Contact center agents truly work on the front lines of customer service. They are frequently an upset customer’s first point of contact, and that first interaction can set the tone for brand perception over the long term. Ensuring that each of these scenarios is up to the quality your brand needs is crucial both for customer loyalty and the happiness of your agents. Performance management is an important way to meet the needs of both internal and external audiences.
Performance management is the practice of establishing guidelines for what success looks like, tracking those goals for individual agents and coaching agents on areas of strength and improvement. Making this an ongoing process, not just an annual review, makes it easier to spot problems and work with agents before an issue arises.
Performance management is less about comparing agents to one another (with the exception of gamification) and more about measuring the agent’s own performance against past performance and yearly goals. This is a better approach for both employees and managers, notes Rob Ollander-Krane, head of talent planning and performance at Gap Inc.
“Performance reviews that allow for comparisons between employees result in the perception that they are unfair (e.g., Why did I get a C and she got an A?),” Ollander-Krane said. “Instead, researchers have shown that evaluating one’s current performance compared to past performance increases their perception of fairness of the process.”
With that mindset in place, you can take a look at your current performance management process and consider how to improve your approach. With the changes that widespread work-from-home models have brought, a renewed focus on performance management is more important than ever. We recommend considering five steps to improve performance management:
1) Set effective goals.
Goals are about much more than target numbers and call resolution times (though those should certainly be considered). Each individual agent should understand how his or her work connects to the big picture and supports the organization’s goals too.
Agents should feel connected to their goals and be a part of crafting them. Effective goals are a collaborative effort, and both agents and managers should feel invested in meeting those goals. When agents are a part of setting guidelines, they have a solid understanding of why the goals were selected and how to meet them.
2) Track goals with data from multiple places.
Once the goals are set and agreed upon by both agents and managers, it’s time to establish a plan to track progress. An important part of tracking goals is documenting; progress toward each goal as well as any coaching sessions or check ins needs to be documented. This will ensure that the process of tracking is streamlined.
Create a complete picture by fleshing out performance logs with data from multiple sources. Sources can include digital platforms, behavioral KPIs, call logs, annual reviews, customer feedback and stats on call resolution time. Individually, each of these areas can spotlight a strength or area for growth; together, they provide valuable context needed to effectively manage performance.
3) Coach managers.
Leading performance management initiatives is not a simple task. Managers affect the buy-in and dedication of individual agents can; enthusiastic, empathetic managers can lead teams to success through even the most difficult times. Managers need a specific set of skills to successfully oversee performance management:
Invest in the time and resources need to train managers to be effective in their performance management role. Managers can benefit from their own version of performance management with their leaders as well. Going through the process themselves gives a better understanding of how both roles in the collaborative process work. Regular coaching with managers can help them continuously grow as a leader for the agents on their team.
4) Evaluate your process at regular check points.
Performance management programs must be ever-evolving. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of evaluating and adapting your approach frequently; a performance management process crafted in 2019 likely has little relevance today. As an agent’s team grows and changes, the performance management guidelines will need to do so, too.
Set regular intervals throughout the year to take a holistic look at your performance management tools, process and outcomes. Research the latest best practices and review how your entire team is performing against its goals. If every single agent continuously exceeds goals or many of them showing signs of falling behind, this can be an indicator that your process needs a tune-up.
5) Build feedback loops.
Just like creating initial goals, the ongoing performance management process benefits from collaboration. Build in feedback loops where agents are encouraged to share their wins, struggles and thoughts on the process. If something is not resonating, there may be a way to adapt the process to better fit them. Feedback can also shine a light on areas where an agent actually doesn’t fully grasp his or goals and where coaching can help build a greater understanding.
How NICE Performance Management can help
Our suite of software can be a strong support in your journey to improve performance management. NICE’s Performance Management platform provides holistic data about individual agent performance and provides managers with the tools to create personalized, effective coaching. Gamification and incentive programs can be tailored to individual teams and goals, boosting engagement even in work-from-home scenarios.
Every organization, regardless of size, can benefit from improving performance management. Good performance management programs boost engagement among employees and improve morale, uncover areas for training, help agents build a career path and build better accountability across the team. Strong performance management takes your workforce optimization to the next level—learn more about how to get started with NICE Performance Management.