The 5-P PrescriPTion for “GeTTinG”Workforce ManaGeMenT

Authored for NICE Systems by Wise Workforce Strategies

www.nice.com

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TaBLe of conTenTs

eXecUTiVe sUMMarY ................................................................................. 3

The iMPorTance of “GeTTinG” Workforce ManaGeMenT ................. 3

The 5-P PrescriPTion ............................................................................... 3

I. Principles ............................................................... 4

II. Practice ................................................................. 4

III. Products ............................................................... 5

IV. Process ................................................................. 6

IV. People ................................................................... 6

caLL To acTion ........................................................................................... 7

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eXecUTiVe sUMMarYIf you’re a contact center leader responsible for your operation’s results, chances are you’re familiar with the phrase “do more with less.” These four little words sound so simple, but the task of handling more customer contacts with fewer agent resources is anything but, especially when service level expectations are hanging over your head.

It may be comforting to know that you’re not alone. Contact center leaders around the globe face the same challenge but not all experience the same results. In many cases, the difference between a center’s ability to handle customer demand consistently within service level comes down to the leader’s understanding of and appreciation for the workforce management (WFM) function. Wise contact center leaders know that their businesses just don’t work (or at least not very well) when people in the center don’t get WFM.

The iMPorTance of “GeTTinG” Workforce ManaGeMenTWorkforce management is one of the least understood functions in the contact center industry. Even those who have worked in and around contact centers for most of their adult lives struggle with offering a definition of WFM beyond “getting the right people in the right place at the right time.” This catch phrase might be sufficient when explaining WFM to your grandmother, but those responsible for leading contact centers and driving their results must cultivate a deeper understanding.

Consider this: contact center staff and labor equates to approximately 75% of an organization’s total costs, with the other 25% attributed to facilities, technology and networking related expenses. There is one function in your contact center responsible for the forecasting, scheduling and efficient use of the bulk of that labor and that function is workforce management. Therefore, what you, and other key personnel within your organization, don’t know about workforce management could be

costing you thousands if not millions of dollars in lost customer revenue, administrative overhead and unnecessary labor expenses.

If maximizing service while minimizing cost is an expectation at your center, you can no longer afford to not “get” workforce management.

The 5-P PrescriPTionThere are 5 essential elements, or “P’s,” every contact center leader should understand and embrace if he wants to “get” workforce management: Principles, Practice, Product, Process and People. Think of them as vitamins necessary for the health of your contact center. A high-level overview (or single dose) of the 5-P’s won’t transform you into a workforce management guru, and, fortunately, that’s not the objective. But what they will do is put you on the path towards improving your contact center’s results through a greater understanding that will lead to better decision-making. The more you invest in developing your understanding of these elements, and that of your staff, the more potential you develop for cutting costs without sacrificing customer service and agent satisfaction.

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The first “P” of WFM is PRINCIPLES. Principles represent the fundamental “truths” about the manner in which contact centers ensure their customer contacts are handled efficiently. Like the fundamental truths of physics at work in the universe, workforce management principles are at work in your contact center whether you understand them or not.

There are four main categories of WFM principles conveniently corresponding with the four primary functions of contact center workforce management: forecasting, scheduling, intraday management and performance reporting.

■ Forecasting Principles support your contact center’s need to accurately predict how many agent resources need to be hired and scheduled in order to handle anticipated customer contacts

■ Scheduling Principles support your contact center’s need to efficiently schedule agent resources and operational activities in order to cover forecasted resource requirements while minimizing labor costs

■ Intraday Management Principles support your contact center’s need to proactively respond to changes in customer demand and agent availability in order to meet contact handling objectives consistently throughout the day

■ Performance Reporting Principles support your contact center’s need to monitor its effectiveness against a set of metrics so that any issues can be identified and eliminated in the future

Applicable to all contact center organizations, workforce management principles are there to provide the necessary foundation for the decisions you make about how you staff your contact center, the technology you use, the processes you put in place and roles and responsibilities you assign to your team.

Principles PrAcTice

The second essential “P” of WFM is PRACTICE. Practice represents the business decisions, management philosophies and parameters you place around how you want to run your contact center organization. Unlike principles, which are universally applicable to all contact center environments, workforce management practices are tailored to each specific contact center operation.

At various stages throughout your contact center’s history, a variety of decisions were made that served to establish the business practices at your center. At some point, someone had to answer questions like:

■ What should our hours of operation be? Should we be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., or would 24 x 7 be better?

■ What service level goal should we set for our various call types? Should we use the same goal for all of them?

■ How should we skill our agents? Should they be skilled to handle only one or two contact types? Or would it be better if our agents were cross-trained and could handle everything?

■ What kind of agents should we hire? Is it necessary for everyone to work full-time, or should we use some part-time staff? Would it be helpful to implement a work-at-home program?

■ How do we want agents to select their vacation time? Should we have them bid for vacation on an annual basis, or would it be better for them to schedule it ad-hoc?

■ What’s the best scheduling methodology to use? Should we conduct periodic schedule bids, or should schedules vary every week? Should breaks and lunches be fixed or flexible? Should assignments be based upon seniority, performance or both?

■ What policies should we put in place regarding attendance and schedule adherence?

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Workforce management products are the third essential “P” of WFM. The term refers to the solutions, systems, tools and technology used to automate the WFM function within your contact center. In some operations with fewer than 50 agents, Excel spreadsheets are sufficient for creating basic forecasts and schedules. But with more agents comes more complexity making it necessary for most contact centers to leave their spreadsheets behind and graduate to an automated WFM system.

Standard capabilities available in most of today’s workforce management systems include:

■ The ability to integrate with contact distribution systems in order to collect historical data

■ The ability to automatically general long-term and short-term forecasts of contacts and average handling times (AHT’s)

■ The ability to calculate agent resource requirements

■ The ability to automatically schedule agents considering requirements, planned activities and individual agent work rules and preferences

■ The ability to manage requirements and schedules within the day in reaction to changes in volumes, handling times and agent availability

■ The ability to report on various aspects of contact center, team and individual agent performance

Advanced capabilities available in some workforce management systems include:

■ The ability to simulate the impact your specific routing environment, scheduling practices and agent skills have on forecasted requirements

All of these decisions have a significant impact on an operation’s ability to service customer contacts efficiently. These parameters should be based not only the nature of your specific business and the demographics of your center, but also upon a fundamental understanding of the workforce management principles in play. Keep in mind that “best” practices are only best when they support the unique needs of your specific contact center environment.

■ The ability to support more than just inbound calls (outbound, chat, email, back-office processing, etc.)

■ The ability to streamline tasks and communication with agents and supervisors via self-service tools

Regardless of the complexity of your contact center, there is significant return on investment (ROI) potential associated with implementing a workforce management system. Note that the word “potential” is used deliberately because much of the ROI is dependent upon your organization’s implementation and continued use of the system. WFM systems, by design, are intended to marry universal workforce management principles with your operation’s specific business practices. As a result, if your business practices are not principle-based, and your users of the WFM system don’t know what they’re doing, no workforce management system will help you in your goal of handling customer contacts more efficiently.

PrODUcTs

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This brings us to our fifth and final “P” of workforce management and that is PEOPLE. The people element represents the roles and responsibilities of those who actually do the work of workforce management.

A common misconception is that the entire responsibility of workforce management rests on the shoulders of those who happen to work on the workforce management team. Sure, forecasters, schedulers and intraday administrators have their role. But in reality, everyone at your center (agents through executives) plays some part in ensuring your customer contacts are handled efficiently.

Unfortunately, in too many organizations, not enough people appreciate the criticality of the workforce function and fail to see the role they play in making it work. As a result, people often work against each other instead of with each other in an attempt to meet your contact center’s objectives. It’s your role as a leader to set the stage by educating everyone on the 5-P’s of WFM, and in doing so, establish a culture of collaboration. When people understand the necessity and criticality of the workforce management function, they will begin to see WFM for what it truly is: the heart of your contact center’s operation.

The fourth essential “P” of workforce management is PROCESS. Process represents the various activities and tasks associated with actually performing the work of workforce management. If workforce management principles provides us with a guide for how to efficiently handle customer contacts, workforce management processes gives us a roadmap for what to do when.

Big center or small center, documented or not, regimented or ad-hoc, every contact center has processes for…

■ Deciding how many agents to hire and staff (FORECASTING)

■ Determining who works when and how to accommodate activities like vacation, training and meetings (SCHEDULING)

■ Reacting to intraday customer demand and staffing availability (INTRADAY MANAGEMENT)

■ Measuring individual agent and contact center performance (PERFORMANCE REPORTING)

It’s not for the lack of processes that our contact center workforce functions get off track. But when those processes are not documented and shared with affected members of your organization, your contact center is vulnerable to a key member of your WFM team winning the lottery (or getting hit by a bus). Neither scenario is good for you and both have the potential to put critical portions of your workforce management function on hold. This is especially true if your contact center’s workforce management department is staffed by a team of one (which, by the way, is not recommended, even in the smallest of organizations).

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caLL To acTionRegardless of your contact center’s size, location, or customer profile, your center exists for one primary reason: to handle customer contacts and to handle them efficiently. Making this happen consistently is really what workforce management is all about.

As a leader within your contact center organization, you’re the person who is ultimately responsible for your contact center’s results. If your center’s results are not as healthy as you’d like them to be, follow this 5-P prescription:

Principles Practices Products Process People

Foster a better understanding of workforce management principles throughout your organization

Revisit and revise, as needed, the established practices at your center

Review your current WFM technology and determine if additional investment is needed (this includes identifying if users need additional training)

Ensure major WFM-related processes are documented and communicated with those affected

Create a culture of collaboration so that the people at your contact center understand that workforce management is everyone’s job

When workforce management doesn’t function, your contact center doesn’t function. Putting your organization’s results on the road to recovery is possible when you “get” WFM and actually take your 5-P prescription. Doing so will have you doing more with less in no time.

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DATE 4/2014 • WP- 00000 • CONTENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT ARE COPYRIGHT © 2014.