One of the most frustrating factors in a contact center environment is keeping CSRs motivated and passionate about what they do. There are two kinds of CSRs: those who love what they do almost as a "calling" and those who stay because, well, what else would they do? A favorite saying of mine, "You can stay or you can leave, but you can't stay AND leave," really says it all, doesn't it? I'm talking about those people at work that you wish would leave, because they are no longer interested or engaged in the department's mission.
- Disengaged employees cost US Business between 270 billion and 343 billion dollars a year
- Disengaged workers are 10 times more likely (48%) to say they will leave the company within a year than engaged employees (4%)
- Companies that had a lower percentage of disengaged workers outperformed the S & P by 24% over a 3-year span
- Only 4% of disengaged employees will advocate the company to others compared to engaged employees (75%)
- Only 10% of disengaged employees compared to nearly 80% of engaged employees will recommend the company's products and services to others
How do you know if an employee is disengaged? Here are some tell tale signs:
- Does not refer friends to work at the company
- Does not offer suggestions or solutions
- Demonstrates apathy
- Acts disengaged during meetings and other activities
- Does not volunteer for any projects or to help implement new initiatives
- Doesn't participate in surveys
In my experience, the only way to keep employees motivated is by creating a continuous learning environment, one in which people are held accountable for improving existing skills and mastering new ones. Designing and implementing a structure or some type of construct to ensure that employees are very clear about what is "meets" and what is "exceeds" is the only way to improve performance.
Well said.
Posted by: Lilli | Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 09:15 PM