Ask the Expert
1 Jan, 2002
By: Brad ClevelandQ. How do I motivate my staff—with no extra budget?
A. I am dedicating the entire column this month to this question. It''s one we get often. Interestingly, thousands of successful leaders - across dozens of centuries and from virtually every known civilization - have recorded their theories on motivation. There are countless books, articles and seminars on the subject. And yet, motivation is a topic that continues to resonate with managers and leaders. I suppose we can never quite know enough about this topic.
Much has been written on the topic of incentives in recent years. And I''ve seen many types of incentives in use in call centers, ranging from merit pay and bonuses, to gifts (theater tickets, dinner coupons, etc.) to a wide range of awards (e.g., employee of the month, parking privileges, newsletter write-ups) and various contests.
In the right context, incentives can be fun, motivating and useful for emphasizing important performance objectives. But I am convinced there is a deeper set of principles at work. I believe agents are much more capable than some managers (judging by their actions) believe they are - and that they will see through anything that smacks of a gimmick to entice certain behaviors.
I am not suggesting that all incentives are gimmicks, rather that there are principles at work that have far more sustainable impact on culture and motivation than most types of incentives. Organizations that maintain the highest levels of motivation and performance take them very seriously. Some of the most important of these principles include:
Most people have yet-to-be-discovered talents. Writer Elbert Hubbard once said, "There is something that is much more scarce, something finer far, something rarer than ability. It is the ability to recognize ability." Call centers require more diverse skills than perhaps any other part of the organization. Customer behavior, information systems technologies, queuing theory, forecasting, statistics, human resources management, training, written and verbal communication skills, reporting, real-time management, and strategy are all inherent parts of the environment. Developing attractive career and skill paths remains a significant opportunity for many call centers.
People tend to live up to expectations. It has been proven time and again that people tend to live up to the expectations others have of them. Expect the best, and you''ll likely get the best. Expect disappointing performance, and that''s what will likely happen. Think of the people who have had the most positive influence on your life, and chances are they expected a lot. Those coaches or teachers who believed in us weren''t the easiest on us. And they often weren''t the kind to win popularity contests. But they believed we could do it. And we reached a little deeper to live up to those expectations.
Effective communication is essential to trust - and to motivation. Communication creates meaning and direction for people. Organizations depend on what Warren Bennis calls ''shared meanings and interpretations of reality,'' which facilitate coordinated action. When good communication is lacking, the symptoms are predictable: conflicting objectives, unclear values, misunderstandings, lack of coordination, confusion, low morale and people doing the bare minimum required. Effective leaders are predisposed to keeping their people in the know. They actively share both good news and bad.
Accurate resource planning is essential. What does accurate resource planning have to do with motivation? In call centers - a lot! While everyone in the organization may be genuinely "busy," those of us in the call center can''t come in early to get a head start on the day''s work - nor stay late to handle calls that stacked up in the afternoon. We''ve got to be there when the work arrives. If we''re not, bad things happen: queues build, callers get unhappy, and occupancy goes through the roof. It''s stressful. And, if chronic, it zaps motivation and encourages people to reconsider what they are doing for a living.
Sincere recognition goes a long way. In a study by Dr. Gerald H. Graham of Wichita State University, participants said that the most powerful motivator was personalized, instant recognition from their managers. In other words, being recognized for a job well done. (Other top motivators in the study include managers writing personal notes, organizations using performance as the basis for promotion, and managers publicly recognizing employees.)
For better or worse, culture is always at work. Culture - the inveterate principles or values of the organization - guides behavior and can either support and further, or hamper a motivating environment. Peter Drucker once said, "So much of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to work." Creating a motivating environment is often more a matter of what you eliminate than what you put in place. For example, look for ways to scrap unnecessary hierarchies, cumbersome bureaucracies, and "stupid rules." Create a culture that supports and rewards action.
"Fear" inhibits action and hampers motivation. Creating a high-performance culture in which effective communication thrives means driving out fear. This was a theme the late W. Edward Deming spoke of passionately, especially in his later years, and is the subject of one of his famous "Fourteen Points." Sometimes, however, fear goes unrecognized by managers. For example, agents may be manipulating their statistics and "cheating the system." Essentially, they may be more afraid of reporting accurate statistics than of "fudging the numbers." That is a symptom of what Deming would have called fear. Of course, there are those things that we should be fearful of, such as the consequences of being dishonest, or grossly irresponsible. But it''s the wrong kind of fear - e.g., the fear of taking reasonable risks or the fear of constructive dissent - which we must work to eliminate.
Listening encourages buy-in and support. There is a common myth that great leaders create compelling visions from gifted perspectives or inner creativity that others don''t posses. But those who have studied leadership point out that, in fact, the visions of some of history''s greatest leaders often came from others. Further, when people have a stake in an idea, they tend to work much harder to bring about its success. Be a superb listener. In big and small ways, it pays.
Conflict will happen; how it is channeled and addressed makes the difference. In any organization, conflict is inevitable. People need to feel free to express themselves, to vent, to "air things out." Teaching basic conflict management principles can go a long way toward keeping things on track and building a motivating environment.
Actions speak louder than words. There are countless organizations that post their values, but then encourage an entirely different set of behaviors by their policies and actions. For example, building customer relationships may be the stated objective, but lack of staffing resources or standards that stress volume-oriented production may represent perceived - or very real - conflict in the messages being sent. When it comes to influence, actions always win out over words.
Involvement in decisions is essential. A major precept of modern management is that those closest to the work tend to know and understand it best. Agents are in an ideal position to help define what constitutes a quality contact, and how processes, training and systems can be improved. In addition, agent involvement promotes ownership and empowerment, both key components in quality improvement and job satisfaction. I am familiar with an insurance company that redesigned their screen layout based on the ideas of one of their newest agents; the improvements, which no one else thought of (or at least no one else acted on), have boosted productivity throughout the center. There are few things as motivating for people as seeing their ideas make a positive difference in an organization.
People respond to a clear, compelling mission. A prerequisite to creating a motivating environment is to address the whys: Why does the group, team, call center, and organization exist? What is it trying to achieve? What''s in it for customers? For employees? Quite a few people have been through the process of creating "vision statements" that, for one reason or another, have had little impact. Nonetheless, a clear focus that is championed by the leader is key to pulling people in, aligning objectives and motivating action.
As a leader, who you are as a person is more important than the techniques you use. Many programs in management training offer techniques for motivating people - e.g., provide positive reinforcement, celebrate success, create a "fun" environment, etc. There''s nothing inherently wrong with the techniques, unless they become manipulative - that is, used solely for the purpose of getting something from someone else. But in a leadership position, who you are as a person matters much more than the techniques you use. The reality is, we trust and perform for leaders who are predictable on matters of principle, and who make their positions known. Convictions, sense of fairness, consistency of behavior and stated values, belief in the capabilities of people - these things have much more impact than any motivational approach ever could.
Call centers are made up of a myriad of personalities, goals, skills, needs, etc., which is why off-the-shelf motivational prescriptions or formulas often eventually fail. I believe that motivation is less a matter of "motivating people" and more one of creating an environment in which the motivation already resident in each person can flourish. In short, be yourself. Be consistent and focused on the call center''s mission. Encourage involvement and work hard to establish good channels of communication. And expect and demand the best from people. Good things will follow.
