Thanks to the evolved world of work in which we find ourselves in 2021, a flexible, intelligent workforce management (WFM) solution to manage teams has become vital. In the contact centre industry, for instance, remote and hybrid workforces have added a new layer of complexity just as other challenges such as increased call volume have reared their heads.
To that end, Calabrio has developed a calculator to establish the return on investment possible from implementing its WFM solution. The tool helps customers to discover labour savings and administrative time reductions as well as potential gains in agent adherence and attrition rates.
In an exclusive interview, CX Today welcomes Graeme Gabriel, Sales Engineer at Calabrio, to discuss the calculator and walk us through the ins and outs of the return on investment (ROI) for WFM in a remote world.
Calculating WFM’s ROI
“We've gone through years of deployment data with customers and looked at the benefits those different customers are seeing. As part of our implementation process, we measure performance against criteria that we originally specified in the project,” Graeme Gabriel begins.
Interrogating that data allows Calabrio to provide potential customers a baseline, gleaned from starting points and objectives. “That foundation is always very conservative so we provide an estimate on the lower end,” adds Graeme.
“However, it does allow us to give an indication based on real data and real customers. This means we can predict what we think you could achieve based on where you're starting from and what your appetite is for change”
Graeme emphasises that WFM can result in comprehensive business benefits as opposed to purely cost savings. While it can enable customers to maintain the status quo at a lower cost, reinvestment can improve the experience of both customers and agents. “What we're absolutely not advocating is that you implement WFM and then reduce your staff count, because there is often a much bigger win to be had,” says Graeme. “Most customers want to improve service in areas such as staff retention, customer satisfaction and the customer journey and the benefits as well as savings from automating WFM processes makes that possible.”
Undoubtedly, managing and growing a remote workforce while keeping it engaged is a tall order without a dedicated WFM solution. “Not only does it become more difficult to have team meetings or see people in person, it is also necessary to consider the different demands that someone has on their time when they are working from home,” says Graeme. “They might have different preferences - for instance someone who doesn’t have to travel to the office might prefer to work an earlier shift than they would otherwise have signed up to. Catering for that level of flexibility without any kind of advanced planning system is really difficult, which is why we have seen a big increase in people coming to the market for a universal solution capable of managing this type of situation.”
Emphasising Employee Satisfaction
Aside from agent work-life flexibility, employee well-being is another crucial element of a comprehensive WFM offering. Calabrio’s own WFM solution benefits from the company’s extensive decades of experience in the industry and its early adoption of the cloud, but it also draws from a culture where employee satisfaction is prized.