Employees working in call centers have the opportunity to work with customers to create pleasant experiences. While the work can be complex, the effects of delivering an exceptional experience to customers are worth it.
In order to keep your employees motivated, It is critical to provide incentives that will boost productivity and maintain morale.
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How essential are call center incentives in the workplace?
Incentive programs are critical to driving performance (especially in call centers).
- 90% of organizations have a formal reward and recognition program in place [applauz]
- 70% of those organizations offer between 3 and 6 different incentive-based programs [achievers].
- Incentive programs aimed at individual workers increase performance by 27 percent [ehstoday].
- 69% of employees felt their efforts were not appreciated and would work harder if they were more appreciated [tinypulse].
The best organizations have formal recognition programs for their employees. These programs make employees feel appreciated and encouraged to work harder.
The stats above prove that call center incentives can have a positive impact on productivity.
5 unique call center incentives ideas
1. The best call worker monthly award
Recognition is a Large Incentive for Workers
Recognition is one of the most significant call center incentives. It’s essential to recognize people for a job well done regularly. A lot of companies have an employee of the month award to recognize the efforts of their employees.
When you break up your call center into more teams, you can have more awards given. These awards can be by votes and can encourage co-workers to be supportive of their peers.
A large majority of employees believe that rewarding employees who perform well is important. This emphasizes to your employees that you value their efforts and notice their hard work.
A side benefit is that when their manager appreciates them, it improves their relationships. Employees end up trusting their managers, and it leads to a more positive experience for everyone.
Various recognition methods
It is very much essential to recognize your best employers in order to keep them motivated. Have a variety of ways to showcase your appreciation towards your workers.
Tips for recognizing your employees:
- Have a place to frame your Hall of Fame employees.
- Conduct a monthly meeting to praise and acknowledge your employees.
- Organize an outside event that honors your Hall of Fame employees.
- Frame your employees’ pictures and emphasize what makes them unique.
All these methods will give your employees something to aspire to and increase overall productivity.
2. Rewards that workers actually care about
Personalized Rewards for Callers
A personalized thank you can make a huge difference to your employees. Having a formal recognition plan can boost employee morale. Personalized rewards are even better.
A personalized reward means that you understand what interests your employees. Make sure you have asked beforehand what is essential for them. You can do this by conducting focus group interviews, or by online forms and surveys. Then, formulate a plan on considering how to reward them for their work beyond better pay.
- 65% of employees surveyed strongly agree that travel and merchandise awards are remembered longer than cash payments [linkedin].
- When workers’ strengths were recognized by managers, it resulted in happier workers and a 14% to 29% increase in profit [achievers].
Consider using incentives that aren’t cash payments. It can be travel or merchandise awards. Make something personal to your employees. It can be a dream vacation or a personalized cup with a picture of their family.
These subtle touches can impact your relationships with your employees and boost everyone’s morale. Whenever possible, consider how to personalize your rewards and recognitions.
Survey on callers: What rewards or things will they like?
Survey your employees. You can use a survey maker like JotFrom, SurveyMonkey, or even a simple Google Form. Have a pre-formatted questionnaire about different prizes, a dream vacation, and career goals.
Your survey should express that you want to help them achieve their goals and get things they want in life. Even if it doesn’t match your specific goals, encouraging them will lead to increased morale and trust in your company. Employees will work harder for you and it will ultimately lead to more productivity.
Tips for using a survey for your employees:
- Have your questions answered as soon as they join your team.
- Have pre-meditated questions to ask your employees.
- Consider how you can give these rewards to your employees.
A survey has multiple benefits. It shows that you actually care about your employees and you want to know more about them.
3. Goal setting meetings: What do they want?
Find out the Career Goals of Your Members and Help Them
It’s important to have set goals as an individual. Find out how you can help your employees reach their goals. You can locate the people that want to advance in your company.
By helping your employees achieve these career goals, you can have them working for you more productively. Get your employees to clarify their goals; you can encourage them to pursue the next stage of their life. It can be hard to do with remote teams. You have to rely on video calls and online conferences to connect with your team. Try using HR videos to communicate ideas more creatively across the team.
Some employees will have goals besides working at a call center. Instead of having them disengage with the work, encourage them in the work they are doing, and help them get to the next stage of their career.
Help your best employees have a more fantastic future for themselves. Find these workers and encourage them. Help them improve their position and be better workers. Consider how to get people to the next level and develop your employees in your company.
By helping your employees become better at their job and helping them prepare for future careers, you showcase a great culture and a team mindset.
Case Study – WarbyParker: A company with a great culture
WarbyParker is an eyeglass selling company. They have built a good product and a great culture. The company has created a culture that is acknowledged by outside organizations as well as their employees.
Understanding the Things That WarbyParker Has Done To Build a Great Culture:
- Their Calendar is planned out with Future Fun Events or Programs.
- They’ve valued teamwork and fun in their decision-making.
- They organize lunches with random employees to foster collaboration amongst staff.
Having people collaborate fosters camaraderie. It brings people together. When combined with fun events and programs, it helps people stay motivated and think about being a part of a more excellent ideal.
Combine personal goals, a fun time, collaboration, and managers that care. It makes a powerful combination and encourages people to try more for their companies.
4. Reminding callers to stay on track
Building in Reminders to Maximize Productivity
Reminders are essential to maximizing productivity. They help people stay engaged in their tasks in the short and long term. It’s an effective way to increase productivity for a call center with a lot of distractions.
There is a strong relation between employee engagement and productivity.
The statistics say that half of your workforce is not engaged or they are actively disengaged. They are working on different projects and not as into the work. Some of them are distracted by social media or internet browsing.
A more highly engaged workforce can increase profitability by a significant percentage. Incentivizing your task force, creating a fun environment, and building relationships can create drastic long-term impacts for your call center.
Reminders can encourage your employees to do the work needed to get to their goals. There are milestones that we need to push towards. Find out what distracts your employees and help them make wiser decisions.
Time Doctor – Friendly reminders to stay on track
Time Doctor is a software that helps employees track their activity. It helps them keep track of applications, and websites they access during work hours. It also gives a friendly reminder to employees and helps them stay on track.
Tips on how to best utilize the friendly reminders features:
- Don’t use friendly reminders to be punitive.
- Encourage employees to pursue a higher ideal.
- Give short reminders to encourage employees to get back to work.
Time Doctor can effectively understand when to send a reminder. It helps employees stay on track and increase productivity. It helps in the day-to-day toil.
5. Leveraging fundraising for charities to increase productivity
Leaderboards on Productivity for Charity Dollars
Using Charity as call center incentives? Sounds funny. Right?
Consider mobilizing your employees to partner with charitable organizations. Nonprofits are continuously looking for ways to partner with more companies. Engaging your employees to be more charitable improves overall productivity and develops higher quality employees.
- 71% of surveyed employees say it is crucial that their employment is supportive of giving and volunteering [charities].
- 92% of surveyed corporate human resources executives agree that helping a nonprofit can be an effective way to improve employees’ leadership and broader professional skill sets [charities].
By being a company that promotes charity, it increases the overall culture of the workplace. It creates a sense of community and a mindset to be more helpful. In many ways, it ends up contributing business skills that overall improve leadership and broader professional skills.
Create a fun environment that cares about giving back and volunteering. You will help your employees become better individuals and maximize their own gifts and talents. By building a greater culture, you can unintentionally increase retention and hire the best talent. Your company’s reputation will expand in different social circles too.
Time Doctor to create leaderboards based on real-time data
Time Doctor can track employee engagement levels. It can easily show active as well as disengaged employees. They create powerful timesheets that give you accurate data. It’s possible to create real-time data based on this information.
Every team member can see these leadership boards. The managers can use it to highlight the hardest working call center agents and encourage others to motivate themselves. In order to not be punitive, you can blot out the least performing members of your team.
Build leaderboards based on real-time data:
- Tracks the number of hours worked every hour, week, and month
- Get a breakdown of how employees are using their time
- Track App Usage – Facebook, YouTube, and more
- Understand how long breaks are taking to see actual working time
Use software like Time Doctor to encourage your employees on how you want your employees to operate. Find out how to utilize this data in a way that pushes efficiency and productivity. Reward productivity with time for a rest or break or other personalized rewards.
If employees are specifically aware that their activities are being tracked, it tends to increase everyone’s attention to be working. Make it a priority to highlight your best employees and the examples you want your other employees following.
At times, it can take a quick conversation to adjust people’s thinking. With a tool like Time Doctor, it only takes a few minutes to find out which employees are working. Look at finding out what issues they might be facing and a way that you can lift them up.
Conclusion
Call center incentives are crucial for employees because they will end up keeping them engaged and motivated. Create programs to promote collaboration and fun. Build a trusting and encouraging environment that pushes employees to be their best.
Consider that you need to start tracking results. Find out metrics for your business that you can use that will foster employee engagement and overall productivity. Leverage using a tool like Time Doctor to help you start tracking employee performance and engagement levels.
Wesley Cherisien is a speaker, trainer, entrepreneur and tech investor who has penned hundreds of articles, books and training guides for organizations in the Fortune 500, consultants and authors spanning across multiple industries. Chief Editor of WesleyCherisien.com, Wesley is a creative and highly innovative thinker with 10+ years of experience writing for online publications.