It Starts at the Top

There is a very common saying, ‘Attitude reflects leadership.’  A manager sets the tone for the whole staff.  If a manager shows the staff that having the appropriate information is important, it will be more likely to be utilized.  You can help your staff be the best contact center possible by creating an open culture, knowing the goals of the company, knowing your employees job duties, and being able to identify additional training opportunities. A manager has to have their eyes peeled at all times for new information needed, and new ways to deliver that information.

Create an Open Culture

When you are a manager, it is important that you create an open culture with your staff.  What is an open culture?  An open culture means that as a manager, you are creating an environment where employees feel free to share ideas and concerns. This type of environment helps employees feel empowered and important, which helps them want to come to work and do a great job.  When an employee starts to feel like they don’t matter to a company, it can bring down not only the whole department but the company itself.  Here are some ideas that will help you create an open culture in your company:

• Loose the door – taking out the door or leaving your door open tells your staff that you’re available for them.
• Don’t be secretive – you are not working for the Pentagon, tell the staff what’s up. When you as a manager keep secrets, it has a tendency to make the staff feel paranoid, and/or unimportant.
• Recognize that change is not always black and white – change can be hard on anyone. There will always be the good with the bad. Let your staff tell you their opinions on changes that were made.  Be open to their concerns and suggestions
• Have one on one training sessions with your staff members- this helps the staff members get to know management on a more personal level, and makes them more likely to voice concerns or suggestions later on.

Understand Goals

The worst thing a manager can do is to not understand the goals of the company.  This entails looking at the company as a whole, in a large scope.  Try asking yourself, and your supervisor these questions:

• What is the company trying to achieve?
• What are the company’s long-term and short-term goals?
• What does the company need in order to accomplish these goals?
• How can my department help facilitate those goals?

Without knowing where the company itself is wanting to go, you won’t know how to get there.   Talk to your own supervisors to understand the goals of the company.  Once you understand what the company wants to accomplish, you can set goals for your staff.  When setting the goals for your staff, make sure to be very clear about the goal that you want to accomplish, and the steps it will take to accomplish it.  Make sure that the goals you set are realistic.

Understand Agents’ Responsibilities

There is nothing worse, from an employee standpoint, than a manager that doesn’t understand the job duties and processes of an employee. If the manager doesn’t understand responsibilities of a contact center employee, how is the employee supposed to understand them?  Take the time to talk to your supervisors so that you know what is expected of your employees.  If you are a new manager, asked to be trained as if you were one of your employees.  This way you can see the processes, and learn how to improve them for your employees and customers.  Knowing their processes and what their job responsibilities are also helps you train future employees.

Identify Education Opportunities

There is never a point when an employee has learned too much.  Employees who learn are more engaged in their jobs.  As a manager it’s your job to make sure that your employees remain engaged, and are effective in their positions.  You can see what training or education would be beneficial to the company and employee.  Having educational opportunities helps maintain employee engagement, thus retaining more employees.  Engaging employees helps them feel important and part of the company, instead of just another lackey.  Education opportunities can come in many shapes and sizes.

Here are just a few different educational opportunities your company could provide for your employees:

• College tuition reimbursement
• Cross Training
• One-on-one training
• Seminars & workshops

Having these education opportunities helps the employees feel like the company cares about their personal growth.  Happy employees create happy customers.

For more on our Contact Center Training workshop, please visit our website at: https://corporatetrainingmaterials.com/course/Contact_Center_Training