Using Balanced Scorecards to Motivate Agents and Achieve Enterprise Goals

Agents want feedback about their performance; they want to know what they do well and how to do a better job. Many contact centers invest a great deal of time and effort in providing agents with timely feedback about how well they meet department standards for number of calls, average handle time (AHT), schedule adherence and quality assurance. The feedback is often delivered in a document or dashboard that look s like a report card. While this is a positive step in that agents are receiving frequent feedback, it often motivates the wrong behavior by emphasizing individual metrics instead of corporate goals, including the overall customer experience.

Balanced scorecards are intended to give agents and departments a broad, objective and realistic view of performance from the perspective of the enterprise and its customers. These essential management tools can shift the focus of a contact center from measuring a series of discrete key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluating how well each agent is helping the enterprise and contact center achieve their goals.

The difference between reporting KPIs and delivering balanced scorecards may seem subtle, but is a strategic differentiator for contact centers that have institutionalized this best practice. A balanced scorecard approach is highly motivating for agents because it shows the effect of their performance on the contact center, customers and the company’s bottom line.