Workforce Management (WFM) products are geared towards your organisations most important asset – your people and in particular how they are deployed, assessed and developed.   The right system will help contact centres align resources with phone, mail, fax, email and other work type demands, getting the right people in the right place at the right time to meet customer needs.

But what does this have to do with attrition I hear you ask? Implementing the right system can reduce absenteeism and attrition – how?  Because it offers your workforce greater interest in what they do and a more flexible life style. Agents can bid for their preferred schedules or shifts or trade them with other agents on virtual bulletin boards. They can also initiate and track changes for requests to their schedules and manage their holiday, paid time off and other personal time requests.

‘What-if’ scenario testing can be used to identify how many agents you need on a particular day, what skills they should have and whether you can staff the call centre using an agent’s preferred working window? You are effectively shifting the dynamics of how the business works, giving you the ability to plan and react to change as it happens, which not only impacts revenue but also the perception of ‘value’ the call centre offers within an organisation. With management emphasis focussed firmly on what the workforce wants, the culture changes and morale improves.
 
From the managerial or supervisor perspective efficiency also improves; overstaffing is reduced and there is better utilisation of resource. Staff can be rotated around different job roles reducing job dissatisfaction whilst giving them the opportunity to develop new skills.

Data captured within the WFM systems can also highlight a need for more training and even give the agent the opportunity to request this for themselves with self-service coaching modules. WFM systems are designed to improve service levels and with the right planning and implementation (don’t be coy about requesting outside help here) you will in turn end up with happier management, happier customers and ultimately happier agents. In summary – a good result!