For outsourcing corporations, the depth of connection and support experienced by frontline employees has a direct relationship to how empowered and enthusiastic they’ll feel about solving customer issues.
That has a flow-on effect to your client churn and operational costs. Yet many BPOs lack a strategic give attention to increasing worker engagement levels as a method to spice up performance and profits.
On this blog post, we’ll outline why worker engagement is an imperative for BPOs and share five key strategies that leaders running outsourcing teams can use to enhance engagement.
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A renewed give attention to worker engagement is important for the performance of BPOs
Historically, business process outsourcing (BPO) operations have been characterised by large staffs, low pay, and high attrition rates. Meaning worker engagement has all the time been a very important issue for BPOs, because these organizations have to limit the time and value of recruitment in the event that they wish to scale their profitability.
Making an effort to make sure staff feel connected to your organization and aligned with what you are promoting goals has been a way for BPOs to:
- Reduce the impact of worker turnover on productivity
- Limit the lack of useful knowledge, skills and experience
- Minimize costs of hiring, onboarding and training recent staff
- Construct a greater status as an employer of alternative
- Maintain continuity and quality of service for clients.
While most BPO leaders understand that employees with a positive attitude to their work are more likely to be more motivated and productive, previously worker engagement may not have been approached in a strategic way on account of firms’ give attention to growth. Actually, high attrition can have been seen as an unlucky necessity dictated by the conditions, job functions, and remuneration BPOs were willing to supply to stay competitive.
Nonetheless, times have modified. BPOs and not using a clear and effective worker engagement approach at the moment are vulnerable to the impacts of fixing worker expectations, a more volatile business environment, recent business models, and a tightening global labor market.
Emerging challenges for BPOs without an engaged workforce
Anyone who manages a team or is liable for the performance of individuals inside a BPO needs to know the worth of worker engagement strategies in combating these challenges:
- Today’s employees are willing to vary jobs to achieve flexible, distant working arrangements. In addition they value trust, a purpose they will get behind, profession development opportunities, and real work-life balance. For BPOs, meeting expectations for flexibility must even be balanced with a very good culture and adequate support, systems, and IT infrastructure.
- Increasing social and economic instability could make BPO jobs more stressful and unappealing. For example, a study reported by HBR found that the ‘difficulty’ of contacts received by call centers greater than doubled on account of issues created by the pandemic.
- World wide, the available talent pool is shrinking. Because of this, time-to-hire will be lengthy. Each these aspects make staff retention more urgent. BPOs can’t afford to be under-resourced lest they underserve their clients. Moreover, BPOs want to provide more value-added and complicated services: this relies on access to in-demand and well-paid skill sets including IT development and consulting.
- Outsourcing is increasing in competitiveness on account of digitally-driven business models. Modern BPO-like businesses are leveraging technology to streamline client interactions, reduce the necessity for human intervention (e.g., conversational AI), and use remote-first workforces as standard. Some even engage offshore employees in a contract capability. While that won’t appeal to all employees, it’s clear there’s now more alternative for people searching for flexible careers.
Savvy outsourcing firms at the moment are realizing that nurturing the energy and commitment of your human assets is maybe essentially the most critical competitive advantage available.
Engaged employees do a greater job in your clients. They support a stronger culture that makes it easier to draw and retain essentially the most desirable talented people. They usually’re more more likely to stay together with your company for longer. Enthusiastically loyal team members can even make your organization more resilient — so you’ll be able to more easily adapt to vary and effectively meet client demands.
Developing and implementing specific worker engagement strategies helps you construct a workforce that’s emotionally invested in your BPO’s success.
How do BPOs profit from targeted engagement plans?
Worker engagement is a term used to explain a person’s psychological investment of their work — do they feel cared for in a way that makes them care enough to work hard and stick around?
An engaged worker is one who desires to be involved and shows enthusiasm for meeting your organization’s objectives. Engaged employees search for constructive ways to guard and enhance your organization’s interests. Since BPO employees are sometimes representing a client (comparable to customer support representatives), after they’re highly engaged, they’re also more more likely to safeguard your clients’ interests too.
Probably the most obvious profit for outsourcing firms attempting to ‘do more with less’ is that engaged employees could also be:
- more productive and encourage a more hard-working attitude amongst their colleagues;
- more more likely to be motivated and so usually tend to go the additional mile to get the job done (and do it with a smile).
Gallup’s insights into global engagement levels reveals thriving employees have an incredible impact on an organization’s profitability. It finds that “business units with engaged employees have 23% higher profit compared with business units with miserable employees.” As well as, teams characterised by excellent worker engagement and wellbeing have lower absenteeism, turnover, and accidents, and better customer loyalty.
5 key strategies to cover in your plan to drive higher engagement and evidence for why they’ll make a difference.
1. Display a transparent vision and values, especially through leadership.
The BPO industry has a picture problem — employees may imagine the work is boring and transactional. To win employees unbridled support you could define and communicate a transparent vision and values.
This will be done through regular communication from leadership and events like town halls/webinars where the corporate’s direction is discussed. Within the BPO context, you may also talk in regards to the positive impact of your organization’s work for clients. Attempt to drive home the way in which that employees’ contributions make a difference.
Ensuring that your vision and values are literally reflected within the management style and processes that frontline employees experience also critical for keeping great employees enthused. Bad bosses who don’t ‘live the values’ of your organization will contribute to employees feeling unappreciated, resentful and burnt out. For example, should you say you value trust but have a culture of micromanagement.
McKinsey research into the Great Resignation found that uncaring and uninspiring leaders were a key trigger for many individuals to quit their jobs. Whereas an element rated highly by employees that drives retention is ‘meaningfulness of labor’.
Strong leaders who continually make an effort as an instance the high-level value of a BPO’s operations may have more possibilities of keeping employees engaged.
2. Promote flexibility and a healthy work-life balance.
Employees now rank flexibility highly. Post-pandemic, employees are desirous to proceed working from home a minimum of a few of the time. Research shared by SHRM shows many would search out a distant position for his or her next job.
In addition to considering ways to supply flexible arrangements, hours and shifts, BPOs need to advertise a healthy work-life balance for his or her employees. Perks are great (like discounted gym membership) but in addition consider systematic approaches comparable to rigorously monitoring overwork and leave balances. This allows managers to encourage breaks through the work day and vacations when appropriate.
Worker wellbeing programs are one in all the highest five reasons employees stay in a task in keeping with Mercer’s Global Talent Trends 2022-23 survey based on greater than 11,000 responses across 16 geographies. The report identifies that a key trend shaping organization’s people agenda is that relatable employers: “actively encourage healthy, rewarding and sustainable work behaviors and offer personalized support during moments that matter.”
3. Encourage worker feedback and hearken to suggestions.
Employees wish to feel like their voices are being heard by leadership. BPOs can encourage this by:
- Establishing regular feedback sessions (each 1:1 and more broadly);
- Creating accessible and anonymous channels for sharing issues or ideas for improvement; and
- Often sending out surveys.
It’s necessary to ascertain people and processes for reviewing and acting on this feedback, and shutting the loop by communicating what has happened back to employees.
In HR News, the COO of Virgin Incentives shared how listening to employees via a feedback platform helped inform the organization’s worker engagement transformation journey. This included closing the business for a day to run a workshop to debate key business values and other initiatives that resulted in an increase of their engagement rating from 54% to 73% in 12 months.
Relating to encouraging a way of belonging and psychological safety, remote-friendly workplaces — where technology helps to democratize collaboration — can have a bonus. Glint’s Employee Well-being Report from 2021 found that in comparison with peers at other organizations, employees at distant work-friendly corporations were 14% more more likely to feel protected to talk their minds. They were also 9% more more likely to say their leaders value different perspectives.
4. Put money into team-building, worker development, and internal mobility.
Social cohesion and opportunities to grow are each critical features in determining how engaged an worker feels. BPOs should spend money on initiatives that promote teamwork and individual development opportunities, whether or not they’re structured or unstructured.
This could include training programs, mentorship programs and peer-to-peer learning, or providing a budget that individuals can use as they see fit. By investing of their employees, BPOs will see a return in the shape of increased engagement and productivity.
An absence of development and profession advancement opportunities is a compelling reason for people to depart a company, especially when early of their careers. HR industry research has found 21% would consider quitting on account of poor development advantages. A recent work trends report from Microsoft found many individuals feel there’s not enough internal growth opportunities of their company: 55% say changing jobs is the easiest way for them to develop their skills.
Embedding team constructing activities into your BPO workflows can be a strong solution to engage employees. Strong interpersonal connections between team mates also encourages employees to share information and take responsibility for his or her work results. A study that involved surveying outsourced IT project employees in India, found that interpersonal interactions between employees influenced how well teams work together. The study’s authors said: “…despite the challenges with motivating empowerment and constructing rapport inside offshore project teams, these aspects are critical drivers of project success.”
5. Recognize and reward employees for his or her accomplishments.
In some ways, efforts to spice up engagement give attention to ensuring employees feel ‘seen’. Reward and recognition activities are explicit of their intention to focus on the contribution and value of employees, and offer a particular profit in turn.
BPOs can recognize and reward their employees for his or her accomplishments through formal recognition programs and software platforms, or more informal efforts to share praise and have a good time achievements like events.
Recent McKinsey research found that many employees are within the midst of re-assessing why and where they work. The research revealed that employees of companies with a great employee experience (EX) are “more inclined to surpass work expectations, having a 40 percent higher level of discretionary effort.” McKinsey posits that creating ‘moments that matter’ — comparable to acknowledging and rewarding good work — is important for implementing a successful EX model.
‘Rewards’ on offer may include financial incentives but money will not be the one solution to make employees feel prized. HBR reports that more symbolic rewards, like a customized card/note, public recognition by management, or a physical gift, could make employees feel significantly more valued. And feeling valued results in employees being more productive, satisfied with their company, less more likely to leave, and in addition setting an inspiring example that uplifts the performance of colleagues.
Create an outsourced workplace people don’t want to depart
Developing and implementing a particular engagement strategy is a smart move for outsourcing corporations with a big staff and high attrition rates, primarily since it forces a re-think about how you’ll be able to best empower your talent in a sustainable way.
Engagement hinges on promoting satisfaction, meaningful work, wellbeing, collaboration and transparency across a company — which advantages each individuals and your BPO’s overall culture and performance.
It may well result in a more open and effective workplace where people genuinely care about their work and their employer, even in the event that they’re not all the time completely happy. That makes it easier to discover and address problems, further pushing your team and business towards higher ways of working, together.
