Work motivation is a set of psychological forces that influence the behavior of employees.
These forces guide workgroups in the achievement of corporate goals.
Human resources are the backbone of any company and any call center.
The importance of call center representatives lies in the fact that they’re responsible for obtaining positive results.
That’s why they must be highly motivated to succeed.
Without motivation, call centers compromise three main factors:
- Agent performance
- Productivity
- Employee morale
Motivating workforces is complicated because each employee is unique and, therefore, different incentives are required.
Leaders play a major role in such task. They need to use their expertise to:
- Engage employees
- Avoid staff turnover
If you want to learn how to prevent agent turnover in your call center, click here.
There are multiple work motivation theories. This article discusses those that are applicable to call centers.
Equity Theory:
Employees must consider that what they give to an organization (inputs) matches the outcomes (rewards) they get.
Expectancy Theory:
Employees know what their targets are, and that it is up to them to reach them.
They choose to invest effort in given courses of action based on their probability of achieving the desired outcome.
Effort Theory (based on three variables):
1. Incentive. It’s the purpose that leads to performance.
2. Instrumentality. It’s the series of steps to be completed in a task.
3. Reward. It’s the “prize” employees get upon accomplishing an objective.
Goal-setting Theory
Employees must know what needs to be done and be committed to targets.
Building a good relationship with agents and learning about the things that keep them motivated takes time and effort.
Motivated employees consider that their job helps them attain their goals.
It all depends on the perception of each individual and, more importantly, it is subject to their particular set of values and beliefs.
When it comes to leaders, they must take into account all the factors that drive work motivation.
Here are some of them.
Factors That Drive Work Motivation in Call Centers
- Job title or position
- Autonomy and collaboration
- Corporate culture
- Working conditions
The consequences arising from not motivating agents are many.
For instance, call centers can suffer a drop in productivity and workforces can become apathetic and neglect their duties.
Therefore, it is imperative to give employees a purpose.
Tips for Increasing Work Motivation
- Share the vision and objectives of your company:
Your talent network must understand these two principles to create a sense of collectiveness and belonging.
- Improve working conditions:
It is necessary for agents to use the best resources available so as to excel at their tasks.
- Encourage collaboration:
It is advisable not to limit employees’ participation. Allow them to contribute ideas for improving results.
- Align employees with positions:
Before filling a position, make sure that candidates have the knowledge and skills required to do the job.
- Recognize hard work:
Let agents know when they do a great job. Celebrate their accomplishments.
- Assess performance:
It proves useful to assess performance on a constant basis to identify the strengths and rooms for improvement of your workforce.
These are just some of the tips that can help you improve human performance and motivation in your call center.
Agent motivation can also be strengthened with the aid of technological resources.
Nuxiba developed CenterWare.
Its advanced features not only streamline agent tasks but also allow you to monitor operation in real-time.
Request a demo and learn more about this platform!
