In the Call Center world, the agents are, without a doubt, an essential part of the team. The agent is the face of the company and the main point of contact between customers and the client. The first step into improving the work environment of the agents is diving deep into their day-to-day and ensuring that their team leaders are correctly trained. Team leaders are the first line of support; therefore, they need to be open and willing to dedicate time to support their agents. Simple things like letting your agent know that you have an open-door policy and listening to them will change their interaction with team leaders for the better. The team leader should know who their agents are, what is important to them, what motivates them, and when to recognize that things are not as they should be.
Becoming more approachable to agents is not as hard as one might think. A small conversation or a kind gesture towards the agents will improve the connection between the agent and team leader. As a result, the team leader can guard against any drop in performance and, more importantly, maintain a happy and engaged team.
Agents are often reminded of everything that is not being done correctly, and everything that is being done correctly is forgotten. Meaningful feedback with specific references to what the agent did well and constructive guidance on where to improve is critical to improving the work environment and performance of the team. Demonstrating that you have trust in your people allows agents to believe in their skills because if you suggest that you don’t have confidence in them they will lose confidence in themselves.
The development of agents should be one of the main focuses of the company. Growth shouldn’t be all about just fixing faults but also it should be about tapping into where agents have natural strengths and, if you can identify where their strengths lie, it can be beneficial to nurture them. Sometimes working on strengths can be a more effective approach when trying to implement changes to agents' behaviors.
All these changes can improve an agent's everyday experience at work and in return, the call center can benefit from a top performance in the market.