The Top 5 Workforce Management Misconceptions in Contact Centre Operations

By Dean Couchman, Resource Planning Consultant, GMT Corporation

Although studies show that workforce management (WFM) solutions can improve customer experience and employee morale, as well as reduce costs, many businesses shy away from implementing these solutions in their contact centres. In this post, I’ll review and demystify the five most common misconceptions businesses have about WFM solutions with the hope that businesses can start to realize the true potential of WFM.

1.    Excel Spreadsheets Are As Good As WFM Solutions

Many operations rely heavily on spreadsheets for forecasting, staffing requirements and scheduling. Spreadsheets, however, work best in very predictable operations where call flows remain constant, as opposed to operations where call volume frequently fluctuates. In those types of environments, spreadsheets are limiting because they aren’t able to take into account:

1.    Trends – Forecasting requires the inclusion of all trends and the exclusion of aberrant data, but many spreadsheets omit trends (day of week, week of month, month of year, seasonality, year on year) and aberrant data (be these entire days or intervals of a day) that could skew results.

2.    Operational Factors When Scheduling – Many spreadsheets overlook key factors, such as budgets and working practices (i.e. working time directives, proficiency of employees, employee availability/preferences and long term abstractions).

3.    Intraday Analysis – Spreadsheets generally cannot actively monitor supply and demand or make the subtle changes required to factor breaks, absenteeism, adherence, and any exceptions to create the best fit schedules possible. It’s also difficult for spreadsheets to schedule multi-skilled agents according to the “best fit” for the forecasted demand.

Overall, spreadsheets are most effective for fixed shifts and small-scale operations. But as a business grows, spreadsheet usage could have a more negative impact on the business, resulting in:

• Overstaffing or offering non-required overtime
• Poor customer service
• Resource consumption (spreadsheet completion time)
• Size / power constraints of the IT resources available

2.    Workforce Management Is Too Costly For My Business

The presumption for most small businesses is that WFM solutions are simply too costly; however, generally this is untrue. In most cases, as long as the operation is 25 seats or more and flexible shifts exist, then a return on investment is possible.

WFM brings businesses a number of key advantages due to the ability to optimise forecasting and scheduling, including:

Overtime and overstaffing reduction
Periods of understaffing reduced
Better shift distribution to match demand. This results in fewer abandoned calls, greater occupancy (but without quiet/busy periods), greater service level and customer experience
Reduction in processing time for resourcing teams. A WFM solution automatically generates the forecast and schedules, freeing up time for proactive planning and management.

When pulling all the factors together, cost savings can be had and return on investment found without the fear of headcount reductions. This in turn alleviates any employee fear of burnout resulting from long days or high occupancy. In addition, customer calls get answered quicker by happier employees, who then provide better service, which generates greater customer confidence and growth. The resource planning department can also be far more proactive as the time-consuming tasks of creating sheets, copying data into them and then trying manually for best fit is now done automatically. As a result, the resource planning department has more time to pro-actively plan and prepare the future events.

3.    Winning Hearts And Minds Is An Uphill Battle

When a WFM system is introduced into a business, acceptance from all levels is key to success. Yet most employees tend to fear that such systems translate into potential job cuts. But this is not always the case.

Winning employee acceptance is best accomplished by including them in the project from the start and explaining the benefits they may experience from WFM. Potential benefits include:

• Constant but “nicer” working days – shift optimisation means the workload should flow evenly across the day with fewer busy/quiet periods.
• Greater self-management via web portals, which allow:

o    Shift visibility in advance
o    Holiday availability that can be seen and booked
o    Real-time performance statistics
o    Availability that can easily be changed

• Constructive guidance and support for the business and agents to aid performance, rather than a “big brother” disciplinary tool designed to highlight agent failures.

In summary, including employees via newsletter or bulletin from the start of the project can be pivotal to the success of a WFM implementation.

4.    WFM Solutions Require High Maintenance

It is generally believed that the IT costs of running and maintaining a WFM system are high. Yet, in many cases, the system itself rarely requires a large specification and can be run via a dedicated server or VMware etc. Similarly, the software and locally installed applications are generally stable and require minimal updates or upgrades.

5.    WFM Solutions Have Complicated Interfaces

The learning curve is a common problem with sophisticated software solutions. If employees aren’t trained properly, not only does productivity suffer, but frustration can affect performance and increase attrition — all of which affects the customer experience.

While WFM solutions are powerful, sophisticated tools, they are not necessarily difficult to learn to use effectively. Many solutions on the market today include process automation wizards that help streamline routine or multiple-step tasks, making them easy for an adequately trained user to master.

When considering a WFM solution, businesses should look for a solution provider that offers:

• A training plan tailored to each individual user role in the organisation.
• A thorough support plan that will make on-going support available during the company’s hours of operation and provide a mechanism for trouble reporting and resolution.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dean Couchman has 11 years of Resource Planning at a senior level and Workforce Management experience across a large number of sectors including financial services, television, voice to text conversion, along with multiple years of training experience with Workforce Management System support companies including Vodafone, TNT, Barclays, Thomas Cook, HBOS and Capita DSG. Dean has been responsible for successful training engagements at Sussex Police Force, data collation and database build for Direct Wines, Lancashire Police, and the recent sales support, database build and training at Co-op Membership Services.

ABOUT GMT

GMT’s workforce management and performance optimisation solutions create competitive advantage by enabling companies to improve customer service and sales across their enterprise, while decreasing their labour expenses. GMT serves enterprise clients across multiple vertical industries worldwide, including Eurostar, Active Health Partners, Ingenico, West Midlands Police, Contact 1-2-1 and Yarra Valley Water. GMT is privately held with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, and offices in the U.K. and Australia. For more information, visit www.gmt.com.