We hear about employee engagement all the time but do you know why it matters? Sometimes it can feel like actively engaging your team is a nice-to-do not a must-have. However, research shows employee engagement is a core driver of key business outcomes. Just take a look at some of the stats:

  • Gallup research found that companies with top quartile levels of employee engagement performed 21 percent better in terms of profitability compared to companies in the bottom quartile.
  • Organizations with engaged team members also had 17 percent higher productivity levels, 10 percent higher customer ratings and lower employee turnover rates than companies with low levels of employee engagement.
  • Another study, conducted by Aon Hewitt, found that only 63 percent of employees consider themselves highly or moderately engaged.

This has massively important implications for contact centers. When your employees aren’t engaged in their work, it directly affects your bottom line. So, how can managers ensure their agents are engaged with their work? Here are just a few places to start.

1. Talk to your team about engagement

If you’re going to invest in engagement, start by engaging your team in the process. Sit down and chat with them about what would actually engage them. What things are currently working? Which aren’t? Your agents are a key source of information here – they know better than anyone else what would engage their peers.

2. Show your team some recognition

The Aon Hewitt study found that rewards and recognition have the most potential to improve engagement. Take a close look at what systems or processes you have in place for recognising your team and think about how you could improve them.

When your employees aren’t engaged in their work, it directly affects your bottom line.

3. Develop them professionally

One study by PwC found that modern workers are more motivated by learning and development opportunities than financial rewards. Create pathways for your agents, as doing this will help them understand that you value you them as a team member and see a future for them in your organisation.

Interested in learning more?

Employee engagement is just one piece of the management puzzle. To effectively lead a contact center you need to ensure you’re aligning staff to core KPIs, providing actionable feedback, implementing effective recognition structures – the list goes on.

That’s why Call Design has created a one-day Manager Essentials course as a part of our Workforce Optimization Program. In this session, you’ll learn a variety of better leadership techniques, through a series of actionable training modules.

To learn more about the course and what you can learn, head over to our training courses page!