Care Personally
It is important for me to be sure that my employees know that I care about them personally. When employees feel and know that they are not just a number, or a body in seat doing a job, it creates a feeling of worth. When you genuinely care about them inside and outside of work, you will gain commitment, and not just compliance of the processes you are putting in place.
Get in the trenches
Even though I am a manger, I am not afraid to get in the trenches and do the same job they are doing. When someone is having a rough day on the phones, I will take their headset and take phone calls for them, and let them listen to me. Typically, within a half hour, they are refreshed, empowered, and ready to turn the day around. They are the most important part of the business, and if we can't take care of them, how can we expect them to take care of our customers?
Even though I am a manger, I am not afraid to get in the trenches and do the same job they are doing. When someone is having a rough day on the phones, I will take their headset and take phone calls for them, and let them listen to me. Typically, within a half hour, they are refreshed, empowered, and ready to turn the day around. They are the most important part of the business, and if we can't take care of them, how can we expect them to take care of our customers?
Bring competitiveness and fun to the job
On any given day you will find me running sales contests to keep my employees motivated and engaged. We play battleship (team against team), golf, blackjack, and many other games. Employees like immediate gratification and reward, so I have invested in a stash drawer and purchase $100 worth of items a month. I give these things away for many reasons like sales, up-selling, collecting a prepayment, and hearing a great call that deserves recognition.
On any given day you will find me running sales contests to keep my employees motivated and engaged. We play battleship (team against team), golf, blackjack, and many other games. Employees like immediate gratification and reward, so I have invested in a stash drawer and purchase $100 worth of items a month. I give these things away for many reasons like sales, up-selling, collecting a prepayment, and hearing a great call that deserves recognition.
Recognition
Once a month, I pull every employee off the phone in my department to show recognition for the prior months performance and improvements they have been made. I give out awards, based on our KPI's, for each team and the department overall. I also include fun awards like Least Likely to be Found, ADD award for most likely to be distracted, The Bermuda Triangle award for the most likely to loose objects on their messy desk, Little Miss Sunshine award for someone always smiling, and many more. My employees love this, and if I loose track, they will be sure to remind me. This really gives me an opportunity to bring all 70-80 employees together and recognize successes, laugh together, and it opens the door of communication so I can deliver a message if needed.
Once a month, I pull every employee off the phone in my department to show recognition for the prior months performance and improvements they have been made. I give out awards, based on our KPI's, for each team and the department overall. I also include fun awards like Least Likely to be Found, ADD award for most likely to be distracted, The Bermuda Triangle award for the most likely to loose objects on their messy desk, Little Miss Sunshine award for someone always smiling, and many more. My employees love this, and if I loose track, they will be sure to remind me. This really gives me an opportunity to bring all 70-80 employees together and recognize successes, laugh together, and it opens the door of communication so I can deliver a message if needed.
Ask for Feedback
The most important thing I do is engage my employees in the decisions I make for my department. Of course there are business decisions they cannot be involved in, but I try to ask them for solutions instead of just implementing something on my own. For example, this week we decided to do a snack day. Instead of me going out and buying what I thought was appropriate, I asked them what they would like to have. I purchased those items, and it was such a huge hit with my employees, they were happy , and more engaged. They felt that I cared. Another example is implementing mandatory overtime. When doing this, I give them options, and let them tell me what is best for them and their schedule.
The most important thing I do is engage my employees in the decisions I make for my department. Of course there are business decisions they cannot be involved in, but I try to ask them for solutions instead of just implementing something on my own. For example, this week we decided to do a snack day. Instead of me going out and buying what I thought was appropriate, I asked them what they would like to have. I purchased those items, and it was such a huge hit with my employees, they were happy , and more engaged. They felt that I cared. Another example is implementing mandatory overtime. When doing this, I give them options, and let them tell me what is best for them and their schedule.
Be Human
We all know how important it is to come to work and work your scheduled shift however. However, life situations happen. cars break down, kids get sick, we get sick, deaths in the family occur etc. I show them I care when something like this happens. I do my best to work with them and encourage them to maintain a line of communication with me.
We all know how important it is to come to work and work your scheduled shift however. However, life situations happen. cars break down, kids get sick, we get sick, deaths in the family occur etc. I show them I care when something like this happens. I do my best to work with them and encourage them to maintain a line of communication with me.
Career Development
It is my job as a leader to develop staff, and help them build the skills to reach their goals. When having a coaching sessions, or performing corrective actions, it is important to tie their goals into the conversation. This gains commitment, and not compliance for a brief moment. When someone gets promoted, it is not a just a win for the employee, but also for me. It is a great feeling to help someone progress in their career.
It is my job as a leader to develop staff, and help them build the skills to reach their goals. When having a coaching sessions, or performing corrective actions, it is important to tie their goals into the conversation. This gains commitment, and not compliance for a brief moment. When someone gets promoted, it is not a just a win for the employee, but also for me. It is a great feeling to help someone progress in their career.
While managing an outbound call center I pride myself in effectively managing 3 team leads and approximately 80 outbound representatives. I work to meet and maintain staffing needs, revenue goals, budget and program hours for the outbound department, with effective coaching, mentoring, leadership, and problem solving skills.
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