I recently caught up with Dianne who manages a very large outsourced call center.  It had been 6 months since I had worked with Dianne so I was very interested in how things were going. Dianne said she had been surprised that recently people did not seem as motivated by money as a reward. It confirmed her long held thoughts. My curiosity was piqued.  

Let me give some background to those unfamiliar with call centers.   In this inbound call center, (customers ring in for help), you can have up to 40 operators sitting on the phones.  Their call rate and performance is monitored constantly to maintain standards of service to the customers.  A good operator might answer about 100 calls in a shift.  A lot of the calls may be similar and the operator is expected to treat the first caller of the day and the last caller of the day with the same attitude and professionalism.   Not an easy task.   Like a lot of roles in the workplace the repetitive nature of the work can cause boredom and lower motivation.   

Back to Dianne's story

Recently, after the call center had been operating for one year with spectacular success, (Dianne's center had been nominated for the best performing call center in Australia), Dianne offered a pay rise to all of the staff. All 115 staff were sent an email informing them of the pay rise.  Dianne did not receive one email, positive or negative, commenting on the pay rise.  Not long after the 'pay rise email', Dianne sent out another email about changes happening in the coming months that would lead to opportunities for staff members to be more involved in the business.  Suddenly, Dianne was inundated with interest from operators who wanted to be involved. The zest and energy in the call center was reinvigorated - something the pay rise had not achieved.

Top 10 ways to engage and motivate

Dianne and her team have clearly done a great job to be nominated for call center of the year. I assure you Dianne and her team have spent a lot of time to find ways to energise and motivate their people apart from salary.  However, it is paying dividends -they are profitable and highly rated as a call center. I have listed their top ten ways (not in any order):

1.    Involving team members in business improvement projects.

2.    Forming teams that provide support for one another. 

3.    Recognition. Recognition. And more recognition.  It could be a movie ticket, certificate, spending vouchers or public email.

4.    Reviewing performance one-on-one at least once every six weeks.  Expectations are reviewed and reset. 

5.    Having some fun initiatives such as fund raising to pay for nights out.

6.    Creating 'Red Letter' days that become regular events and are part of the culture. 

7.    Celebrating birthdays and milestones.

8.    Keeping teams informed of developments in the organization with regular team meetings, emails and intranet updates.

9.    Looking for opportunities to mentor future leaders. (They prefer to 'home grow' their future leaders to preserve their strong, positive culture)

10. Providing training and facilities that allow people to do their work with minimal frustration. 

Many managers simply don't realize that their team members may be "tethered" to their work, looking for opportunities to be more involved and break the repetitiveness of their tasks.   One of my clients recently took umbrage when I suggested that some of his team did not feel they mattered.  He barked at me, "I have given them a coffee machine, taken them out to lunch, treated them to a workshop at a prestigious hotel and made sure they had time off when they need it." 

Let me be clear that what my client is doing is good.  These things certainly make his staff comfortable, however they do not necessarily make them stay or feel energised and motivated.  As one of his staff members said, "I want to feel like I count...I want to be involved."   In most cases this is not child-like whinging.  It's a legitimate request to be more involved. People want to be given the opportunity to contribute - it makes people feel that they are important to the business and have a stake in what happens. They will be more interested and energised.

One client I am working with told me he was able to retain a key staff member by offering her involvement in two important projects over her normal work.  She is now much more motivated and has done a terrific job with each of the projects.

Many of you reading this are probably thinking that you've heard this all before.  Or, 'I don't run a call center so it d"s not apply to me.' Today, the single most valuable competitive advantage is to have an energised and motivated team behind you no matter what business you are in.   So if you, the manager, can find new ways to achieve this, you will reap financial and personal rewards beyond your belief. 

I know good people leave organizations for personal reasons, however, a lot leave, as they don't feel like they matter.  Money and creature comforts seem to have a limited shelf life.  One way to get started is to set aside some "think time" each morning to ask yourself, "What can I do or say my team members today that will make them achieve more today and into the future?"

·     Most people do not rank monetary rewards as their prime motivator.

·     Look for opportunities to involve and develop your staff.

·     Financial rewards and creature comforts will not ensure your staff stays.

·     Today the single most valuable competitive advantage is to have an energized and motivated team.  

·     Spend some think time to uncover different ways to motivate, inspire and involve your people.