Workforce management (WFM) technology has moved on leaps and bounds in the last 5 or 6 years so how confident are you that the system you bought into years ago is still fit for purpose in today’s challenging and complex customer environment?
We outline four key areas below that could signal it’s time for a change.
1. Struggling to schedule and forecast for non phone-based interactions
Can your existing WFM system plan, forecast and schedule agents to cover multiple contact types including email, web chat, social media and SMS? Customers today are evermore fickle, transient and demanding and the very best customer service operations are incorporating a blended resource planning and workforce planning strategy to deliver consistent service levels across all contact types. The ability to multi-skill not only optimises resource but also provides greater variety of work types for the agent.
2.Agents are unable to self-service and manage own workforce planning schedules
Agent attrition can be high and difficult to manage within acceptable levels, there is a lot of industry research to support the belief that agent empowerment and engagement impacts attrition. By empowering agents to request their own schedule changes, time off, shift swaps and view their performance, agents not only take more ownership, the contact centre can save significant time and resource in the administering of these workforce planning requests.
3.Agents cannot access schedules when they want, where they want, or on the device they want
Lifestyles are changing, people are increasingly managing their life on the go, whether it’s on their smartphone on the train home checking the following days shift schedules or planning family holidays on their tablet over the weekend and seeking instant access to available holiday slots. This is another quick win on the WFM agent engagement front by shaping your contact centre around the needs of your agents, rather that it all being one way traffic.
4.You cannot easily integrate your WFM system with packages like chat tools, email management systems or payroll
Linking to third party applications allows you to plan and forecast for all contact types so Workforce Management within the contact centre is not just limited to the front office. Administration is also reduced when connecting to payroll and time and attendance systems. Integration to performance management and quality metrics is also possible providing process improvement and coaching opportunities. Combining the right tools will improve forecasting, reduce administration time and offers more meaningful insight on operational performance.
If you think it’s time to review your workforce management system and want some ‘no obligation’ independent advice, contact us now.
