“Times are tough. Don’t spend any more than you have to. If a budget item doesn’t directly impact our bottom line — cut it.” That is a frequent refrain heard by managers during periods of belt tightening. As tempting as it may be to skip this year’s employee recognition event, top-performing companies know that celebrating the contributions of their best employees is crucial during tough economic times.

Last week I had the pleasure of presenting the keynote at one such celebration. Tampa Electric’s Pulling Together Celebration luncheon honored 50 of the call center’s Key Contributors. In addition to celebrating a successful year, the event kicked off an innovative project headed up by Kree Morales. She introduced my book, The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey to her team of supervisors a few months ago.  After brainstorming possibilities, they decided to use the book in their team meetings to reinforce core values and as a coaching tool to support call quality.

The front-line reps honored that day were extraordinary. To be selected as a Key Contributor for 2008 they had either consistently performed well above the standard, participated in special projects or had perfect attendance. Fifty individuals from other departments whose efforts made it possible for the call center to be successful were also honored.

Imagine the logistics and the resources required to take about one third of TECO’s reps off the phone in the middle of the day to attend this event. Judging by the positive energy in the room and the broad smiles on the faces of those present, whatever it took to make it happen was well worth it. Three key contributors were selected to speak to the group of 100 and share their secrets of success. One of the most inspiring moments was when Derek spoke from his heart, telling us that he learned at an early age not to let setbacks prevent him from pursuing his dream. He said it was that  “never give up” attitude that enabled him to be promoted to supervisor recently.

Will this event raise the bar for the other employees who weren’t selected this year? You bet. Will these 50 Key Contributors continue to do their best to help TECO deliver another stellar performance this year? You bet. Were those budget dollars worth the investment? Absolutely.

“I used to get so caught up in deciding whether something or someone met my impossibly high standards that I lost sight of reality.”

From the book, The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey

Olivia realized how unfair it was to make snap judgments about people based on things like how they looked, how they talked or where they lived.  Last week my friend Paul told me that when he finds himself jumping to conclusions about people he doesn’t know, he plays a game he calls, “How wrong can I be?”

My friend offered an example from a recent AA meeting.  As he looked around the group Paul noticed a man he did not know. In his late 40′s the stranger sported an earring and a ponytail and carried a leather purse.  He remembered thinking, “The guy must be some kind of “New Ager. He’s probably an aging hippy whose worse crime was being one toke over the line one too many times. When it comes to suffering he’s a lightweight compared to me.”

When it was Paul’s turn to speak to the group he mentioned that before he got sober years ago, his worse nightmare was killing somebody while driving drunk during one of his frequent black outs. The stranger spoke next. He offered his personal story as a powerful cautionary tale.

The man told the group that his parents had both been alcoholics who thought nothing of beating him and locking him in the basement for days at a time. When he went into foster care his life went from bad to worse. He was sexually abused by two of his foster parents.  In junior high he started abusing alcohol, eventually flunked out of school and at age 16 struck out on his own.  In his early twenties he blacked out while driving a truck at high speed and hit a woman on a sidewalk as she was pushing a her baby in a stroller . The baby was killed instantly. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

The man said that when he got to prison he was so distraught and remorseful about what he had done that he didn’t want to go on living. He attempted suicide several times. That all changed when one of his counselors gave him a reality check. She pointed out that the  young mother had survived the tragic accident and had gone on to live a normal life. The baby boy had gone to Heaven. It was time for him let go of his self-pity and get on with living his life.

After the meeting Paul approached the stranger and introduced himself. He thanked the man for sharing his story and admitted how wrong he had been about him. They talked awhile and discovered that they shared many of the same interests including a fondness for vintage motorcycles.

The next time you encounter a stranger and make a snap judgment about them, try Paul’s game. Discover just how wrong you can be!

NEWS:
Looking for 3 call centers who want to go from good to great

Are you searching for an innovative, cost-effective way to improve both employee engagement and crucial KPIs?

As many of you know, last year I partnered with two of Vertex BPO’s call centers on a very successful Employee Engagement Intervention Project. I am in the process of selecting three more call centers to work with later this year and early 2010. Each project will use the successful training template and my book to improve supervisors efficacy and by doing so improve overall employee engagement. If you are interested in being considered please be in touch.
More information.
FREE Resources:

Did you know? This week’s Monday Aha! and all the previous Monday Aha!s are posted on Barbara’s Blog.

Learn how call center managers are using my little book The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey to make a big difference in employee engagement, staff morale and individual performance. 15 Different Ways to use the book

Are you receiving this Monday’s Aha! from a friend who is a subscriber?
Why not get your very own personal Monday Aha! delivered to your inbox every week. It’s easy to subscribe!

BUY a little book that makes a big difference

Join the legion of readers who love The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey.

We make it easy for you to purchase a quantity of books without breaking your budget.

Prairie dogging is one of the favorite ways for cubicle-bound service reps socialize between calls. Just like prairie dogs, humans are very social animals. While some supervisors may frown on employees socializing over the fence, or visiting  with each other between calls, research has found that when employees are friendly with each other they feel less work-related stress. Supervisors play an important role in creating a supportive work environment.

Stressed-out workers create upset customers. Feeling supported in your work and having co-workers you can turn to on a bad day reduces stress. As any supervisor knows, when front-line employees can barely hold it together, they don’t have the emotional strength required to resist pushing back when a customer is venting their anger at them.                                                                                                                                                     

When co-workers are friends, they show they care about each other by listening. Your friend in the cubicle next door will listen to you complain about a cranky customer, struggles you are having with your teenager, and even listen to you prattle on about nothing in particular. While spouses and close friends out side of work can try to be sympathetic, the only people who really understand where you are coming from are the people you work with.

Be happy. This week do a little extra prairie doggin’.