One of the bigger challenges in a contact center is keeping employees motivated and engaged while meeting metrics and staying efficient.
Often these two things are seen as opposites pulling in different directions, thinking you can’t meet critical targets and remain motivated, or that efficiency comes at the cost of employee engagement.
In the past decade, the concept of gamification in technology and within contact centers have become a driver in new methods of employee engagement. In this article, we unpack how you can use gamification to achieve your contact center objectives.
Using gamification for non-gaming objectives
One of the primary objectives of gamification software is to improve efficiency and engagement at the same time, resulting in motivated staff and effective people management. Simply speaking, gamification is designed to match your agents’ needs in a way that achieves your business objectives.
Common challenges in contact centers that impact motivation and engagement:
- Agents have to follow set scripts, which tend to become monotonous.
- Performance is often measured by metrics such as Average Handling Times and First Call Resolution, which often limits flexibility in dealing with calls.
- Calls are often very repetitive, which makes it easy to lose interest in the task.
- System failures and integration issues can hinder access to information needed by agents.
- Growth and learning opportunities are often limited.
Gamification solves contact center issues
Agent Performance
Gamification monitors an agent’s performance and rewards them with instant feedback when they have completed tasks successfully. For example, for every call completed within the designated period, an agent is awarded 10 points. These points accumulate on a leaderboard, and agents can see their progression to other contact center agents.
Training
Training materials can be uploaded and utilised through e-learning modules. Agents can then be recognised and rewarded for completing training modules and programs. Agents are therefore encouraged to expand their knowledge and expertise.
Online training also provides greater flexibility. Rather than leaving their desk and sitting in a training room for half a day, agents can complete modules as and when needed online. This offers a more productive and flexible method of learning within your contact center.
As agents become more empowered, they need to follow a set script is reduced because agents can handle clients more effectively and come up with solutions to help solve their queries. This makes the job more interesting for agents, which means they are more engaged in their work.
How increased engagement transforms contact centers
When agents are engaged, absenteeism and staff churn is reduced, which can mean substantial cost savings for a business. Gamification fosters an environment of transparency and honesty. It offers clear data for executives to see trend lines about their employee experiences and gives employees a way to see how they are progressing in the company.
For agents slacking off, it serves as a motivator to make more effort or be shown up in front of their peers. Gamification fosters a culture of friendly competition, which can raise the overall standard of gamification in the contact center.