Recognition and reward are essential in any workplace, but in a busy contact centre, where performance is constantly measured and targets are tight, they can make a particularly big impact.
Call Centre Helper’s Jonty Pearce, spoke to Catherine Miles, Project Manager at The Contact Company, and Julie Smith, Contact Centre Manager at HM Revenue & Customs, about reward and recognition for their staff.
Video: Call Centre Reward and Recognition
Watch the video below to hear Catherine and Julie share how they create meaningful recognition for their teams:
With thanks to the following people for contributing to this video:
- Catherine Miles, Project Manager at The Contact Company
- Julie Smith, Contact Centre Manager at HM Revenue & Customs
Three Ways to Improve Contact Centre Reward and Recognition
Here’s a look at the three practical and proven approaches they suggested:
1. Ask What Your People Actually Want
Rather than guessing what might be appreciated, one organisation keeps things simple – they ask employees directly.
The options are wide-ranging: from nights out and gift vouchers to more personal benefits like duvet days, longer lunch breaks, or early finishes.
“We offer various different types of reward, a lot of that is around recognition. So that’s both internally and working with our clients.
But also, it’s those things that people want to have, and one of the things that we found really works very well is asking our employees what they want.
And that can be anything from nights out with meals, through to vouchers. You know it’s not necessarily always about money, it’s about you know having a duvet day, leaving a little bit earlier, having a longer lunch. It’s all those things that make a difference to them as individuals.” – Catherine
It’s not always about the money. Sometimes the most appreciated rewards are small gestures that respect work-life balance and individual preferences.
2. Celebrate Contribution and Role Modelling
Recognition isn’t just about outcomes – it’s also about behaviours. Some contact centres focus on recognising people who go above and beyond, whether that’s improving a process, delivering great service, or acting as a role model for others.
“In terms of reward and recognition, obviously we like to recognize contributions from our advisors. Whether that’s in terms of improving the business, improving the customer experience, or indeed acting as role models themselves for our other advisors.
And we might reward our staff in terms of a general thank you from a senior manager, a certificate which might be presented on a certain official day, more of a ceremony, or we have a Stair Awards Board where we display somebody’s photo and name on our celebrating success board.” – Julie
The recognition might be a simple thank you from a senior leader, a certificate handed out at a special event, or even a spot on a ‘celebrating success’ board with their photo and name.
These visible tokens of appreciation reinforce positive actions and foster a culture of peer-to-peer respect.
3. Keep It Consistent and Personal
Alongside more formal recognition, having a structured system to track performance and development helps make sure good work is seen and supported.
A personal development and evaluation process can ensure achievements aren’t overlooked, and that growth is part of day-to-day conversations, as Julie explains:
“To support that recognition we also have a personal development and evaluation system which runs throughout the year and that really identifies people’s achievements and also their development needs as the year progresses.”
But it’s often the simplest gesture that matters most. A personal, well-timed thank you – face-to-face or from a senior leader – can go a long way.
“That really work works for our staff obviously people are motivated by different things, but that simple form of recognition really does pay off dividends in terms of morale, and motivation.
And really generating that team success, and that team achievement. A general Thank You works really well.” – Julie
It costs nothing, but it builds morale, reinforces trust, and supports a positive team culture.
Author: Jonty Pearce
Published On: 8th Dec 2010 - Last modified: 1st May 2025
Read more about - Video, Incentives, Motivation, Reward and Recognition, Staff Recognition
excellent ! and Well Done Jonty ! as you have added face to the voices and letters ! Make it perennial !
Regards
Mathew
So, not content with becoming the leading on-line newsletter, you’re now going to be a video star?
Very good start.
Can we get some juicy ‘wiki-leaks’ type interviews next?
Carl.