The 3 Pillars of Employee Empowerment in the Call Center

Faith Ocampo Published on March 7, 2017

If you’re managing a call center, your goal should be to create an environment where people are productive and empowered.

If this were an easy process, more contact centers would be pouring their time and money into this management strategy. After all, the link between employee empowerment and customer satisfaction is clear. Agents who are allowed to think outside the box, make independent decisions, and think critically can please customers in creative ways.

excited business team at a call center

At times, however, it’s not poor leadership or lack of vision that hinders organizations from building a culture of empowerment. Rather, some call center leaders are under the impression that empowering their agents can lead to outright chaos. They think that this type of work environment legitimizes rule-breaking and disregard for authority. This, however, isn’t what empowered organizations look like.

To gain an accurate understanding of this concept, you need to take a close look at the three pillars of empowerment within the organization.

  1. Autonomy

    smart customer service agent in call center busy at work
    Giving customer support agents the freedom to make decisions on their own—granted that they’re based on sound analysis—is hugely beneficial for contact centers. The most significant benefit is that they’ll be able to improve the customer experience in unconventional ways. This approach would let you outshine your competitors.

    Next, increasing people’s autonomy builds trust in the workplace. This paves the way to open communication. Showing that you trust your team also leads to better employee engagement and higher productivity.

    In addition, by giving agents the power to decide independently, you’re helping them develop accountability. This enables you to hone future call center leaders.

  2. Knowledge and skills

    customer support agent in call center training
    Increasing employees’ autonomy should always go hand-in-hand with knowledge and skills development. To make effective decisions geared to improve customer support, agents must be equipped with all the relevant information they might need.

    Thus, to empower your agents, immerse them in continuous and rigorous training. Challenge them and encourage them to grow. Doing so boosts not only their performance but also their morale and engagement.

  3. Purpose

    excited customer support agents on break chatting
    Your call center employees must have a firm grasp of their role and how important it is for the brand they represent. Otherwise, they’d struggle to find a sense of purpose for going to the office every day and dealing with customers.

    Managers must thus strive to build a team that cares about the company’s goals. One way to do this is to clarify your vision to your employees, so they’d feel that they truly belong in the organization. This also lets agents calibrate their performance according to the brand’s objectives and what’s expected of them.

  4. What gets in the way of agent empowerment

    young call center agent annoyed with headache
    Building an organizational culture that focuses on employee empowerment is challenging. It doesn’t happen overnight, as it’s a result of good management habits and intelligent planning. However, you need to watch out for the factors that may prevent you from empowering your agents. Here are some of them.

    • Too much office politics
      Office politics is something that’s impossible to avoid or eliminate completely. Every organization has its own unique political landscape, but there are instances when these can get in the way of professionalism, productivity, and efficiency. Plus, working in highly political organizations can be very stressful, as it can block employees’ career growth.
    • customer service team helping call center at work

    • Inconsistent leadership
      Employees can make better decisions when they know exactly what’s expected of them and what specific decisions they can make. Thus, policies and goals must be standardized across teams within a single department.

      There should also be a consistent leadership approach across the organization in order to create a unified culture.

    • Micromanagement
      It can be stifling for call center agents to have you watching their every move. Micromanagement, in reality, is a sign of weak leadership. It means you can’t delegate tasks effectively and that you don’t trust your people to deliver high-quality outputs. In the process, you may also be limiting employees’ creativity and resourcefulness.

With employee empowerment being a crucial part of any organization, make sure you partner with an outsourcing firm that also puts this value in practice. Open Access BPO is a full-suite, multilingual call center that provides businesses with agile solutions carried out by empowered and knowledgeable agents. Let us know how we can help you when you get in touch with us today.

 

Faith is a digital media enthusiast aiming to become an active part of the tech world by sharing her insights. She likes to blog about everything digimarketing, technology, and social media.
Join us on facebook
Open Access BPO 2 days ago
Compared to most industries, #CallCenters are known for providing a fun and positive workplace for their employees.
But more than just making daily ops light and dynamic, the agents, the contact center, and the clients benefit from this: https://buff.ly/3NiWbEB

----------
Let's create a program hyper-customized for your brand's goals, needs, budget, and customer demands: OpenAccessBPO.com/get-started

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CustomerService #EmployeeEngagement
Open Access BPO 2 days ago
Efficiency in #CallCenters involves enhancing agents' #productivity and #satisfaction.

Check out these 5 tips to boost #EmployeeEngagement and productivity in #ContactCenters: https://buff.ly/46H48KE

----------
Learn how our training, employee engagement, and culture of diversity contribute to our high-quality #CustomerExperience: OpenAccessBPO.com/get-started

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CSat #CustomerSupport #CX
#CustomerService #CustomerSupport
Open Access BPO 3 days ago
#CallCenters are made up of people from different cultures or backgrounds.
Each one is likely to have differing workplace habits and values, all of which can result in conflicts.

Here are the top 10 causes of conflicts in the call center: https://buff.ly/3GsT0GL

----------
Connect with an #outsourcing firm that provides great employee training and management programs: OpenAccessBPO.com/get-started

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CompanyCulture #EmployeeManagement
Open Access BPO 3 days ago
As more consumers turn toward online channels, businesses are struggling to provide quality #CustomerSupport for their international customers.
Partnering with a reliable #MultilingualCallCenter has, thus, become a valuable strategy.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 businesses must offer to remain competitive in global markets: https://buff.ly/4a7ocZp

----------
For #CustomerService and #BackOffice support in over 30 languages, contact Open Access BPO today: OpenAccessBPO.com/get-started

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
Open Access BPO 3 days ago
𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐲.

Luckily for you, #outsourcing can back you up in this battle.
Here's how call centers protect your customers from ecommerce fraud: https://buff.ly/47GJvPX

----------
Partner with an #outsourcing partner that keeps #InfoSec a top priority alongside great #CustomerSupport: OpenAccessBPO.com/get-started

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#CustomerExperience #DataSecurity
#outsourcing #FraudProtection #FraudDetection
Open Access BPO 3 days ago
In celebration of 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 this December, Open Access BPO Davao collaborated with the Philippine Red Cross - Davao City Chapter for a blood donation drive held last December 1, 2023.

Our collective efforts turned moments of compassion into life-saving contributions.

Thank you to all our OABPO Davao heroes who rolled up their sleeves–you've proven that a small act of giving can have a monumental impact.

----------
Open Access BPO actively promotes community involvement in the workplace by supporting the annual blood donation activity among other causes.

𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘈𝘉𝘗𝘖 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦.

#WeSpeakYourLanguage
#OneWithHealth Philippine Red Cross
Open Access BPO