Overcoming Employees’ Objection to Call Monitoring

“Mon­i­tor­ing makes me ner­vous.”

Have you ever heard this from one of your front-line rep­re­sen­ta­tives (either cus­tomer ser­vice, tech­ni­cal sup­port, or inside sales)? If so, you’re not alone. This is a fre­quent objec­tion from employ­ees whose calls, e-mails, and chat ses­sions are monitored.

Mon­i­tor­ing is an essen­tial tool in coach­ing your employ­ees and improv­ing your company’s level of ser­vice, sales, and pro­duc­tiv­ity, but get­ting your employ­ees accept being mon­i­tored can be a challenge.

The rea­son mon­i­tor­ing is such a vital part of assess­ing per­for­mance is that it’s the only way to know what your employ­ees’ strengths and areas of oppor­tu­nity are (at least as they relate to com­mu­ni­cat­ing with cus­tomers). Although mon­i­tor­ing is a very valu­able and com­mon­place func­tion, many employ­ees aren’t com­fort­able with it, and as a result they resist with a vari­ety of objections.

Fol­low­ing are some com­mon objec­tions you might hear from your front-line employees—and some solu­tions for over­com­ing them.

“It’s an inva­sion of my privacy.”

• Reas­sure your employ­ees that mon­i­tor­ing is help­ful to both the organization’s suc­cess and to their career devel­op­ment. For exam­ple, you can use what you hear while mon­i­tor­ing to help improve the cus­tomer expe­ri­ence, by giv­ing good sug­ges­tions to employ­ees. You can praise pos­i­tive per­for­mance more than crit­i­ciz­ing mistakes.
• Walk the talk. Never mon­i­tor per­sonal conversations.
• Pro­vide employ­ees with access to the company’s mon­i­tor­ing guide­lines so that they’re fully informed—and know how to succeed.

“You’re just look­ing for some­thing that I’m doing wrong.”

• Remind employ­ees that the ulti­mate goal of mon­i­tor­ing is to improve qual­ity, pro­duc­tiv­ity, and cus­tomer satisfaction.
• Assure employ­ees that your mon­i­tor­ing is as much about dis­cov­er­ing their strengths as it is about find­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for improvement.
• Prove to employ­ees that you mon­i­tor to find out what they are doing right. Praise your employees—regularly and sincerely—when they per­form well.

“You don’t trust that I know what I’m doing.”

• Remind employ­ees how valu­able they are to the team and how much con­fi­dence you have in them.
• Point out that all front-line rep­re­sen­ta­tives are mon­i­tored; no one is sin­gled out.
• Solicit ideas and advice from your employ­ees regard­ing per­for­mance improve­ment and cus­tomer sat­is­fac­tion. This lets them know that you trust them.

“You’re try­ing to micro­man­age me.”

• Reas­sure employ­ees that mon­i­tor­ing is not a tool to micro­man­age, but a way to improve over­all qual­ity and productivity,
• When mak­ing a sug­ges­tion for improve­ment, be sure to include why it’s impor­tant or how it will pro­vide the cus­tomer with a bet­ter expe­ri­ence. This will help the employee see the sug­ges­tion in the greater con­text of the rea­son for the call.

“You’re just pick­ing on me.”

• Assure employ­ees that every­one is being mon­i­tored reg­u­larly, using the same assess­ment form. Be sure to share the form with your employees.
• Be sure to spend equal time mon­i­tor­ing all employ­ees. Even your best employ­ees need to be mon­i­tored and pro­vided with feedback.

When you hear employ­ees’ objec­tions, do your best to lis­ten and empathize—and to elicit their coop­er­a­tion in over­com­ing the con­cerns and objec­tions. And be sure to point out the ben­e­fits of mon­i­tor­ing, such as:

• Mon­i­tor­ing cus­tomer con­tacts makes you aware of employ­ees’ strengths and areas for improve­ment, so you can pro­vide them with nec­es­sary train­ing and tools if needed.
• Mon­i­tor­ing pro­vides you with real-life sce­nar­ios and exam­ples that can be used in train­ing and coach­ing ses­sions with employees.
• Mon­i­tor­ing forms give employ­ees tan­gi­ble exam­ples of what they’re doing well in their cus­tomer con­tacts. This is ben­e­fi­cial when it comes to yearly per­for­mance reviews.

Over­come these objec­tions to mon­i­tor­ing, and follow-up your mon­i­tor­ing ses­sions with effec­tive coach­ing tech­niques, and your employ­ees will soon look for­ward to being mon­i­tored and coached.