Motivating Hospital Call Center Agents: A Guide for Managers

We examined the stressful nature of hospital call center work in a recent post called “Why Hospital Call Center Agents Experience High Stress and How to Mitigate Stressors.” In this post, we want to offer guidance to managers about how they can address workplace challenges to help support their staff.

Our top tips encourage employee recognition, flexible work arrangements, and having a bit of fun on the job. These strategies foster a positive and productive work environment:

1. Recognize and Reward Achievements
Acknowledge individual accomplishments, whether a high-quality caller interaction or meeting a specific goal, and offer worthwhile incentives like bonuses, gift cards, or extra time off for outstanding performance. Celebrate successes in team meetings or company-wide announcements to boost morale.

2. Foster a Positive Work Environment
Encouraging teamwork, collaboration, and a sense of belonging is always essential, but there will still be issues. It’s critical that management addresses and resolves conflicts or concerns quickly to maintain a positive atmosphere.

3. Offer Opportunities for Growth
Invest in your agents’ skills to help them advance by offering opportunities for growth, and provide them with a clear outline of how they can progress within the organization. Help them along the way by encouraging mentorship and pairing experienced agents with newer ones to provide guidance and support.

4. Promote Work-Life Balance
Consider options like remote work or flexible hours. Encourage time off by reminding agents to take vacations and breaks to recharge.

5. Create a Fun and Engaging Workplace
Organize team-building activities to foster camaraderie, incorporate game elements into work tasks to make them more enjoyable, and acknowledge team or individual achievements with fun celebrations.

Offer Flexibility

Providing flexible work arrangements and options to work from home are attractive perks for job candidates, and can help ensure you always have a full crew. Flexible scheduling significantly reduces common stressors experienced by call center agents:

Reduced Commuting Stress: One of the major sources of stress for many workers is the daily commute. Allowing agents to work from home can eliminate the stress of traffic, public transportation, or long drives.

Improved Work-Life Balance: Employees appreciate flexible work arrangements that increase their autonomy and control, helping them balance their personal and professional lives, lessening stress and increasing job satisfaction.

Reduced Exposure to Workplace Stressors: Working from home can reduce workplace stressors such as loud environments, interruptions, and negative workplace interactions. Agents can create a more comfortable and personalized work environment and improve well-being.

Stress-Relieving Games and Challenges

Our white paper, Gamification in the Contact Center, mentions a survey that found employees felt more productive, happier, and motivated when gamification was used in the workplace. Here are some fun and engaging activities a call center manager might implement to help reduce agent stress:

Quick Stress-Reliever Games

• Mindfulness Minute: Encourage agents to take a short break every hour to focus on their breath and relax their bodies.
• Desk Yoga: Teach simple yoga poses that can be done at a desk to improve posture and reduce tension.
• Breathing Exercises: Guide agents through deep breathing techniques to calm their minds and bodies.

Team-Building Activities

• Virtual Escape Rooms: Engage teams in collaborative problem-solving to boost morale and teamwork.
• Online Trivia Time: Host virtual trivia contests to encourage friendly competition and laughter.
• Virtual Coffee Breaks: Schedule virtual coffee breaks for agents to socialize and relax.

Fun Challenges

• “Random Act of Kindness” Challenge: Encourage agents to perform random acts of kindness for colleagues.
• “Healthy Habits” Challenge: Promote healthy habits like drinking more water, eating fruits and vegetables, or getting enough sleep.
• “Step Challenge”: Inspire agents to compete in a walking or step challenge to promote physical activity and reduce stress.

Creative Outlets

• “Draw Your Day” Activity: Ask agents to draw, paint, create an image, or snap a photo of their day to express their emotions and release stress.
• “Write a Short Story” Activity: Encourage agents to write a short story or poem to explore their creativity and reduce stress.
• “Learn a New Skill or Try a New Hobby” Activity: Offer opportunities for agents to learn something new or try a new hobby.

By incorporating these tips into the workday, hospital call center managers can create a more positive and supportive work environment that reduces stress while encouraging high performance and job satisfaction.