ICMI's Customer Management Insight - December 2007 - (Page 41) EXPERT’S ANGLE time investment. Make sure newhires have all the necessary tools to hit the ground running and succeed. Track the effectiveness of your initial training process and try to customize it as much as possible to each new-hire. www.icmi.com/ccko Fear of Retaliation following a Conflict with a Supervisor or Coworker Employees will only share information when they believe that they can tell their manager about workplace concerns without fear of retaliation. If a dispute with or complaint against a coworker or supervisor arises, in many cases, the employee will choose to leave rather than risk facing an uncomfortable situation at work. Open communication is the foundation of a positive workplace culture. Create an environment in which agents feel that they can speak their concerns directly with their manager without the fear of retaliation. Make sure that all of your supervisors have a clear understanding of the company’s policy on handling complaints and disputes, and that HR has a strong presence within the call center. Need knowledge now? Go to the best place on the Internet for fast help with your call center management needs. Learn how to implement call center management solutions that really work! tip M Ambiguous Job Performance Feedback Agents want to know how they’re doing and to be recognized for their contributions. Fuzzy feedback during performance evaluations contributes to low morale and poor performance. A classic example is the agent who hits and even exceeds all the performance measures, but isn’t promoted because he is just not “management material.” Give agents specific information that can be used constructively. Describe the behavior, not the personality or attitude, and give specific examples of what they can improve on. Address areas where improvement is needed, outline your expectations for improvement and how you intend to help the employee meet them. Being honest and direct adds value for the employee. Although it may be uncomfortable to have the conversation, as a manager you have nothing to gain and a lot to lose by not letting the agent know exactly why he keeps getting turned down for the next level. YOUR GOAL SHOULD BE A POSITIVE CULTURE employees leave, in today’s market, it’s imperative to hold on to your valued agents and continue to develop and motivate them. Focusing on opportunities to create an environment where our employees enjoy coming to work each day should not only be our goal, but our responsibility as employers. • tip The costs involved with continually replacing agents can cripple a call center. Although you can’t always control all of the reasons why JENNIFER LOVO recruits for a M Fortune 500 company that employs more than 500 representatives. | DECEMBER 2007 icmi’s insight www.icmi.com 41 http://www.icmi.com/ccko http://www.icmi.com
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