This is the third part in a series on the crucial role that supervisors play in driving employee engagement and customer satisfaction.

4 ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS
For Supervisor Success

1. Accountability for employee engagement scores.
2. Time to coach and connect.
3. Specialized engagement training.
4. Creative communication tools.

“Conventional supervisors rate the person and develop the performance. The New Breed of Supervisors do just the opposite — they rate the performance and develop the person.” – Barbara Burke

Today’s employees crave more quality time with their supervisor. The results of employee engagement surveys frequently reveal the need for supervisors to do more in the way of rewarding and recognizing employees for their contribution. But that doesn’t mean “rewarding” employees with more coupons to Subway or movie tickets. What it does mean is that supervisors take a more personalized approach to employee recognition.

The best supervisors appreciate the value employees place on the personal touch. They understand the importance of meeting performance goals, but instead of chasing the numbers, the most effective supervisors focus on cultivating a positive, caring relationship with each employee on their team. These leaders understand the snowball effect of caring. When supervisors show they genuinely care about their employees, those employees are much more willing to show they care about their job and their customers.

I typically recommend that call center supervisors spend a minimum of 50% of their time out of their office, interacting directly with their people. It’s not enough to spend more time with your people, what’s most important is what you do to add value during those interactions.

I offer this example as a cautionary tale. (It’s a true story.)  A contact center manager at a utility, in an effort to improve employee engagement survey scores, ordered her team of 6 supervisors to spend a minimum of 50% of their time out on the floor “working with their people.” The well-intentioned manager assumed that since she’d know what to do if given the opportunity to spend time with service reps, that her supervisors would too. As it turned out, she was mistaken.

The supervisors, not knowing what else to do, spent half their time hanging out and chit-chatting with the reps (and each other) and the rest of their time offering their reps “constructive criticism.” After several days of this, there was a backlash. Reps complained that their supervisors were getting in their way and asked that they return to their offices.

This week, observe the “snowball effect.” Notice what happens when you take the time to get to know the employees you don’t know very well. Go ahead and ask them what they need from you — what you can do to help them be even more successful.

NEXT MONDAY: The 3rd Essential Ingredient for Supervisor Success: to be truly effective supervisors need specialized training in how to build employee engagement and commitment.