In centers that suffer from high absenteeism, you’ll typically find disengaged supervisors. Like agents, supervisors who are performing the same coaching tasks day in and day out can get into a rut. Disengaged supervisors can quickly infect a high-performing team by dispensing repetitive, mechanical feedback that makes agents feel that their efforts are not valued. Using a standardized process that requires supervisors to give feedback routinely often makes the situation worse.
Practical pointer: Contact center veteran Jay Blasing, managing partner for training and consulting firm BetterCore, LLC, suggests that managers make coaching seem less like a monotonous task by giving frontline supervisors a new goal to focus on each week. For instance, ask them to find three examples of a great call one week, or focus on customers who call with specific issues. “It gives supervisors targeted content to listen for, and they become reengaged with their agents,” he says.
