Every call center has a large volume of performance management information produced from all the systems that they use. But call center performance management is, by no means, an easy job. The elements of a good performance-management system are simple, but integrating them into a business’s fundamental operating system is more difficult than it seems. It requires strategic vision, hard work, difficult decisions, the ability to motivate people to hit tough targets, and much more.
Yet improving call center performance management is essential to organizations. It helps them align their employees, resources, and systems to meet their strategic objectives by utilizing both formal and informal processes. It also works as a dashboard, providing an early warning of potential problems and allowing managers to know when they must make adjustments to keep an organization on track.
And since contact centers are metrics-driven organizations, management teams focus on customer journey analysis, customer retention rates, average handle time, and a myriad other metrics, because contact centers are often viewed as cost centers. Company leaders focus on delivering service in the most efficient and cost-effective way, while demanding continuously improving customer experience. The key to success is getting the most “bang for your buck” by optimizing and improving call center performance.
But before we delve into how to improve performance, let’s first examine what call center performance management actually is.
What is Call Center Performance Management?
In essence, it is the ongoing process of communication between a supervisor and an employee that occurs throughout the year, in support of accomplishing the strategic objectives of the organization. Naturally, while that definition sums up the spirit of performance management, there are a lot of moving parts involved, and a more detailed breakdown of the elements to maintaining a steady workforce and contact center management software would include:
- Planning work and setting expectations
- Continually monitoring performance
- Developing the capacity to perform
- Periodically rating performance in a summary fashion
- Rewarding good performance
- Correcting poor performance
The concept of performance management rests on the simple principle that “what gets measured gets done.” In an ideal system, a business creates a cascade of metrics and targets, from its top-level strategic objectives down to the daily activities of its frontline employees. Managers continually monitor those metrics and regularly engage with their teams to discuss progress in meeting the targets. Good performance is rewarded; underperformance triggers action to address the problem.
To understand how to apply that principle, here are 5 easy steps to improve call center performance management:
1 – Set Clear and Defined KPIs
Setting your Key Performance Indicators (KPI) should be a priority in the process. You can start by understanding what the overall goals of your organization are. From there, you can start setting indicators such as first call resolution rate, call deflection, adherence, average conversation times, etc.
If you haven’t set KPI targets before and you don’t know what to track, you can start by tracking your KPIs for a quarter and using your results as your first benchmark to reach or surpass. Eventually, you will be optimizing even more and setting the bar higher.
2 – Give Employees Targeted Feedback
Regular quality-of-service assessment is vital for the successful operation of any call center. Take the time to listen to your employees’ performance and then be ready to offer targeted feedback so they can improve, but make sure all feedback given is clear and actionable.
Do this evaluation systematically so that you can gauge the abilities of each and every employee. And while targeted feedback can lead to profound change, sometimes it may not be enough. Consistency is key, and it’s important to establish an ongoing training program to reinforce the standards you’ve set for your quality of service.
3 – Empower Your Agents
An agent that is provided with the appropriate tools to empower them to make decisions on behalf of the company is crucial. A highly-trained agent with the power of decision will not only ensure higher customer satisfaction, but will also enable single call resolution and thus result in a more positive customer experience.
It’s all about encouraging agent buy-in, not only into the value-driven service their organization is providing, but also buy-in to the brand that they are representing.
4 – Use Speech Analytics to Identify Agent Training Opportunities
Being able to analyze large volumes of agent/customer interactions releases information on specific calls with issues, and trends across the whole agent population, creating the opportunity to coach staff using identified good examples to improve standards across the contact center. The resulting information not only creates training opportunities but also enables refinement of scripts, improving the overall performance of the contact center.
5 – Establish Positive Incentives for Good Work
You want to encourage your employees to do their best work, all the time. One of the best ways to do this is through positive incentives. Quotas, contests, and rewards can provide positive incentives in a number of different ways.
First, they can keep employees motivated when the calls get difficult. Second, they can help maintain a higher level of morale throughout your entire team. And third, they can make employees feel appreciated.
When your employees feel appreciated, they’re more than likely to go the extra mile to provide high-quality customer service when the need arises. That benefits them, you, and the entire organization.
Using NICE Performance Management to Improve and Engage Your Employees
Help foster a performance-driven culture through engagement and insight with NICE Performance Management (NPM). NPM propels the long-term success of your organization by comprehensively improving workforce optimization and customer satisfaction. Highly personalized tools empower frontline agents, back-office staff, supervisors, and managers to efficiently meet performance goals. The result? NPM ensures that your organization consistently achieves better staff performance, higher CSAT scores, and greater employee retention.
NPM can transform performance by:
- Providing accessible and easy-to-use metrics and analytics
- Closing performance gaps with personalized coaching and actionable goals
- Ensuring accuracy and increasing visibility through out-of-the-box WFO integration
- Enabling behavioral change with robust, adaptive insights and actions
And the results are self-evident: NICE clients using NPM report a 50 percent increase in employee engagement and satisfaction.
