Dina Vance, Senior Vice President from Ulysses Learning, takes on our reader’s question this month. She offers several observations and best practices that are commonly overlooked in contact centers across the US. According to Dina, these are among the top of those best practices that can transform your contact center into a customer experience-focused operation that gets high marks.
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Q: We continue to struggle with employee engagement - especially during the summer months. Any words of advice?
Our featured expert for this month’s question is:
Our featured expert for this month’s question is:
Dina Vance
Senior Vice President, Managing Director of North American Operations
A: You're not alone. Engagement often dips when the sun comes out. People check out mentally long before they clock out. But that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. In fact, the summer slowdown is the perfect opportunity to double down on connection—through smart, authentic recognition strategies.
Gallup research paints a sobering picture: only about 30% of employees are truly engaged in their work. The cost of disengagement? A staggering $450 to $550 billion each year in lost productivity across the U.S. workforce. One estimate even suggests that for every $10,000 in salary, a disengaged employee can cost their organization $3,400. And it doesn’t stop there—disengaged employees are more likely to call in sick, spread negativity, and create poor customer experiences.
With numbers like these, it’s clear: boosting engagement isn't optional—it's essential. So, how can organizations reignite motivation and help employees feel connected to their work again?
Our research and experience shows that employee reward and recognition programs are a powerful driving force in keeping employees engaged. Done well, employee reward and recognition programs have a direct correlation to achieving organizational goals. When employees are engaged they have higher levels of morale, increased productivity, greater success in attracting new customers by shining a positive light on the organization, and are more likely to stay with the organization thereby reducing turnover. Following the guidelines outlined in this article will help to ensure long lasting and effective efforts for your reward and recognition program.
Monetary Rewards vs. Non-Monetary Rewards
Over half of US companies use a combination of incentives and recognition programs to reward employees for their productivity and maintain customer loyalty. According to a study conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management and WorkHuman’s Employee’s Recognition Survey, when companies spent 1% or more of payroll on recognition, 85% saw a positive impact on engagement.
Programs that involve compensation such as bonuses, pay raises, and stock options that are tied to specific actions and behaviors, is one of the most common and basic methods of employee engagement. Aligning your rewards and recognition program with compensation incentives, and its availability to all employees, can give a sense of increased responsibility and shared success towards an initiative.
On the other hand, numerous studies and publications ranging from Forbes to the Harvard Business Review have suggested that non-monetary reward and recognition programs can be as effective, if not more so, than monetary compensation. Studies have shown employees are more likely to be focused, creative, and dedicated when they experience the correlation between their efforts and happy customers. This correlation can be accomplished through non-monetary items such as a recognition/thank you note or email, letting an employee know you’ll share their efforts with others in the organization, the opportunity to take on new tasks and share their influence with others, or simply ensuring they have the tools and information they need to keep customers happy.
It’s not that money doesn’t matter. If employees feel that they are significantly underpaid or perceive that their pay does not reflect their contributions, then motivation declines. While many assume that money is a sole motivator, for others there are more important aspects of motivation. Encouraging employees to deliver superior performance, and the chance to make a difference and be recognized for it, can be a much stronger incentive. It is important to focus on both tangible and intangible rewards and recognition.
Employee Involvement
One critical part to making a reward and recognition program successful is to involve employees in the conversation of what motivates them. What works for some doesn’t necessarily work for others. Survey and listen to employees to be more effective in linking rewards with their personal interests and priorities. For example, you may discover that some employees would prefer a free lunch, a dress down day, a manager cooking breakfast for them, leaving a ½ hour early, or participating in a team event like a pizza party.
Another important aspect to consider is diversity and the demographic of the workplace. A diverse workplace requires incentives that are adaptable and creative vs. routine to keep programs fresh by tailoring rewards to different workforce segments. Different employee groups value different types of recognition. For example, new employees to the organization may place value on resources, different roles, or building friendships. Employees who are further along in their career often seek rewards such as career development, visibility to those above them, and the chance to take part in important meetings. Remove the idea of a “one-size-fits-all” approach and incentivize employees on an individual level.
Holistic Approach
Reward and recognition programs have a greater chance of success in meeting organizational goals when rewards are tied into measurable performance. Clearly outline the specific behaviors or metrics that your organization is looking for and then let employees know how their contributions to the goal will be rewarded. One method to put this into practice is with a simple point system. Each time an employee exhibits the specified behavior(s) during a designated period, they are given a point. At the end of the day, week, or month they can then “spend” their accrued points from a group of rewards previously decided by the employee recognition project team (with consideration from what was learned through involving employees on what motivates them).
The example above highlights another key aspect of a successful reward and recognition program. When a program has only one ultimate “winner,” others give up easily when they see they have no chance to receive a particular incentive. This often can result in cynicism and negativity or an inverse effect on employee engagement. Instead, create games, contests, and campaigns where everyone can potentially win the incentive. Creating programs that allow for multiple winners, ensures all employees receive the same amount of respect and opportunity to keep the program equitable.
Quality vs. Quantity
An often-overlooked element involves recognizing small achievements. Offering encouragement and praise when a representative does one thing well goes a long way towards their sense of accomplishment. Sharing small successes with others in the organization lets employees know they’re valued and can increase buy-in from others towards meeting similar organizational goals. Shine a spotlight on accomplishments that illustrate organizational values and share their successes publicly. Doing this not only continues to motivate your high performers, but it also provides examples to others of how to be successful.
Employees are motivated when they hear from you and others that they are making a difference. Rather than saving up and hoarding your praise, reinforce positive efforts immediately and often. To show this point, try the exercise of the “daily ten penny rules.” Put 10 pennies in one of your pockets at the beginning of each day. Your goal is to move a penny to the opposite pocket every time you coach or confirm a behavior done well, thus doing so 10 different times in a day so all of the pennies are in the opposite pocket by the end of the day. This can be done through verbal validation, a handwritten note of thanks, an e-mail recognizing a specific behavior or action that led to a business result, or a standing ovation during team huddles.
Happy Workforce = Happy Customers
Incorporating fun goes a long way in sustaining successful reward programs and triggers ongoing enthusiasm to give employees renewed energy and encouragement to provide their best service. Rewarding the right behavior at the right time, and in a suitable manner, continually encourages motivation. The use of games, friendly competition, and enjoyable activities increases employee morale and harnesses a greater feeling of being engaged.
A great method to involve employees on the reward program is to hold an in-house game. Have employees come up with their own contest/game ideas and give them a week to come up with options. Employees can then vote on their most preferred idea and the employee who has the best idea (and one you will use) wins a prize. This way you will also have other ideas that you can use down the road.
Peer-to-Peer
A common motivator for many individuals is just to feel like they have a voice in the organization. Asking employees or peers to share their best practices, or how they’ve handled a particularly challenging caller recognizes those individuals and allows them to shine. Listening to others and then providing training and coaching opportunities keeps employees up to date on skills and offers experiences that increases employee understanding of company goals.
Including peer recognition programs offers an excellent opportunity for individuals to recognize those who have gone the extra mile to help behind the scenes, often from an action a supervisor or manager may not know about. Allow employees to see the successes of others by having them fill out forms or thank you notes that can be displayed on a bulletin board to communicate the message to the entire team.
Final Thoughts
Engaged employees are the engine behind customer satisfaction, team performance, and business success. Especially during the summer slump, your focus should be on creating a culture of everyday appreciation—where people feel connected, valued, and excited to contribute.
Want help getting there? We offer tailored training, energizing huddles, and coaching that turns good intentions into real change.
Let’s talk.
My best,
Dina
About Dina Vance
Senior Vice President, Managing Director of North American Operations at Ulysses Learning
In her current capacity with Ulysses Learning, Dina is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company and also serves as the chief client relationship executive, working with Fortune 100 clients and other progressive organizations to redefine the way customers are cared for. Under her leadership, Ulysses has been recognized for its work in transforming customer service, sales and coaching cultures through the development of emotional intelligence or “EQ,” enabling reps to confidently, consistently and expertly handle each customer interaction. The company has focused expertise in serving the healthcare, insurance, utilities, and financial services industries.
Before joining Ulysses in 2001, Dina was responsible for the ground-level startup of two contact centers to serve bankers including Fortune 100 clients First Chicago, Harris Bank, American Express and Citibank. This led to her role as call center lead consultant and division manager for an international learning organization prior to Ulysses. Outside of work Dina is actively involved in local volunteerism and enjoys cooking, gardening and nature walks.
Dina can be reached on LinkedIn or at dvance@ulysseslearning.com; for more details on Ulysses Learning visit www.ulysseslearning.com
Challenge Solved! Is sponsored by:
Ulysses Learning was founded in 1995 as a joint venture with Northwestern University’s world-renowned Learning Sciences department. Since then, Ulysses’ continued focus on research and development has earned it prestigious awards and recognition and, most importantly, the respect from its clients who rely on Ulysses for innovative performance improvement solutions that change with their rapidly developing and evolving environments.
Contact centers achieve profound business results ahead of schedule with Ulysses Learnings’ artful blend of patented simulation-based e-learning, facilitated exercises, coaching, and technology-driven tools, that redefine the way customers are cared for and transform customer service, sales, and coaching cultures. Ulysses has one of the only training systems proven to build EQ with its proprietary Framework with Freedom© approach, enabling reps to develop skills to empathize with others, build stronger customer bonds, and improve team dynamics with confidence, consistency, and excellence.
Ulysses Learning is a multi-year recipient of the Gold Stevie© Award for the best contact center customer service training.
Begin your contact center transformation now. Phone 800-662-4066 or visit www.ulysseslearning.com to get started.