Ten Top Ways for Managers to Motivate Their People
May 6, 2008
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Martin Haworth
Motivating people is a sure way to get the best from them - yet it is not something for a to-do list. Motivation comes from consistent cultural shifts from within.
Managers are the ones who can show behaviors which will make the difference and lead to a team of highly motivated individuals developing your business forward.
So to help start the ball rolling, here are ten top ways to get your people motivated. Ten small steps for you to start with.
- Recognize them
Recognize your people as people, by saying 'Good Morning', checking that they're OK and taking a little time with them. - Challenge them
People need stimulation at work, so to encourage growth, build on their achievement of one skill, with the introduction of another. Instruct, coach and then delegate the new task. - Encourage fun
whilst it is a fine line between having fun and anarchy, it is worthwhile spending the time to understand, define and explore that boundary. Having fun is a great way to build team spirit. Checkout where everyone's 'fun' threshold is, respect it and then have a lot of laughs. - Listen - a LOT!
Listening to your people builds rapport and a bond which in itself is powerfully motivational. - Encourage mistakes
By stretching themselves, people sometimes get it wrong - and sometimes make gloriously powerful 'inventions' to move your business forward. By creating an environment where mistakes are not wrong but encouraged, you will find creativity soars. Even mistakes where things go wrong and cost money should not be wasted. Create value from these by really learning for the future…as Henry Ford once said "Bring me people who make mistakes" Make it a safe place! - Say Thank You
It is surprising how much reward we all get from being recognized. The humble (if rare in some organizations), "Thank You" is a simple, yet very powerful way to recognize the efforts every one of your team puts in every day. Think of the last time someone said thank you to you and how great that made you feel. - Be Understanding
This tip needs careful and skilful management and great managers can do it. Understand that your people are real people with emotions and experiences which impact on them. Being sympathetic to their needs, occasionally and not so often that it impacts your business, will bring great rewards and commitment. Do set ground rules for yourself which allow 'understanding', yet enable you to draw the line clearly and firmly when you need to. Be consistent and fair. - Get Out of Their Way
By allowing your people to carry out 'the boss's work', you strongly build self-belief in your people. Be fair and don't just delegate the 'rubbish' jobs, but some of your fun jobs as well (and remember to choose individuals whose strengths match the task). - Share How You are Feeling
By being a partner with your people and showing that you are a real person too, you will encourage others to take big steps with you. This works because understanding that you share hopes, fears and challenges in common with your people makes them feel a committed part of you, as well as your business - this is a powerful message which they share. - Reward
Last but not least, pay appropriately. Whilst if you pay brilliantly, yet miss out 1-9 you may get short-term gain, it is unlikely to maintain motivation for more than a while. Conversely, if you pay badly, you may lose people because they simply can't afford to stay with you, however great it is. Striking a balance is the ideal. Don't forget to recognize with some fun rewards and as in No. 6, say thank you a lot. It will pay dividends and is free!
Copyright 2006 Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, mainly by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com.…helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow…
"Used by permission of www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com"
Fed Up? Lighten Up!
May 3, 2008
Enjoy this Play on Words from Jody Urquhart
Having fun increases energy and enthusiasm for your job
Don’t be grumpy and stressed out or you’ll be the office knob
Roger Von Oech, author of “A Whack On The Side Of the Head”
Presents “being too serious is harmful”, so lighten up instead
It’s easy to get along when people have a good sense of humor
Poke fun at stressful situations, not at people and workplace rumors
Humor builds self confidence; it’s good to laugh at yourself
Take responsibility for your mistakes, not blame somebody else
Don’t be a troublemaker, or a let-down filled with cynicism
As laughter defuses tension, well placed humor softens criticism
You’ll be creative and productive as it ignites whole brain thinking
So tell a joke, do something silly and not just because you’ve been drinking
The average person spends eight hours at the place of their employ
If you are working with difficult people it’s not something to enjoy
Today there’s so much grumbling, that we are doing more with less
It‘s with a negative response that people deal with the stress
Some say “leave me alone, I’m busy”, or “I’ve got too much to do”
It’s that they’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s not to do with you
Everyone finds at least part of their job to be quite irritating
Files, forms and paperwork plus all the government’s dictating
People have different work principles; we can’t all do things the same way
It’s alright if just once in a while, you let your opinion sway
Everyone wants to feel important, significant and unique
Compliment them for a job well done, don’t always be a critique
This might not work for everyone, it’s only a proposal
You can come up with other ideas to use at your disposal
Just don’t wait for service milestones to show appreciation
Do something different each chance you get, be an inspiration
Jody Urquhart helps professionals create meaningful and fun work environments.
For more information call us at (877) 750-1900 or see our website at www.idoinspire.com
Resumes and First Impressions
April 30, 2008
By Carole Sue Jones
Hunting for a position in a new career field? Trying to take your new education or skills and transform them into a job with a future?
I’ve spent the last few weeks working in a placement service trying to help people find that first “career” job; trying to help them make the transition from student to employee. I see the same mistakes over and over again. Here are a couple of things to be aware of as you search for that fresh start.
1. The Skim Rule - Understand that most recruiters will only take less than 30 seconds to skim a resume for further review. Are your skills and abilities described in such a way that they leap off the page. Large companies now use recruiting software to determine which resumes will be processed for further review. If your resume is inconsistent, uses incorrect terminology for the position you're applying for, or is cluttered you might not make the cut.
2. Spell check, spell check, spell check- Then review for proper grammar and usage. I can’t tell you how many resumes are ignored each day because the grammar, spelling or word usage is improper. If you don’t take the time to verify that the resume you’re sending is correct, how careful will you be with your potential employer’s information?
3. Acronyms and Jargon- Unless the jargon or acronym is standard in the industry try to avoid it. If the recruiter does not understand what you are referring too, then they are unlikely to continue reviewing the resume. Take the time to define and describe your acronyms, jargon or software functions.
4. Contact Phone Number – You’ve put your contact phone number on your resume. Is it actually a number you can be reached at? If you are using your cell phone will you be able to keep the service current and turned on? Will other people be answering the phone? Will they know how to take a message?
5. Voice Mail – Your cell phone and answering machine messages provide the ability to include music, speech clips and even real audio in your greeting. I know the temptation to play your favorite song or audio clip for you callers is great; however I suggest you resist. You want to give a potential employer a good first impression when they attempt to reach you to set up the initial interview. Your voice mail message should include your name, a brief message requesting information and an assurance that you will return the call. For example: “You have reached Carole Jones, I’m unable to answer the phone at this time, but if you will leave your name and number I will return your call as soon as possible. Thank you.”
6. The Application - Your resume can say anything you want to about yourself. A Resume is merely an ad to sell you to a potential employer. When you are asked to fill out an application you are creating a legal document. The application needs to be complete and honest. If the company uses any type of background check you can be disqualified from consideration because of inaccuracies on the application. It is never appropriate to refer to your resume on an application (i.e. SEE RESUME). Take the time to provide complete and accurate information.
7. References - Do the people you have listed for your reference know they are being used as a reference? Have you requested permission to use them as references in the past? Do you keep in touch with you references? Nothing leaves a bad impression like the potential employer trying to check references only to have the contact person confused or worse yet, unprepared to speak on your behalf. Always let your reference know if you have had a great interview and you think the potential employer will be checking references. While you’re at it, make sure that the contact information you are providing is accurate and current. Nothing will disqualify you faster than the future employer’s inability to verify your references or work history.
Carole Sue Jones is a Trainer and Instructional Designer with 10 years of experience in Call Center Management and Training.
Call Center Morale Boosting Strategies
April 29, 2008
Morale is deceptively important in the running of an efficient call center. The reason it is deceptive is because while most bosses acknowledge the relationship between morale and productivity, few call center bosses are able to accurately pin down a decrease in productivity as being directly related to a lowered morale. The reason it is important is the same; namely that a higher morale means happier workers, which in turn leads to an overall increase in call center productivity.
What does it mean to have high productivity in a call center? Well for starters it means a higher level of customer focus, as call center agents with higher morale are going to sound more pleasant over the phone. It is human nature to unconsciously let feelings show through and in a job that involves a large amount of telephone conversation, it becomes easy to see how an unhappy worker can result in customer complaints and unnecessary headache further on down the road.
More than just customer focus, high morale in a specific worker can lead to that worker contributing to a more relaxed working environment, which in turn can have a positive morale effect on another worker. This worker then contributes to an even more relaxed working environment and so forth. Morale boosting can create a positive feedback cycle that benefits the whole staff of a call center, thereby making things easier for everyone involved.
So how can one increase the morale of their call center staff? The first step is in understanding what causes morale drops in the first place. Call center employment, as far as front line services go, is the ultimate emotional roller coaster ride. A worker can receive a compliment from one customer that makes them feel great and thirty seconds later be in tears from an angry client using harsh words against them. While it is impossible to avoid angry clients, attentive bosses can take steps that diminish the impact angry clients and other potential obstacles have on the morale of their staff.
The best morale boosters are ones that understand how humans work and think. Incentives are a good way to start; a bonus for achieving a milestone (such as working a certain number of hours without receiving a complaint) is something that will make a worker feel special, as well as let them know that their boss is looking after them directly.
Recognition is another important form of morale boosting that is frequently overlooked by call center administrators. Human nature is such that even a simple thank you can last a long time. Call center staff that have been working the phones a long time develop a confirmation bias that magnifies one type of call and diminishes another in their memory. If their bias is toward positive phone calls, then half the battle if done. If however it turns out to be toward negative phone calls, they will need help to keep their morale high.
And that is where recognition comes in. Finding a way to recognize workers on a regular basis for a job well done can really keep them in high spirits, allowing them to get through that next bad day with less effort than otherwise. Remember what I said above about the positive feedback high morale can generate? Recognition is a simple way to start that loop.
In conclusion, a good way to view call center morale is to think of it as a tool of the trade that is used to increase worker productivity. Call center administrators need to be savvy enough to realize the important relationship between worker morale and worker productivity. High morale is one of the most important aspects of a good call center and with it the sky is truly the limit to what workers can accomplish.
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Michael Russell Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Russell |
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Call Center Employees Need Motivation Too!
March 25, 2008
Anybody that has been in a call center for any length of time should agree that it is a tough job.
Call Center's in general are focused on efficiencies, metric achievements and revenue. As a result, expectations are high for call center agents. Often many of these agents are faced with burnout, boredom and frustration.
As a manager how do you counteract these issues?
As a front line leader, it's important to help these agents work through these issues. And I found a perfect tool to do this. It's called Call Center Games
Some will argue that it's not my responsibility to motivate this group and running games to help promote improved performance is just silly. But the truth is that there is no better way to get people fired up and motivated.
Why not run healthy competition among your teams?
It creates a healthy buzz, gets people excited and brings out the competitive nature of your employee. What's wrong with that?
As far as I'm concerned, if my supervisors use a tool like this to improve results then they deserve to be recognized for their initiative. Call Center Games gives you the opportunity to do this.
Good news. Get your hands on two free samples right now by heading on over to Call Center Games. You get to download two samples!
Enjoy!
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EMPLOYMENT. Midco Call Center is currently hiring for the following positions: Call Center Agent . We have completed hiring for our current Agent job openings.
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Selecting the Best Call Center Applicants
February 19, 2008
Drive performance witht he right tools. Performance management that works: Call Center Best Practices
Selecting the Best Call Center Applicants
By Roberto Bacasong
Choosing the best applicants to fit in your call center company will take certain considerations. The survival of your outsourcing company against strong competition in the market will depend on how competent your employees in catering to the concerns of your clients.
Selecting the potential applicants to be trained and employed should undergo strict process. If you want for the best then help yourself in hunting for persons who will qualify in handling your account. Human resource personnel are mostly in charge in interviewing the walk-in applicants who wish to get employed in your company. As the chief operating officer or simply hired as country manager of the company you work for proper documentation of the volume of applicants your office received should be recorded.
The fastest way to be employed easily is applying at any contact center industry. Every outsourcing company is accommodating applicants to fill in their vacant position. The applicants can browse jobs opening through online job companies offering services like this. A job advertised online is the convenient approach when applying for a job. Jobseekers can save time and money because companies are going to respond with their application within only few working days. Another way of searching job is viewing the listing under the classified ads of the national daily newspapers. Big contact center companies allocated budget in paying the commercial rates when posting for their jobs opening. Outsourcing companies spent huge amount of money in letting the public informed about available jobs.
When receiving volumes of bio data, resume, and curriculum vitae from the applicants, the personnel from the Human Resource Department will start selecting the potential jobseekers to schedule for interview. There'll be stages to be done to in hiring new employees.
As an interviewee, you need to pinpoint the strength and weaknesses of the applicants. If you have big companies catering inbound and outbound services, chat support, web content writing, and technical support, ask first the applicant what position he or she applying for. If from the beginning of the interview, if the applicants answer your questions directly and clearly then they might be eligible to proceed to the next level. The interviewee should watch out the grammar and sentence construction of a particular applicant. The accent is not much under priority because the applicants will learn it during training period.
The interviewee should also observe the behavior of the applicant. If you see undesirable attitude from the beginning then it's an indication not to precede the application to avoid problem in the near future. However, as an interviewee you need to say it in a nice way. The hardest part of being in-charge for the selection process is turning down the applicants. However, you should not be affected with this because you are just doing your job in maintaining the company's policy in choosing for the competent employees.
In call center companies, attrition rate is one of the most concerns because people come and go. If you want your center to achieve its goal, the skills, aptitude tests, and abilities of every people employed are very important. There are so many challenges in call center industry today. Maintaining people and choosing the right one are serious matter.
At the beginning of the interview, you may notice that most of the applicants are showing their interests such as politeness, enthusiastic, and very responsive to the questions. However, once get hired these people often found out slacking off the floor and showing undesirable traits. This is the reason why contact centers often give competitive tests to have more access to the applicant's performance. For instance, from 10 applicants usually one or two were able to make it because of the stringent selection process.
The best way to select potential jobseekers are forming strategies, which could be used in the hiring process. At the end of the day, your company have selected new batch of people to be scheduled for training and placed under probationary status.*
Roberto L. Bacasong, 27, works as company writer for Call Center Philippines Unique Interaction
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Roberto_Bacasong
http://EzineArticles.com/?Selecting-the-Best-Call-Center-Applicants&id=978677
