In our last blog, we revisited the topic of employee feedback and stressed to business owners and office managers the importance of providing it – both positive and negative. Naturally, it’s a good idea to boost the morale of your employees by acknowledging their jobs well done. However, it’s also necessary to inform them about the areas of their jobs where improvement is needed.
What are the smartest ways to go about giving employee feedback? Here are four ideas:
1. Don’t hesitate to give it. It’s generally a good idea to nip problems in the bud. In other words, don’t delay giving feedback when it’s necessary. By offering it right away – for example, immediately after a phone call where procedure was followed incorrectly, or poor customer service was given – you can immediately improve the performance of the employee. You’ll avoid a pattern of negative interactions between your staff members and your customers.
2. Provide it often. We all need reminders. So don’t assume that just because you’ve provided feedback to an employee – whether positive or negative – your job is done. Whenever your team members put out great performances, let them know how much you appreciate them. Whenever your employees require some assistance in improving their performances, offer the help so that they don’t repeat their mistakes.
3. Make your feedback specific. When you’re offering positive feedback, attempt to avoid such blanket statements as “good job”. Instead, be clear about what you’re appreciative of. Here’s an example: “You did an excellent job closing that sale this morning. You were persistent, but very courteous throughout the call.” As well, it’s just as important to be specific about the negative feedback you provide.
Simply saying that “you need to pick up your sales numbers” isn’t exactly going to result in better performances. Not only should you be clear about what you want out of your employee, you should offer tips about how to better their skills. Here’s an example: “I can see that you’re having some difficulty in closing sales lately. It’s important that you bring your numbers up. Why don’t you try to ask more probing questions so that you can directly address the needs of your customers?”
4. Ask a lot of questions. Feedback sessions aren’t one-way conversations. It’s important to remember that. Sure, you may have a lot of advice to give. But, in order to help motivate your staff members and help them to do better jobs, it’s a good idea to find out exactly what your employees need in order to improve. Depending on the job, of course, there is a wide variety of questions that you can ask.
Here are a few examples: What do you think is the reason you’ve been struggling to make sales lately? What areas of your job do you feel you’re having the greatest difficulty with? How can I help to make you more comfortable in the workplace? Of course, these are just a few ideas of how to get your employees to open up about what can be done to help them perform their daily tasks better.
Of course, it always helps when you’re equipped with the proper tools to help you to know exactly what your employees need to hear from you. With MeloTel’s Monitor/Whisper Control Panel, you can listen to the calls made by your phone staff live and as they happen. You can also whisper helpful hints to them while they’re on their calls without the other parties hearing them. It’s a great way to develop the feedback you need to offer in order to improve performances in your call centre.
For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 1-888-MELOTEL or use the Live Chat feature on our website!
