If you’re a BPO business owner, you understand how difficult it is to stay driven for work. With so much happening at the same time, as a manager or director, you’re mostly trying to keep the business afloat and functioning as it should. Motivating your employees is most likely at the back of your mind, and we’re not pointing fingers here. Managing a virtual company means that the job and satisfaction of your employees isn’t completely up to you alone, but also the client.
The BPO industry is fast-paced and we’ve seen it grow extensively within the past few years. Clients struggle to find the right people for jobs because of the uniquely specific work culture. This is why employee motivation is a big deal in this industry.
To add on top of it, most of the largest generational segment of workers in Zimbabwe (and most of the world, really) right now are the millennials or Gen Y. In as much, as this offers a positive impact on your ROI, most employers are clueless on how to connect to these individuals. Without any idea on how to support their productivity, many of them don’t stick around.
This article will help you to figure out why your employee retention is dwindling and what you can do to make a change in your BPO.
Is motivation a common problem in BPO’s?
Unfortunately yes. Virtual companies usually work around the clock or at fairly odd hours. It then becomes difficult to have a properly functioning social life. Top that with monotonous tasks, work stress and impending burnout on repeat, and you’ll start to see why it can be a task to keep your employees motivated.
BPO’s are also known to not have much nurturing space for an individual looking to grow their career. This is the reason why most employees last for only a couple of months before leaving.
This factor goes on the top list of virtual company problems – low employee retention. Acute rates of attrition breed unexpected expenses. You’ll end up having to hire and train new employees, which will likely cause client frustration and dissatisfaction since a new hire has to invest extra time learning everything from scratch.
What motivates virtual employees then?
Being aware of what these motivating factors is a great first step. Incorporating them into the daily routine will transform how your employees will perform.
Flexibility. Practice encouraging independence
One of the main reasons why employees leave their BPO jobs is because of the lack of flexibility. The work to life balance is highly treasured and employees value a balanced schedule that allows them more of a choice when it comes to where and when they work. Considering that virtual employees work under more strenuous conditions as compared to regular employees, consider how your business can offer flexible work hours and schedules. Also look at how you can effectively offer benefits such as paid family leaves for child-rearing or child birth, holidays and any other conditions that reduce the gap between work and life balance.
Quality Communication
Employees want to feel heard and seen. From offering incentives such as employee of the month or constant acknowledgement of effort. Establish time for one-on-one meetings with leadership or team meetings using tools such as video chat, team building and broadcast chat. Ask for feedback, address any issues and inquire on ideas that could make work pleasant and effective.
Remember to implement these suggestions or feedback if possible.
Autonomy
BPO workers typically feel like faceless robots on a job, especially in customer call centres. A bit of independence helps your millennial employees to control how they get their work done. This creates a sense of professional growth which stops them from feeling like the job is tedious.
This also creates an interesting sense of ownership which can produce interesting results in terms of engagement and productivity. When you develop clear goals, it’ll be easier for you to hold them accountable for tasks. Check their performance with them and help them to plan ways that’ll help them improve their performance.
Offer remote work options
Working from home solutions reflects a company’s flexibility. With the world fast-changing, most businesses have realized that they can function effectively out of the office. This has changed how we view the workplace and productivity on its own. BPO employees are already working remotely in a sense so you can rest assured that they know how to handle the client, schedules and deliverables.
This also balances the work/home balance thereby making this form of employment much more attractive. Commuting time will be saved and stress factors reduce dramatically. Do keep in mind that this should only be an option offered to employees that have already shown a proven record of working from home.
Some employee personalities won’t be able to handle the type of discipline required to work virtually. Settle for part-time virtual working instead of letting them work full-time at home if they are still a new hire.
There are a couple of communication, accountability and agent support tools that you can use in order to manage your virtual employees and monitor their productivity. Some of these include Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Trello. They’ll include features such as dynamic scripting, customizable agent dashboard, monitor screen, and productivity logs among other neat features.
Make the job worth the investment
Due to the fact that most BPO workers leave because they end up feeling unfulfilled in a job, your next best bet would be to create a job worth investing in. It’s a smoother process for your employees when they feel like they’re part of a bigger purpose. What sort of culture can you enforce? What can be on offer? It’s not entirely about money.
You could offer a healthier work/life balance, improved career growth, better company culture, and a sense of purpose on the job.
Connect your business goals to how the employee fits in the company’s purpose. Being told to merely convert more leads and make more calls won’t get you the effect you desire.
Create belonging
Most of your employees are likely millennials. Where do they hang out? On social platforms. Acknowledge their achievement. “Like” their accomplishments and give clear shout outs to the team. Social media interactions happen and disappear quickly. Make sure those public acknowledgements are made throughout the month (or day if you can!) instead of just shoved into the end of the month. Apart from giving your company’s social media platform a ‘human’ factor, it helps your team feel like work is ‘family’.
More ways to do this would be incorporating games, having daily calls (if virtual) for encouragement , announcements and reviewing of goals. Think of welcomed incentives that will prompt engagement and ‘connection’.
Not many industries require employee motivation as much as virtual companies and this is because they rely solely on their employees to function. Clients aren’t always lovely, which is why management needs to step in devise ways that will shield their people from exerting to the limit. Showing appreciation and acknowledging your employees reduces your cost of hiring and peaks the quality of your services as well.
At BPOZimbabwe, we’ve understood the importance of both employee and client satisfaction. We pride ourselves in employee retention that makes your experience with us even more favorable since we treasure relationships. Are you also saving costs by virtualizing your services? If not, then we have just the package for you. Contact us to discuss how we can assist your business scale faster.