Broadband remuneration schemes, and why they're important to customer service employees

If you're serious about customer service as a career, one important topic that will cross your mind is remuneration -- how will you get paid like a professional, in a sustainable fashion that will ensure the prosperity of you and your family? The thinking has always been that to earn more, you need to do more; whether it's more hours, or by taking on more responsibility; eventually leading to a management position. For a lot of people, management simply isn't their thing; so if you're going to go pro in customer service, how do you continue to develop more earning power without having to step into management?

Traditional remuneration schemes are what I call "narrowband", in the sense that each position offers quite a limited scope of earning potential, driving the notion that people have to get continually promoted to earn more.

I see two downsides to this: firstly as an employee, it creates a situation where I have to move further away from what I love doing (looking after customers); and secondly as an employer, I have to promote people to their "level  of incompetence". In essence, it's more often a lose-lose situation for everyone.

I cite these downfalls primarily from my experience in the contact center world, where all too often I saw employees who were fantastic customer service representatives pushing themselves towards supervisory and managerial roles that they really didn't want, simply to earn more money and provide a better future for their family.

The immediate result is a square peg in a round hole; someone who doesn't want to be in the job, irregardless of whether they had the skills necessary for the role. Desire and passion are first and foremost in determining the level of any employee's performance. Without these two elements, you basically have a robot, and ultimately the situation will go south.

The long term result, and the real impact these "promotions to incompetence" have, is that they starve the frontline of superstars; people who's desire and passion for customer service made them excellent performers. Unfortunately it's this very same passion and desire that puts them on the radar for promotion in the first place.

So not only does the employee lose, and eventually the employer, but also the customers are losing in the most direct way possible -- losing those that serve them well.

Broadband remuneration schemes recognize this dilemma, and address it through overlapping pay grades that allow employees to be remunerated broadly while staying in the same position, generally linked to performance advancement rather than promotion. Basically, you can earn the same or more as you would in a higher position, without leaving your current role. By simply excelling at that role and going to higher levels of performance, you then have the ability to access the pay rates of higher positions without becoming a supervisor or manager.

Here's an example of one scheme I developed and implemented:

The scheme recognizes three distinct bands, called here "inbound", "backend", and "operations". Within each band, there are varying grades defined by set performance metrics or additional responsibilities within the role, that employees to expand their skill sets and deliver better results, without having to consider shifting bands unless they really want to.

At first glance, many people push back at these schemes when they see, for instance, that a level 5 customer service representative will earn more than a level 1 supervisor, because the traditional mentality would then ask "why would anyone want to become a supervisor, if a senior customer service representative is earning the same or more?". It's a valid question, but it's steeped in the old world thinking that people only go for higher positions to earn more money.

By turning this concept on it's head, we now recognize that people want to go for higher positions for career and skills advancement, which does eventually offer better pay (generally only after performance levels are established), but it's now a more long-term action, rather than simply meeting the short term goal of increased remuneration.

Those that love doing what they do, and who aren't interested in climbing the corporate ladder, can now focus towards becoming the best they can be at their present position; ensuring the front line will always have ample supply of excellent performers, while also fighting the battle against attrition. Employers also benefit from having appropriately motivated people moving up the career chain, and in the long term everybody wins; employees, employers, and customers.

You'll start to see more and more companies implementing similar schemes in the near future, as they scramble for new strategies to ensure longevity in their customer service resources, and take steps to retain their talent and avoid the costs of attrition.

Similarly, those in the frontlines will become more committed to fulfilling their career goals by staying in a role that they love passionately, that fulfills them, and gives them the satisfaction that they are actively contributing to the success of the companies they work for.

Going pro in customer service is a serious opportunity for employees, so start thinking about how you can use this strategy in your business sooner rather than later, and reap the benefits from having a motivated group of people serving your customers with excellence and passion.