Workforce Optimization Featured Article

Companies Get Creative in Rewarding Top Performers to Retain Talent

In most organizations, the cost of labor has been pegged at 70 percent of expenses. In the contact center, which experiences more turnover than any other business function in the enterprise, the costs can be even higher. When you’re forced to replace one-third of your workforce every year (and some subsets of the call center industry such as outbound calling have even higher turnover rates), you’re constantly in recruiting, hiring and training mode. This not only costs money and time managers don’t have, but it’s often your best talent walking out the door only to be replaced by a rookie, which doesn’t bode well for the quality of customer support being offered.

Of course, paying all employees higher salaries to retain talent doesn’t make sense either. It’s expensive and you’re rewarding mediocre agents for borderline performances. For many companies, the way to retain the best talent and let the slackers walk has been to offer generous compensation, rewards and bonuses to the top performers. This has been particularly true in Indian contact centers, according to a recent article by Anumeha Chaturvedi and Devina Sengupta writing for the Times of India.

Late last year, 3,000 employees of global consulting and business process outsourcing firm Infosys (News - Alert) received an Apple iPhone 6 and a letter from their CEO as a holiday bonus, according to Times.

“HCL gave best employees a Mercedes A180 CDI and international holidays for friends and family,” wrote Chaturvedi and Sengupta. “ITeS [Information Technology Enabled Service] company Aegis says this year the variable bonus is expected to be more than 100 percent as compared to last year's 90-100 percent.”

While new cars and trips to tropical locations may be beyond the scope for most companies – and particularly contact center workers – rewards on a smaller scale can be very effective at showing employees they are appreciated. This show of appreciation for work well done is one of the most critical elements in promoting employee engagement.

Indian companies offering the perks – and some of them have been as sky-high as paying for top managers to attend Harvard Business School – has definitely helped retain talent. While writing a big check for a bonus may be effective, some Indian companies have said that firms involved in employee engagement are reporting that rewards are even more effective when they are personalized and foster a great experience, such as a fancy restaurant dinner for an employee and his or her family, complete with a chauffeured limo, according to the Times.

Consider tailoring your employee perks to individual agents who perform above and beyond the call of duty. An employee of the month reward might involve a trip to the city for dinner or a show, a parking spot in front of the building for a month, or a spa gift certificate. The more personal you can become in rewarding your agents who do a great job, the deeper the employee engagement will be.