Have you tried to ride a bicycle with only one wheel? (Your supervisors do it every day.)

Probably not. You know you wouldn’t get very far without  both a front and a back wheel.

The same idea applies to training supervisors to be effective drivers of high employee engagement. To be successful, supervisors need a combination of technical skills (the rear wheel of their bicycle) as well as the right blend of people skills (the front wheel.)=

Most supervisors I have known over the past 25 years have mastered the technical side of their job. Seasoned supervisors can take a quick glance at their monitor and know exactly how their team is handling their call activity. When asked about an obscure credit policy, they can rattle it off word for word. They know how to decipher complicated spreadsheets filled with acronyms and the exact number of screens and key strokes it takes for a rep to complete a perfect order. Supervisors know the business side of their business.

What many supervisors lack is an adequate front wheel — the crucial people skills they need to maximize their reps’ front-line performance.

Don’t blame the supervisors for this sorry state of affairs. What I’ve observed is that upper management often doesn’t look beyond the numbers and the status quo. As long as the service levels are within range, personnel costs are about the same as last year and expenses are running about normal, all is good. What they may not see is that by making a relatively small investment in training the very people who run the call center they could lower the call center’s operating costs, get better performance, and generate a healthier bottom line.

I’ve seen what happens when supervisors operate with a strong front wheel. They become master communicators who know how to create positive relationships based on mutual trust that results in reps who happily go the extra mile for customers. Costly turnover plummets. Reps who are happy with the support they get from their supervisors don’t leave in search of a new job where their hard work is appreciated. Paying overtime to cover employee absences caused by job dissatisfaction becomes unnecessary. Adding supervisor head count to handle escalated calls is a non-issue since the number of preventable escalated calls goes down as engagement rises. And if that doesn’t get your attention, I point to the direct correlation between high employee engagement and high customer satisfaction.

This week invite your Director or VP to visit the call center. Ask him or her to take a spin on a supervisor’s bike, sans the front wheel. After you help him or her up from the floor, ask them the question, “What’s in your wallet?”

Make it a great week!

Barbara Burke

It’s not always easy to face the truth. When I embark on a project to improve the level of employee engagement (a key driver of customer satisfaction and bottom-line profitability) for a client we start with training the supervisors (supervisors are the key drivers of employee engagement) in Intentional Coaching methods.

But before we do any training we ask the supervisors’ direct reports to complete a 9-question confidential on-line survey to get their honest feedback regarding their satisfaction with the support they received from their supervisor. Prior to arrival to the Great Supervisors Make a Difference Workshop, each supervisor receives a summary of their engagement survey results.

Supervisors have a mix of reactions. The majority take the feedback in stride. But for some supervisors like Todd (real name withheld) the survey results are particularly painful to read — and to swallow. Of the 20 people on his team, only a few had good things to say about him.

One supervisor’s journey from denial to acceptance.

Stage #1: It’s not my fault.

Todd could sight several possible reasons why his employees gave him negative reviews. They were smarting from the recent meeting in which he had to “lay down the law.” He also sighted the fact that there had been a hiring freeze and there were no raises that year so employees blamed him for decisions made by upper management. A few people never liked him and that was never going to change.

Stage #2: I don’t need to be here.

Todd made it known that he considered spending time in a training class a complete waste of his time. While others might be able to use this stuff, he said, he had better things to do.

Stage #3: They just don’t get me.

Todd said that his people evidently don’t understand that his command and control persona is just the way he is. They must know that he really does care about them and could always depend on him to having their back.

Stage #4: OK. I get it. I do need to change.

At the conclusion of the second day, I asked each participant for a take-away from the workshop — something they learned that was particularly helpful or useful to them.

After everyone else had provided their response, Todd finally raised his hand and said that he had to admit that he needed to be more understanding and work on softening his approach. The gist of what he had to say was that he had always thought that it was up to his people to adjust to his brusque management style. The workshop helped him see the opposite was true. It was was up to him to adjust his approach to fit the individual needs of each person on his team.

The first step in the change process is to admit you need to change. I, as well his fellow supervisors, was delighted that Todd had his Aha! moment. But, we all knew that the hard part was ahead, the “heavy lifting” portion of their journey. That’s when the real learning takes place.

Make it a great week!

Barbara Burke

Copyright 2011 Barbara Burke. All Rights Reserved.

It’s the “little things” you do that make you appear untrustworthy.

Trust is difficult to acquire and once it is lost it’s even harder to regain. The best leaders create a culture of trust by freely sharing information and regularly asking for feedback and input from their employees. Most importantly, highly effective leaders live their values and model the behavior they want to see in their people.  Managers don’t always realize that seemingly small things like being late for meetings has a big impact on employee perception.

10 Surefire Ways to Kill Employee Trust 

1. Say one thing and do another.
Actions speak louder than words.

2.Talk more than listen.
It’s no coincidence that the most effective (and well-loved) managers are also the best listeners.

3. Not following up on employee suggestions.
When you ask for ideas and suggestions for improving your business but don’t acknowledge their value, it won’t be long before your employees keep those great ideas to themselves.

4. Too busy to be there.
Some managers confuse being overbooked and crazy-busy with being effective. If you aren’t spending at least 60% of your time working with your employees, you need to take a look at your priorities.

5. Being moody.
Employees look for consistency in their leaders. Being wildly-happy one day and in the dumps the next makes your employees uneasy.

6. Not walking the talk.
When you opt to do the most expedient thing (even occasionally) instead of the right thing in your dealings with customers and other departments your employees will follow your lead.

7. Being chronically late for meetings.
Expecting others to be on time and then showing up late is disrespectful. If “mutual respect” is a core value, be a good example by arriving at meetings a few minutes early and ending meetings on time.

8. Being anywhere but present.
When you are meeting with employees one-to-one make sure that your mind isn’t some place else. When you look distracted you are telling that employee, “I have other things on my mind that are more important than spending time with you.”

9. Breaking appointments.
Try your best not to cancel your regular one-to-one meeting times with your employees. Your employees look forward to having quality time with you.

10. Only talking about business.
The best managers spend a few minutes each day socializing with their employees. Remember — it’s all about the relationship.

The best way that I know to build trust is to do two basic things:
> Follow the Golden Rule: Treat others the same way you would like to be treated.
> When making decisions do what you believe in your heart (and your gut) is the “right thing.”

Make it a great week!