Driving CSR Engagement During Hypergrowth at Uber
Snapshot
Company: Uber
Role: Community Operations Manager
Audience: Contract Customer Support Representatives (CSRs)
Team size: 13 direct reports (plus broader CSR org influence)
Goal:
Increase engagement, performance, and retention among contract CSRs during a period of rapid organizational change.
Context
I joined Uber’s support organization in 2014, during a phase of intense global growth. As the company scaled, Support underwent a major shift, moving from localized, high-touch teams to a standardized, global operating model.
In the short term, this created a gap.
Uber was handling tens of thousands of support tickets per day, many of them complex, while core systems and offshore processes were still being built. To manage the volume, Uber partnered with a third-party vendor to hire contract CSRs.
My role — along with other Community Operations Managers — was to manage these CSRs and ensure they met performance goals.
The Problem: Low Engagement, High Risk
While contractors were essential to keeping Support running, engagement was a growing issue.
Many CSRs joined Uber believing the role could be a “foot in the door” to a full-time position. In reality, rapid growth and shifting priorities made it difficult to give clear answers about future headcount, even for managers.
Over time, this led to:
CSRs feeling undervalued or temporary
Declining morale
High turnover
In some cases, performance gaming to hit quotas
This was risky. CSRs were the frontline of the Uber experience, and disengaged support directly impacted riders and drivers.
Strategy
I wanted to help CSRs feel:
Seen
Valued
Connected to each other and the company
Proud of their work
Rather than relying on policy or process changes, I leaned into my background in content and community-building to create human-centered engagement programs that worked within our constraints.
Execution
1. Building community through internal content
I partnered with:
Two Community Operations Managers
An internal content strategist
Two CSRs who volunteered to help shape the work
Together, we created:
A weekly internal newsletter (reworking an existing policy-heavy update email into something engaging)
A monthly podcast featuring CSRs from across the U.S.
CSRs helped shape the content, topics, and tone, which gave them ownership and ensured relevance.
2. Putting CSRs center stage
Each podcast episode featured an interview with a CSR, highlighting:
Their background
Their approach to solving tough tickets
Their life outside of Uber
It humanized a distributed workforce and helped CSRs feel recognized as individuals. We also learned just how talented and interesting this group was, from voice actors to musicians.
3. Driving performance through visibility and peer learning
For my team of 13 CSRs, I piloted a performance-focused initiative that was later adopted by other managers.
Instead of reviewing metrics privately, I introduced:
A weekly leaderboard showing performance rankings
Public recognition, prizes, and shoutouts for top performers
Group discussions where high performers shared how they solved challenging tickets
This created positive social proof and shifted performance conversations from punitive to collaborative.
I also launched a buddy system, pairing high performers with lower performers to provide peer coaching and support.
Results
Internal newsletter + podcast increased email open rates by 25%
Received positive feedback from ~50 CSRs, including requests to be featured
Buddy system improved low performers’ metrics by 25%
Increased engagement and participation in team meetings
Leaderboard and recognition system was adopted by other managers
Why This Mattered
This work didn’t just improve morale, it improved outcomes.
By creating visibility, community, and ownership, we:
Reduced disengagement
Improved performance consistency
Helped CSRs feel like partners in Uber’s growth, even as contractors
It also reinforced something I’ve carried throughout my career: content isn’t just a growth lever, it’s a culture lever.
