6 Remote Work Rules to Keep Your Agents Engaged and Productive

The sudden outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic got companies in every other day industry to join the remote work trend and call center services were no exception.

The new normal of WFH is here to stay even for call center agents. According to a Gallup study, 61 percent of remote workers anticipate working in a hybrid capacity for the foreseeable future, whereas 27 percent hope they would work from home entirely.

This shift wasn’t easy for call centers because call centers witnessed a 300 percent increase in calls during the early onset of the pandemic. Secondly, agents had to adjust to the new WFH environment and face several technical challenges.

Ways to Keep Your Call Center Agents Engaged and Productive 

Teleworking has its perks but it’s certainly not easy to integrate remote work in contact centers and ensure consistency in agent performance.

Since agents have to interact with customers on a daily basis, it’s imperative to create a strategy to keep them engaged, productive, and motivated. These tips can help:

1: Reevaluate the Call Center Agent Job Description and Workload

Work from Home employees rarely have support from their managers on how to manage workload. So, it is imperative to prevent burnout and tackle the problem of low morale among the agents. To do so, start by setting clear expectations regarding the work they are expected to do, and if that includes reiterating their job description, don’t hesitate to do that. Remote work often requires quick decision-making for adjusting to a particular situation. If the remote agents delivering contact center service don’t know their KPIs and how they are expected to perform in this novel work environment, this can affect their deliverables.

Be empathetic towards your agents and lighten their workloads, if possible. Re-prioritize and set reasonable deadlines for the projects. While doing that, take into account the unusual circumstances that can affect agent performance.

2: Cultivate the Relationship

While technology has a big part to play in keeping remote workers motivated, relationship-building is a factor that cannot be ignored in call center agent jobs. If anything, human connection is even more vital when employing remote workers because it has to be stronger to withstand the distance.

Empathy can aid in bridging the psychological and physical divides when fostering genuine human connections with your remote agents. Managers will have to make a conscious effort to connect with their teams and celebrate their accomplishments.

3: Host Virtual Meetings

Human connection matters, of course, but in its absence, non-verbal communication is imperative to agent productivity and engagement. Voice calls do help set the tone of the message but nothing can beat the importance of a video chat. It allows you to see the body language of the recipient and hear their voice in real-time.

Pick a day in a week for virtual team huddles and another day for a one-on-one. Make room for virtual team-building activities too because everything doesn’t have to be business related. Your agents will benefit from getting to know one another personally. Friendships at work significantly increase employee engagement compared to those without.

4: Offer Regular Training to Improve Skill Set for Call Center Agents

Don’t overlook the importance of agent training and personal coaching when managing a remote outbound contact center.

For agents, keeping up with customer expectations is a grave challenge. Agents have to receive training on customer service week to meet changing customer needs, demonstrate empathy, answer questions, and offer exceptional customer service. Investing in a contact center learning and development program is imperative to agent performance since it can bring a 5.5 percent improvement in customer retention.

Agent training is the best way to ensure your call center agents deliver their best output. The key lies in creating tailor-made learning and development programs after identifying the areas of gaps within your team.

5: Make Your Agents Feel Valued and Heard

Even when the agents are delivering outsourcing solutions remotely, they deserve to feel valued. Since you aren’t onsite with them every day, look for ways to praise them for their hard work. Appreciation emails are an easy start.

When an agent goes above and beyond on a task, plan a call with the team to acknowledge their efforts. Find small ways to show your staff that you appreciate them. While doing that, make sure you are accessible to them. The last thing you want is for your agents to feel like they can’t communicate with their supervisors, ask questions, or voice concerns just because they are remote. Make it known that you are not only accessible but also open to one-on-one conversations. They must have this comfort that they can confide in you and will get the appropriate response.

6: Prioritize Agent Wellness

From the moment of onboarding call center agents to working as your permanent employees, prioritize their wellness. Instead of constantly flagging them for any performance lag, keep the spirits high by hopping on a quick call and conveying the message politely.

Remember, when agents are treated well, they perform well. They are more inclined to stick with the organization longer and put in more effort if they feel personally valued by it. This strengthens your relationship with your staff. And ultimately helps boost your bottom line.

 Here are some ways to support and motivate your agents in an IT support company or any other call center:

Summing Up 

Remember that keeping remote call center agents engaged is not a one-time exercise but rather an ongoing work. It’s not something that can be checked off the list. Therefore, find the right balance between monitoring and tracking your agents and understanding them as they adjust to this new work setting.