6 Steps to Building a Call Center Incentive Program

We all seek recognition for our hard work, but for call center agents, who often work in large teams, it’s hard to stand out and be recognized for their individual contributions. Instead, it is more common to be assessed based on the overall team performance, which isn’t always fair.

Whether you’re a business owner or a call center team leader, a simple but effective way to resolve this issue is through a call center agent recognition program. If you’d like to build one but don’t know where to start or how to reward your staff, this article is for you.

Call Center Burnout Compared to Other Industries’

Burnout is a problem in many fields, and one study found that 74% of people who work in call centers are at risk of it. This high rate of burnout, putting call center burnout in a similar range to burnout in healthcare, education, and retail sectors. That’s why finding new innovative ways to motivate employees is exceptionally important.

Difference between regular employee recognition program vs call center agent recognition program

While call center agent recognition programs have many of the same aspects and rewards as regular programs, there are some key differences to bear in mind:

• Call centers are often made up of a huge number of staff, often on different schedules, so relying on observing staff won’t be enough.
• To make sure everyone is recognized for their work, you will need to use team leaders and managers and think about running reward programs both within teams and across the whole call center.
• A call center incentive program might also make use of call center analytics to track employee performance and help automate the reward process.

6 Steps to Get Started

1. Identify what type of recognition program will be implemented

Public Recognition

By recognizing your best call center employees in front of their coworkers and customers, you can give them a sense of pride and belonging.

A typical example of public employee recognition in a call center might be a digital recognition wall, shoutouts in a weekly newsletter, or a post on social media featuring top staff.

Private Recognition

Private recognition can be more thoughtful and personal, and it reminds employees that their employers care about them as individuals.

Individual thank-you notes from senior staff, face-to-face recognition in weekly or monthly reviews, and rewards such as gift cards or vacation days can be a more special way to recognize your staff’s hard work.

Promotion

Adding promotions to your call center agent recognition program can be a great way to motivate employees to perform better and to climb up the ladder

You can use milestones and achievements to automatically promote top staff when new positions open up.

Monetary

A highly motivating and well-liked recognition reward is money. This can be a cash payment to the top employees, or it can take the form of gift cards, experience packages, an email finder tool subscription, or extra vacation days.

Some employers might even offer shares of the company or the chance to take part in a profit-sharing scheme for top employees, further motivating staff to work hard for the company and stay loyal.

2. Conduct a survey

The best way to figure out how to structure your recognition program is to get intel from your staff,  your team leaders and managers.

Your program will be more likely to work if you do a survey to find out what should be recognized and rewarded and what kinds of rewards would motivate your staff the most

It will also encourage your agents to be involved in the process, leading to a stronger sense of company culture.

3. Create a criteria

What actions, achievements, and qualities do you wish to reward in your call center? Whatever criteria you choose, they should be achievable and clearly trackable. In a call center, this might include a quick average handle time, high customer satisfaction scores, or team achievements.

Your recognition program should fit easily into the workflows that are already in place, or the workflows should be changed so that the two can work together.

4. Plan your reward

Now it’s time to plan the reward and build an employee reward program. Your rewards should be clear right away, and you’ll need to incorporate them into your budget and plans. The last thing you want is to backtrack on promised rewards.

5. Let your employees know about the program

Make sure your employees understand the criteria and rewards of your recognition program. This way, they will know exactly what they need to do and why, and your award program will be completely open and honest.

Add the program to your call center agent handbook so employees can check it out and get team leaders to explain the program to their teams.

6. Evaluate for improvement

You should track your recognition program against overall employee productivity and make use of employee satisfaction surveys to see if the program is working or if there is room for improvement.

More Ideas for a Call Center Agent Recognition Program

1. Social media shoutout

Don’t just celebrate your team internally; let your customers know too. A social media shoutout is a great way to celebrate excellent call center agents. This can also be incorporated into your marketing strategy, as shoutouts help your customers see the people behind your brand.

2. Feature story

If you have a weekly or monthly newsletter or blog post that’s circulated among staff, a feature story about an individual or team is a great way to recognize their work and strengthen your company culture.

3. Surprise appreciation and celebration

When your call center agents and teams perform well, consider providing surprise appreciation, such as a surprise gift voucher or bonus, for exceeding expectations.

4. Monthly and quarterly awarding

A great way to recognize employees and track KPIs at the same time is to give them awards every month or quarter based on their performance. This gives something for staff to aim for each month or quarter, and the top agents of the period will be rewarded.

5. Top performer awards

A little healthy competition can go a long way in the workplace. Setting clear goals and giving regular rewards to the top performers in a call center or in each team can improve employee motivation and happiness.

6. Milestone recognition

Recognition doesn’t have to be purely performance-related. A milestone recognition program can celebrate employees for hitting milestones such as their anniversaries of joining your company, handling their first 100 or 1000 calls, or even their birthdays.

7. Year end excellence award

A year-end or Christmas party is a great way to reward your call center staff for all their hard work. As part of the celebrations, why not offer several year-end excellence awards? You can award in several different categories, with some performance-based rewards and other value-based rewards, such as “best sales conversion number” or “best team leader.”

Conclusion

Recognizing your best call center agents can improve the culture of your company, make your employees happier, and keep them from getting burned out. By creating a culture that rewards hard work and success, employees will feel appreciated and be more likely to meet their daily, weekly, or monthly goals.