Original Publication: Customer Management Insight - June 2008
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Contact centers are fast-paced and challenging animals, and thus are no strangers to agent turnover, absenteeism and burnout. To help battle such managerial bugbears, most centers implement some form of incentive program. These programs are intended to reward and recognize staff for solid or exceptional performance, and, ultimately, inspire agents to continue performing at high levels.
The trouble is, many centers’ incentives are less than inventive — featuring lackluster rewards and failing to take into account not only what truly drives agents to deliver but also what drives centerwide success.
Naturally, there is no single incentive program that is ideal for all contact centers; however, we hope that highlighting some stellar initiatives from other contact centers will inspire you to come up with equally effective incentive schemes in your contact center. But should you find that one or more of the ones presented here are perfect for your center as is, go ahead and steal them — we won’t tell anybody.
Xerox Agents in a League of Their Own
While you aren’t likely to see any highlights from the XFL on ESPN, this unique football league is very much alive and kicking at Xerox’s contact center in Lewisville, Tex. The XFL — aka, Xerox Football League — is a powerful incentive program that has scored big points with just about every Xerox agent, not just the ones who are sports fans.
Agents needn’t know how to run, throw, block nor kick to have their team succeed in the XFL; instead, agents and their teams earn victories by excelling in more important activities like adhering to schedule, satisfying customers and utilizing effective sales tactics to generate revenue.
“We were looking for something new to use with our quarterly promotions that would be energetic and crossfunctional,” says Jessica Stephens, sales operations manager for Xerox. “We also wanted something to reinforce the team aspect and motivation. We specifically wanted to focus on the following: revenue, call targets, sign-on-time, morale and team-building.”
The entire league is virtual: Xerox uses an innovative Web-based incentive tool called F1rst League (www.f1rstleague.com ) that enables coaches to log in scores and track progress and participation. Any agent at any time can access league information, such as standings, statistics (e.g., top 10 performers), league news, etc.
The XFL debuted last summer with two different leagues — one for Xerox’s Inbound Organization and one for its Outbound Organization — with each league featuring two separate divisions: “American” and “National.” The Outbound league consisted of eight teams with about eight to 12 players (agents) each; the Inbound league had eight teams with about eight players each.
To decide which agents would “play” on which team, Xerox’s managers and supervisors — who served as the team coaches — looked at each agent’s performance and then tried to select an equal number of high-performers for each team to ensure leaguewide equity and fair competition.
Overseeing the entire XFL were four commissioners. Two of the commissioners were responsible
for calculating the weekly results, ensuring accuracy, and loading them into the F1rst League system. The other two commissioners were responsible for overall set up, ongoing publicity (e.g., pep rallies, flyers, communiqués) and support of the XFL league.
Teams competed against each other and earned points simply by doing the best that they could at their job in the contact center and focusing on the key metrics prescribed by management. Stephens acknowledges that calculating scores was a bit of a challenge, but adds that “once calculated, they were easy to input and track in the F1rst League system.”
While the friendly group competition and opportunities for bragging rights were enough to drive high performance, agents were further motivated by small cash prizes that they earned throughout the inaugural 12-week season when their team did well. But what really inspired staff to perform at their peak was the grand prize — tickets to a Dallas Cowboy’s football game.
“The winning team in each league was able to attend,” says Stephens. “We had two teams that remained undefeated until the end.”
Agents weren’t the only people with something to cheer about: Stephens and other members of contact center management were happy about the positive impact on revenue that resulted from the XFL competition, as well as with the improvement in several key performance metrics.
Another big benefit had less to do with money and metrics and more to do with morale, says Stephens.
“The XFL League generated friendly and healthy competition in our center. I also feel that it generated camaraderie within the teams, especially those that were made up of people who weren’t necessarily close.”
Xerox’s agents agree. “I like the way it united Inbound and gave us a common goal to strive for,” says Billy Brittain, an inbound agent in the center.
One of the only drawbacks — the noise level: “It was such a hoot watching team members who are normally a bit reserved get so enthusiastic with the team cheer,” recalls Ann Engle, trainer for Xerox. “They really got rowdy, loud and proud!”
Regence Gets Real Results with Real-Time Rewards
Xerox isn’t the only organization using online tactics to keep agents engaged, motivated and meeting performance goals. Portland-based insurance provider Regence Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Oregon implemented an automated, online employee rewards program at its contact centers in October 2006 and has since been reaping big benefits, including increases in agent retention and attendance, response rates to customer inquiries and agent accuracy.
“The Real-Time Rewards (RTR) program is an innovative approach to creating a workplace culture rich in employee appreciation and recognition,” says Ryan Kenney, HR director for Regence.
And he isn’t playing any games. But agents are. The RTR program leverages software from Snowfly Inc. (www.snowfly.com ), an HR consulting firm that develops customized game-based performance reward solutions for workplaces. Whenever agents achieve certain performance goals — all of which focus on improving the customer experience — they are immediately rewarded with eTokens that can be used to play quick online games, each of which yields a random number of points. These points, in turn, are instantly transferred to a Visa debit card for each agent, who then can redeem their points anywhere that accepts Visa.
The primary performance areas around which the RTR program is centered are agent attendance, schedule adherence and inquiry accuracy. The better an agent does with regard to the predetermined performance objectives in these areas, the more eTokens they receive, the more games they get to play and the more money they are able to earn. In addition to individual agent rewards, Regence also uses RTR to reward teams, subdivisions and divisions whenever they meet or exceed objectives — thus fostering a sense of teamwork and camaraderie in the contact center.
So, why a game-based incentive system? That decision was sort of a no-brainer, considering the demographics of Regence’s frontline reps, says Kenney. “We took a look at our workforce and realized that we are dealing with a gaming generation — those who like to play interactive games, be challenged, fooled and tricked.”
Regence offers agents a wide variety of online games, and rewards are randomized (the payout may be big or small) — an approach that Dan Medin, director of customer service, says helps to keep agents engaged and focused for longer periods.
The organization must be onto something: Statistical analysis of the RTR program conducted by Regence shows a direct link between participation in the program and employee retention as well as employee satisfaction.
Don’t take the study’s word for it; just ask some of Regence’s agents:
“I like the fact that I can be rewarded immediately for a job well done and earn points that turn into money,” says an agent at Regence’s contact center in Portland. “It’s something that is tangible and not just a piece of paper.”
An agent at the company’s Medford, Ore., center offers similar sentiments on the program. “I like that I get rewarded with more than just a pat on the back for meeting my goals. It really makes me want to keep trying harder.”
While the incentive program is a big hit with most, not all agents are into playing games. Recognizing this, Regence has incorporated plenty of non-game-based peer recognition (agents recognizing each other for a job well done) and supervisor recognition (supervisors recognizing their employees) via the use of online recognition certificates. “This recognition is centered around the observation of specific behaviors,” says Medin, “things like going the extra mile for a customer, assisting a teammate, or taking on extra accountabilities.”
Multifaceted Award Scheme a Big Motivator at The Contact Centre
The truth is, there is no single incentive program that stands out at The Contact Centre in Ajman, United Arab Emirates (UAE) — there are more than a half-dozen that do.
Several years ago, The Contact Centre — which handles customer contacts for Etisalat, the major telecommunications services provider in the UAE — launched a multifaceted motivation initiative that rewards and recognizes not only high-performing agents and teams, but stellar supervisors, as well.
It can be a challenge keeping track of all the formal awards and accolades that comprise the motivation program: CSR of the Month, CSR of the Year, Supervisor or the Quarter, Supervisor of the Year, Trainee of the Year, Section of the Year and Suggestion of the Year. (See sidebar below for more information on each award.)
Management implemented the program in hopes of enhancing employee satisfaction and retention and, specifically, fostering healthy competition among staff and empowering them to exhibit creativity and innovation.
Mission accomplished. Since the inception of the many-layered motivation initiative, agent and supervisor performance and confidence is up, and the old “revolving door” of the contact center has been deactivated: The voluntary agent turnover rate these days is consistently in the single-digits.
“The majority of staff are more loyal to their work,” says Qasim Burney, marketing specialist for The Contact Centre. He adds that agents now view the center less as a temporary stop-off point and more as a place to have a career.
Just as motivating as all the awards that agents and supervisors can vie for is the fact that agents themselves are actively involved in the maintenance and evolution of the program. The Contact Centre regularly seeks agent and supervisor feedback regarding the effectiveness of the overall initiative and of each of its components. In addition to providing input informally during meetings, agents complete the company’s formal Motivation Program Satisfaction Survey to help shed light on what’s working and what could be improved or added.
And, most importantly, The Contact Centre acts on the valuable feedback it receives from staff. A few of the agents’ survey suggestions that have been implemented in the contact center include:
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Allowing agents to view their collective performance evaluation results
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Specific ways to improve coaching and supervision activities
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Incorporating the motivation program, quality management program, and corporate policies into new-hire orientation.
Of course, not all agent suggestions can be implemented, but the fact that the contact center takes the time to continually solicit and seriously evaluate ideas from staff inspires and engages agents.
“We encourage them to ask for what they need,” says Burney. “While all their needs may not be met, they are certainly considered. This consideration itself is a great motivator."
The Contact Centre’s Awards at a Glance
The following is a summary of the primary awards that comprise The Contact Centre’s comprehensive motivation scheme:
CSR of the Month:
Each month, one agent from each of the call center’s sections is named CSR of the Month. The coveted award is based on the agent’s attitude, quality scores, job knowledge, productivity, attendance and punctuality.
Each CSR of the Month is publicly recognized via a public announcement within their work area, as well as on notice boards throughout the office and with a blurb in the company’s quarterly newsletter. Winning agents also receive a certificate of achievement and a gift voucher to a shopping mall/department store, as well as the right to choose one of three additional perks for the month: a covered parking space, select shift duty or select days off from work.
CSR of the Year:
One agent from each section is selected at the end of each year, based on his or her cumulative performance throughout the year in the areas previously defined in the CSR of the Month award.
In addition to receiving recognition via announcements, notice boards and newsletters, CSRs of the Year are formally recognized and rewarded with a certificate and a range of gifts at the company’s annual get-together.
Supervisor of the Quarter:
Every three months, one supervisor from each section receives this honorable distinction. Winners are determined based not only on job knowledge, service level achievements and attendance/punctuality, but also on feedback from agents in the call center. Thus, this award serves as a sort of double incentive — motivating supervisors to perform at peak levels, and empowering agents with an important voice in deciding who wins the award.
The Supervisor of the Quarter receives a certificate of achievement as well as recognition on notice boards and in the quarterly newsletter.
Supervisor of the Year:
Based on the yearly cumulative scores on the same criteria used to determine the winners of the Supervisor of the Quarter award, one supervisor is selected from each section in the call center and is recognized via notice boards and newsletters, as well as at the annual get-together. Among the rewards that winners receive are a certificate of achievement and various gift items.
Trainee of the Year:
Essentially a “Rookie of the Year” honor, this award is bestowed upon the best new agent in each section — and is based primarily on their quality scores, productivity and attendance/punctuality throughout their first year. (The very fact that this award even exists is a testament to The Contact Centre’s very low agent turnover rate.)
The Trainee of the Year receives recognition (and rewards) at the company’s end-of-the-year gala, as well as via notice boards and newsletters.
Section of the Year:
This award adds the important element of team recognition to The Contact Centre’s motivation program. It is given to the section that performs above all others in the following areas: volume of activity; effectiveness of activity; and cooperation, help and support of other sections within the call center.
The winning section receives a trophy and public recognition at the company’s annual party.
Suggestion of the Year:
A management committee evaluates all agents’ suggestions for improving service and the work environment. At the end of each year, the committee selects the best suggestion, and the employee who submitted it receives a certificate and ample public recognition, including a shining moment on center stage at the annual party.
