Research shows that employee engagement and customer satisfaction are at their lowest during January. Companies report more complaints during this period and customer service employees state January as their least productive month. Customers therefore expect the service they receive in January to be poor. Keeping employees motivated and customer satisfaction high is set to be even more of an obstacle this month. 

Yet more than ever customer satisfaction is needed to help businesses on the brink grow and bring in new customers. This article looks at some of the ways to keep your staff motivated and customer service high this January.

Communicate openly

Sharing company financial information and what the year ahead looks like will help employees feel like they are part of the wider business aims. They may then proactively offer to help if they know the business needs more help one particular area. Shielding information from staff can be damaging as they are likely to come to their own conclusions which can increase stress levels and demotivate employees.

Create a forum for issues

Management are often not aware of some of the issues within their teams that lead to dissatisfaction and demotivation. Creating a forum where issues can be submitted and importantly addressed will help motivate employees to continue to provide good customer service. Make it clear that all issues no matter how small can be submitted, sometimes solving seemingly small issues such as desk location or lack of equipment can help improve productivity.

Show your appreciation

Showing you appreciate your employees doesn’t have to mean bonuses or expensive rewards. Saying thank you and having personal conversations to show employees you care about them and the work they are doing is valued highly by employees. When employees feel appreciated, they are more likely to go above and beyond to excel in their role.

Follow through on plans

It doesn’t take much to lose the trust of your employees. Management who over promise and underdeliver on engagement plans can cause more harm than delivering a simple idea well. Any ideas to improve employee engagement must be followed through to the end, this includes promising employees’ regular bonuses or rewards. 

Lead by example

If you expect your customer service employees to go the extra mile and provide excellent service during January, then it must be implemented at every level of the business. Employers need to lead by example and show they are committed to helping settle difficult customer service issues. Getting all levels of the company involved in the customer service process will show the importance and often difficult nature of the role. Customer service employees are likely to feel more valued if the management take notice of their hard work.