So far in 2010, I have had a lot of clients asking about how they can reward and recognize their call center employees. Most of these organizations already have employee recognition or incentive programs in place but need something different for the New Year to help boost employee engagement and motivation in the workplace. I have compiled a list of recommendations for recognition ideas that will do just that-increase engagement and loyalty among workers in call center environments.
Make a commitment to consistently recognize call center employees
Incentive Magazine Online had an article a couple weeks ago that advised managers to establish recognition reminders. The author suggests, “In a weakened economy, the demands of work are intense. Put a reminder in your Outlook or usual calendar to take time out every day, or on selected days, to give people recognition.” I would add that managers can easily schedule reoccurring dates in Outlook such as employee birthdays (unless an employee prefers not to celebrate birthdays) and anniversaries with the company so that recognition can be given on these days too.
Standardize the way anniversary milestones, employees of the month and outstanding performances are recognized
Employee recognition awards should be developed so that managers have a standard way in which certain events are formally recognized. For milestone anniversaries, which are usually considered every 5th year of employment accrued, recognition award packages are ideal. Employees of the month are often given public recognition either in the contact center or employees of the month can be featured on the call center intranet.
When a contact center employee goes above and beyond with a client or customer, their behavior can be positively reinforced with an on the spot recognition award. In these instances, a manager can have some award cards on hand that are preloaded to allow the employee to select a recognition award from a predetermined gift collection. These award cards are usually very colorful and are kept as a miniature trophy at the employee’s work station or in the person’s wallet.
Establish a peer to peer recognition component of the call center recognition program
Peer to peer recognition programs allow employees to nominate co-workers and extend the formal recognition process to all call center employees. For online recognition programs, it is very simple to program an automated peer recognition component into the existing website. These kinds of recognition programs are excellent for increasing employee engagement.
Create a hall of recognition
I touched on this best practice in last week’s post on how organizations can prepare for the Job Hop of 2010. Employee recognition comes full circle when managers create a wall or hall or even a virtual wall online to display the recognition that has been received over the course of the year. A hall of recognition is an excellent way to publicly recognize employees and positively reinforce desired behaviors.
I hope this list helps you to recognize your call center employees-please share your thoughts or best practices for recognizing contact center employees in the comment section below.
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