7 tricks to maintain contact center morale

Does your contact center need a morale boost? Improve and maintain contact center morale and reduce stress using these strategies.

Be a team player

A leadership team that thinks they’re above everyone else is a morale murderer. Call center managers earn the respect of their employees by showing them that they are not above any task. Be transparent with your team so they know you are reliable and trustworthy. When extra hands are needed on deck, do your part to make sure your team is supported. 

Ask your agents what they need

Gathering feedback from those employees in the trenches matters.Send out anonymous surveys, put out a suggestion box, hold weekly roundtables and emphasize the importance of the agent’s experience. Ask employees what kinds of things motivate them and be willing to try those methods out. 

Get rid of scripts

As long as your reps have an updated knowledge base, scripts are not necessary. They can even demotivate your staff. Is it important for messages to customers to be consistent? Of course. Is it necessary for reps to have to read off verbatim answers from a supplied text? No. Encourage your agents to work through the process on their own if you want to maintain contact center morale.

Give them a career path

Allow reps to try out different areas within the contact center so they can gain expertise in all areas. Each time they pick up a new skill, have them track it somewhere to be recognized by other team members and management. This helps keep them engaged and shows that you care about their continuous education. As a manager, you should provide your staff opportunities for learning that can help them get promoted later on.

Gamification works

Friendly competition and rewards motivate employees to hit targets and makes the workday more enjoyable. Offer an interactive online design that plays on the competitive instincts of your team. The positive energy usually speaks for itself. See what kind of incentive and prizes your team cares about to ensure that everyone is enthusiastic about their work. 

Recognize those above and beyond efforts

When your remote agents are exceeding expectations, don’t forget to acknowledge it. The more appreciated people feel, the more likely they will continue going that extra mile. Be vigilant when it comes to celebrating big wins of your workers.

The right tools matter

Your team is only as good as the tools you provide. Without the right system in place you can’t help agents access actionable caller data.

Using listening enterprise software like Tethr, you can offer each rep a personalized training program based on actionable insight from their calls. Tethr’s technology works to combine what’s going on in real-time with historical data for context to lead your agent to the best practices. Surface impactful coaching opportunities to help your reps reach their goals regardless of where they are working. Now that's a surefire way to maintain contact center morale!