You’ve got to nourish and nurture your people in order to keep them! There’s a lifespan for every role in business, including customer service. Although we know it’s inevitable that staff will eventually move on, you need to make sure that your very best staff stay with you for the long term. That’s why you need to engage your staff with your brand from the outset by providing a clear plan for people development, so they feel responsible for delivering on its promises. When people feel empowered, they tend to be more loyal and committed.
There are many ways to progress staff who show promise beyond promoting them or increasing their salary – you can also extend their responsibilities by allowing them to take on such tasks as chairing meetings, telesales training, representing your department at company meetings, attending conferences, seminars and exhibitions, showing visitors around, or even passing on their skills to less experienced staff members so the people development you’ve provided will trickle down through your entire organisation.
These star performers will feel appreciated and enjoy the new challenges, while their colleagues will benefit directly from their experience on top of any other customer service training or sales training courses you offer them.
Money is definitely a driver for peak performance, although it’s not the main one. People have to feel valued, stimulated and stretched at work, or they will inevitably leave. Interestingly, in the top 10 factors that determine people’s happiness at work, money rates fifth! In fact, studies show that someone who is genuinely happy in their job will need at least a 30% increase in salary before they will consider moving, so use a little creativity when it comes to developing their talents and offer them any people development or leadership skills training they may need.
