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This is part two of a series from industry expert Brian Flagg discussing how to drive, foster & encourage engagement in contact centers.
Gallup developed a 12 point model to help organizations assess engagement. The reader is referred to the Gallup work to get the details. I have summarized the 12 point model into what I believe to be important for a contact center. The key levers of engagement I see are:
• Feeling Valued; do your employees understand their value to the organization and company and do they know the leadership team is aware of how they stack up in terms of providing that value? Are measurements aligned to the value statement, and are the measurements of value clear and unambiguous? This is the bedrock, if employees do not feel valued or do not understand how their value is measured, most likely the organization is failing badly at managing engagement and the answer to the remaining questions in this section is “no.”
• Have input to decisions; can your employees affect the policies, rules, measurements, and environment in which they operate? Are opinions, especially of the informal leaders of the organization, sought for input to key decisions?
• Know their voice is heard; is closely related to the previous point. Do employees have the ability to tell management what they think and feel? If they bring forward a problem or opportunity, is action taken? Front-line employees usually have a very good understanding of the operational problems and challenges that impact productivity and quality, and have a good understanding of opportunities for driving forward key initiatives and additional organizational value. How does the organization utilize the employees to bring their ideas forward? Are they rewarded or penalized for surfacing problems and offering suggestions?
• Are recognized appropriately; is the right reward system in place? Did the employees have a part in the design of the reward system? Are rewards timely and do they link to behavior? Are the right number of reward programs in place, or does the organization have so many reward programs as to render them ineffective?
• Tools for the job; do your employees have the right technology, information and training to enable them to have quality interactions? Do the skills match the expectations?
