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Use Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Chapter 17 of the Call Centre Motivation Workbook
The Science of Motivation
The science of motivation is a large and complex area. For the purpose of this workshop, we will skim the surface of the topic in order to provide a simple and practical interpretation which you can instantly apply to the role of a call centre supervisor.
It is important to understand what motivation is in order to learn how it applies to a call centre situation. A very basic definition of motivation would be "that which impels a person to action".
Of course that which impels a person to action will vary from individual to individual and at different times. The father of motivational theory was Abraham Maslow, who developed a pyramid theory concerning what motivates people.
- Self fulfilment
- Ego
- Acceptance by equals
- Safety/Security
- Drink, Food, Sex
Maslow believed that people's desires changed as they reached each stage of the pyramid.
We can apply that theory to our staff to learn how to motivate them.
For example, a young single person might need to earn money to stay alive and enjoy a good social life and would therefore be at the lowest level of the pyramid. He or she would be motivated by earning money with which to have fun.
Someone buying their first property would likely be risk averse as they take advantage of a mortgage for the first time. They would be motivated by job security.
A great team player might be motivated by the need to be accepted by the other members of the team and may put all her energy into enriching the team's success.
A maverick top closer may be hungry to be the best in the telesales team and need to satisfy her own ego.
A customer service agent writing a book on customer handling might be motivated by developing his skills to such a level that he could talk about them on paper.
Whatever the stage of the pyramid, successful call centre supervisors motivate their teams by matching activities, incentives, vocabulary - even salaries and commission to their staff's motivating factors.
When considering how to motivate someone to achieve excellence, be aware that they can come down the ladder as well as climbing it. And they can move more than one step at a time. It is important to understand what motivates telesales staff. To find out, ask them.
A useful means of keeping tabs on key motivators is by carrying out an audit on your team. Using Maslow's pyramid, think about the members of your own team. What do you think motivates them?
| Name | Motivator & Reason | Accurate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 | |||
| 5 | |||
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| 7 | |||
| 8 | |||
| 9 | |||
| 10 | |||
| 11 | |||
| 12 |
When you get back to the office, ask each team member how accurate you were in your perception.
Personality Types and Maslow's Theory
We can take our simple application of Maslow's theory one step further, by linking it to a system which classifies people as certain personality types.
There are several systems for classifying personality types and some are very sophisticated.
For the purposes of this essay, let's take a simple system, which identifies 4 main personality types:
- Amiables
- Good listeners who like to give support to their colleagues
- Expressives
- Big egos, non-confrontational, seeking applause, theatrical
- Analyticals
- A bit slow, like to gather all the facts, detailed
- Drivers
- Often good salespeople, arrogant, impatient, results oriented
Not everyone will fall exactly into a given type and you may find all kinds of hybrids, however some members of your team will be clearly recognisable.
Once you have identified who is who, you can link your findings to Maslow's pyramid.
For example, an amiable will often be motivated by helping one of his colleagues to achieve a step on Maslow's pyramid; perhaps helping someone get through their trial period to a state of safety and security.
Expressives can be driven to greater heights by explaining how much more they will be loved when they have achieved some task.
Remember, they're seeking applause.
Analyticals can be motivated by having them design a plan to move towards another step on the pyramid. They'll plod along their plan till they get there.
Drivers may be the easiest to motivate. You just keep rewarding them for their efforts and moving the goalposts.
