Workforce optimization (WFO) is not a new concept for many contact centers. Nevertheless, few operations currently have a thriving WFO strategy in place.
Missing out on this opportunity can thwart agent experience, leading to demotivation, absence, and often attrition.
As such, WFO is moving back into the fray with contact centers seeking to engage the next generation of agents working from new environments.
To help kickstart these WFO journeys, operations can take inspiration from our seven expert roundtable panelists. This month, they include:
- Janice Rapp, Vice President of CCaaS, Product Marketing at 8x8
- Trudy Cannon, Strategic Solutions Consultant at Verint
- Neil Draycott, Head of WEM Practice at Business Systems
- Graeme Meikle, Senior Consultant at Calabrio
- Scott Budding, Head of WFO at Sabio
- Natalie Mackay, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Alvaria
- Ben Willmott, Technical Solutions Consultant at Route 101
Below, they answer several questions, sharing insights that may inform innovative WFO strategies that will inspire the agent experiences of tomorrow.
Which WFM Trends are Helping to Optimize Agent Performance?
Rapp: There are a few key trends helping agents optimize their performance. WFM solutions that allow agents to better manage their time across synchronous and asynchronous channels serve to improve agent satisfaction and retention. This also allows agents to schedule breaks from handling live interactions, instead offering them the opportunity to respond via email.
A second trend is the introduction of AI-based WFM for automating routine tasks, like call volume forecasting, schedule management, performance tracking, budget and resource allocation, timekeeping, and attendance management. In particular, automated scheduling will likely become more common as more employees work remotely, often in different locations and time zones, making manual scheduling a more complex task.
Lastly, many organizations will begin incorporating supplemental staff, whether part-time or gig workers, into the WFM scheduling and forecasting. Automated processes for adding/reducing staffing based upon surges and lulls will support this strategy.
Cannon: Workforce management (WFM) is the foundation of the contact center, enabling optimal forecasting and scheduling of the right amount of agents at the right time.
Optimal coverage contributes to excellent contact center performance. However, to truly understand what drives performance, WFM solutions must optimize performance by going beyond standard reporting.
Real-time visibility into agent performance is vital in today’s contact center, which now operates in fully remote or hybrid work environments.
In this new post-pandemic model, contact centers should encourage and empower agents with the information and tools they need to meet changing customer needs.
Many that do so harness real-time coaching, a technology that listens to customer calls as they happen and automatically identifies opportunities to guide interactions toward better outcomes.
The solution also triggers coaching alerts, offering immediate advice to agents, ranging from knowledge to empathy and compliance. This benefits new agents and veterans by creating learning moments that will stay with them long-term, resulting in better performance and happier customers.
Draycott: WFM Trend #1: WFM Technology in the Back Office
Workforce management is for more than managing contact center agents. Many companies now adopt WFM technology to handle back office tasks and employees, who frequently outnumber contact center agents.
By using WFM technology to better understand the ebb and flow of work within the back office, businesses can effectively predict when their contact center may see an increase in calls due to a claim or order being processed. They may then staff accordingly.
WFM Trend #2: Size Becomes Less of a WFM Adoption Barrier
WFM technology is no longer used only by enterprise-level contact centers. The ROI gained from this solution is now palpable through metrics including forecasting accuracy, shrinkage, and cost efficiency.
Indeed, many solution experts now offer easy-to-use online WFM ROI calculators to help clients understand the potential savings a WFM solution can bring, regardless of contact center size.
WFM Trend #3: Automation
Another trend to consider is automation to maximize agent efforts and combat rising customer demand.
Automating agent communication and automatically adjusting schedules based on pre-set parameters are good examples of automation capabilities within a WFM solution.
Meikle: Organizations are rethinking what flexibility means for their remote and hybrid teams, with Calabrio research indicating that after higher pay, agents want flexibility (at 34%).
As such, savvy contact centers are increasing their focus on WFO technology and techniques that support 'lifestyle scheduling' to accommodate new work-from-home (WFH) regimes.
Indeed, operations are becoming more creative, introducing initiatives such as shift bidding to allow agents to view and select their first and second choices of available, unassigned shifts. Moreover, they are also trialing remote micro-shifts that offer agents the chance to make more money with a quick one- or two-hour shift at a time that works for them.
Meanwhile, self-service automation advancements allow agents to build and edit their schedules in real-time using their mobile devices. These schedules can automatically consider worktime regulations, wherever teams may be, for better compliance management.
Budding: WFM vendors are increasing their focus on providing self-service capabilities that improve employee engagement.
Automated holiday bookings and shift trading are not WFM staples, but more organizations are utilizing this, and more nifty features that include:
- Automated overtime requests and bookings
- Agent shift bidding and preference setting
- Gamification
- Agent WFM mobile apps
Each functionality makes employees happier in their roles. And, as the adage goes: happier employees = more productive employees.
Another trend is the introduction of improved forecasting and intraday management capabilities. AI forecasting advancements, best-fit algorithms, and automated "reforecasting" with the latest data are helping to change the game.
The improvements continue to enable contact centers to plan more effectively and prevent hostile working environments that agents despise.
Finally, WFM solutions leverage more data and insights from performance management solutions. As such, operations can seamlessly schedule sufficient time to coach agents, improving their overall quality and productivity.
Mackay: Contact centers focus on balancing operational efficiency with agent engagement, now more than ever. With costly agent attrition continuing to be problematic, especially regarding events like the Great Resignation, contact centers must keep their agents engaged and happy or risk losing them.
WFM solutions can increase engagement and reduce attrition by offering more control and flexibility for agents to pick and choose their schedules. Some technologies also provide agents with robust self-service scheduling options and real-time communication with their team from a mobile device or on the web. Such capabilities give agents a say in their work schedule, while real-time notifications keep supervisors informed.
Willmott: A buoyant job market means retaining agents is more challenging than ever. Luckily, WFM tools are increasingly offering the ability to balance agent flexibility with business demand, enabling contact centers to provide a better work-life balance.
When operations achieve this, they lower churn and enhance efficiency. Team empowerment also rises as agents gain more control over their schedules through autonomous shift swapping and bidding.
Yet, WFM is only part of performance management. Contact centers must consider a more holistic approach, tying workforce and quality management together.
In doing so, businesses may identify top performer traits and use WFM for buddy and team scheduling, ensuring that the contact center has the right mix of skills.
Are Contact Centers Changing How They Motivate Their Teams?
Rapp: Agents have one of the most challenging roles in an organisation. They’re on the frontline and constantly deal with many cases and customers. Lots of these interactions are fraught with frustration.
As such, agents are on the receiving end of a lot of negativity, which contributes to high attrition rates that become costly for the contact center.
As a result, contact center leaders and supervisors are beginning to look at how to engage and empower frontline agents in a way that helps them feel more connected to the business while also realizing their work's value.
In action, this may include targeted coaching and training to set agents up for success, collaborative team sessions, gamification and motivation programs, and shift bidding or swapping, to name a few.
To further encourage employees, organizations can invest in achievement recognition, alongside offering remote or hybrid work options for those agents demonstrating exemplary performance and schedule adherence.
Cannon: The intersection of workforce engagement and employee wellness is approaching. Before the pandemic, performance statistics drove motivations. Now, the need to move beyond average handle time, schedule adherence, and quality scores to motivate teams is palpable.
Indeed, recent employment trends such as the Great Resignation make agent retention challenging. Thankfully there are many ways to cut churn. A recent Gallup survey showed that employees who feel their employer cares about their wellbeing are 69 percent less likely to actively search for a job. As such, WFM solutions that support employee wellness through flexibility and personalization can bring many benefits.
Giving agents flexibility in scheduling delivers them more control of their workday and supports work/life balance goals. An agent WFM app, which comes with many modern solutions, helps here, enabling agents to easily manage their schedules on the go. The solution may also build break time into each shift and schedule specific tasks such as email and chat to best suit their daily workflow.
Organizations rely on WFM to raise employee engagement with remote work here to stay. For example, automated quality management solutions ensure employees get the necessary coaching, training, and support. This process is critical to providing a supportive work environment in the hybrid world.
Draycott: Offering Multiple Shift Patterns.
Many contact centers have boosted agent engagement by optimizing their shift patterns. Offering multiple options to agents provides flexibility. These may include:
- Fixed Shifts: These allow agents to work the same shift repeatedly. They also make it easier for employees to schedule family events, doctor appointments, daycare, etc.
- Flexi Shifts: This shift pattern acts as a layer over base staffing, whereby contracts are based on allocating hours at short notice to cover peaks.
- Split Shifts: These may help cover start and end-of-day coverage, facilitating employees with children at school who may prefer annualized hours contracts.
Offering agents the added benefit of shift bidding, shift trading, and self-service functionality also helps motivate employees, lowering attrition and absence costs.
Uncovering Customer Intent.
Customer complaints often de-motivate agents. Tracing the beginnings of why a customer may have gotten in touch as opposed to whether the agent resolved it can lead to significant complaint reductions and more efficient staff.
Interestingly, contact centers have started to track this metric more. Why? Because knowing why customers make contact helps identify gaps in agent training and broken workflows in the customer journey. Fixing these will improve customer and agent experiences alongside critical business outcomes.
Meikle: According to a Calabrio study, 62 percent of customers want 'more emotional empathy from agents', and this demand for 'soft skills' is revolutionizing how contact centers recruit, train, and monitor their staff.
Agents expect more frequent, personalized, and flexible support tailored to their skills and behaviors rather than the vanilla-flavor training they usually receive.
Modern performance coaching solutions enable managers to develop effective training programs that help staff deliver the fast, efficient, empathetic experience that customers crave.
Moreover, they harness automation to track both "hard skills" - such as compliance - and "soft skills" - including empathy, politeness, and patience - across all contact center interactions, identifying opportunities for personal development.
From there, the technology automatically schedules training for them based on individual metrics or skills gaps.
The solution may also suggest relevant training materials and harness gamification dashboards, offering agents a visual illustration of their improvement.
Finally, such technology can identify the best coaches and the most efficient individual training methods, providing a holistic view of contact center performance.
Budding: More and more organizations are moving away from traditional KPIs such as annual handling time (AHT). It’s not to say they do not track AHT- as handling time discrepancies often spotlight broken processes - but they do not measure their people on the AHT.
Organizations are more interested in outcomes. As a result, they are motivating teams by incentivizing them to deliver terrific service experiences. They are switching their focus to qualitative measures, concentrating on quality scores (across more interactions), customer satisfaction (CSAT), and net promoter score (NPS).
They also motivate people by increasing the focus and efforts on improving wellbeing and employee mental health. By creating flexible working environments and developing new agent support mechanisms, forward-thinking contact centers motivate teams to not only be at work, but to do a good job when they are there. WFO is a crucial enabler to making this happen.
Mackay: Contact centers are evolving how they motivate agents, with the majority (70 percent) of their workforce comprising of Gen Z and Gen Y/Millennials. The motivational needs and preferences of these groups differ from previous generations.
Janice Rapp[/caption]
Trudy Cannon[/caption]
Neil Draycott[/caption]
Graeme Meikle[/caption]
Scott Budding[/caption]
Natalie Mackay[/caption]
Ben Willmott[/caption]
