. We are all on the same team. Say it to them! “We are all on the same team. As the team manager, I have a different role but am on the same team. I want the same things as you and your numbers are my numbers. What can I do to help you?” When was the last time you took some calls? Show your team you still got it and are not afraid to work in the trenches with them. You will earn their respect and trust.

Leading by example—It’s just that. It’s not “We have a smile policy. When I see you in the hall I expect you to smile.” Guess what? If you smile when they see you, they are more likely to mirror your smile! Lead by example not by your mouth!

Ask the People when you take the time to ask the agents how to improve a process, procedure, or policy, they’ll have first-hand suggestions. Ask the people who it impacts the most. Ask the people who have the most interaction and activity around it. Ask them “what can WE do” not “what can YOU do?” They will overwhelm you with suggestions, understanding that not all are feasible, but you listened and can submit practical tips to the management team.

Elevate expectations; having high standards is essential. Many managers fear holding their teams accountable, leading to unmet performance goals. Employees desire to be part of a successful team, which is fostered through high standards. Meeting these standards fosters a sense of pride. Anticipate victory and achieve it consistently. Set your sights high, and your team will always strive for the finish line.

Appreciation is free all day long. Appreciation is a human need. Your kids, as do your spouse, your Mom/Dad, and your friends, need appreciation. Everyone needs to be appreciated for who they are and what they do. Don’t be afraid to show it. Too many managers are fearful of being too vulnerable. Be looking every moment for a reason to “high-five” someone, or to say “I appreciate the extra effort” or write a handwritten note expressing your appreciation. Those notes will be valued so much they’ll end up posted on the cubicle panel. Have fun with it. Hand out “Awesome Bars” from See’s Candies when you see a team member doing something extraordinary! Catch agents in the act and recognize them immediately. This is the best motivational medicine out there.

Rewards, Recognition and Incentives feed people’s need for belonging. Agents show up, put in a good day’s work and want to be recognized when they do something great – something that is above expectation, perhaps a bit better than others. It is essential to take the time to realize that agents are free gas in their tanks. This fuel will motivate them better than any incentive you put in front of them because it is pure. Agents see behind the incentives and many will ignore them, when you recognize agents and reward them, they will continue to perform.

Rewards don’t have to be expensive, but they must be appropriate. Get creative in deciding on rewards. Discover what gets your team excited. What does each person on the team appreciate as a reward? Handing out rewards that don’t mean much will not give you the results you hope to achieve. The owner of an insurance broker shop once awarded top performers with t-shirts from a Sturgis Motorcycle rally he attended that summer. While the owner was excited about those shirts, the agents saw it as a thoughtless reward. They had no interest in motorcycles, so the t-shirts went in the trash. It wasn’t a bit motivating to be a top performer.