Call centers are essential in brand building and customer retention within today’s highly competitive customer service field – establishing recognition and retainment among existing and prospective customers. An efficient team is vital to offer outstanding service quality at operational efficiency. Workforce Management (WFM) includes forecasting demand, scheduling employees, and monitoring performance results to provide satisfactory service while keeping operational costs within bounds.
WFM is a complete process used by organizations to guarantee that they have the correct amount of personnel with the right capabilities – accessible at the right time – to satisfy their operational requirements. It consists of several strategies for raising staff productivity, lowering labor costs, and maintaining service quality. WFM software is used across manufacturing, retailing, healthcare, and call centers, where worker allocation is crucial to fulfilling customer demands and meeting business goals.
The ultimate purpose of workforce management is to find the best possible balance between the expected workload and the number of agents scheduled. That entails using the fewest paid labor hours possible without risking income potential, badly hurting the employee experience, or exacerbating poor customer relations. A business able to strike this balance will reap rewards – including lower operational costs, decreased employee turnover rates, and greater customer satisfaction.
This article covers everything you need to know about WFM and how to get started with rolling it out in your operations.
Tools and Technology in Workforce Management
The call center environment has never been more complicated. Leaders must balance adaptable workforce levels, hybrid work environments, multi-channel customer engagement, and greater customer expectations while dealing with fewer agents and higher turnover rates. Contact center leaders want an effective workforce management solution to handle complexity in ways that promote better employee interactions, enhanced customer service, human resource management, and a favorable financial impact.
Advanced WFM relies heavily on software solutions that automate various operations. Such solutions utilize algorithms to predict demand and schedule staff in real-time, while monitoring actual performance in real-time. Advanced WFM systems integrate with call center technologies such as CRM systems and quality monitoring software to give managers an encompassing overview of workforce performance and operational outcomes.
A robust WFM solution should include the following:
- The ability to import historical data
- Forecasting
- Scheduling
- Intraday management
- Adherence
- Reporting and analytics
- Mobile
The Benefits of a WFM System
With a robust WFM system in place, call centers can:
- Improve Service Quality: Meeting customer expectations is vital in call centers, and efficient WFM ensures that there are enough agents to handle the workload without overburdening them
- Enhance Employee Experience: WFM can also promote better work-life balance for agents by creating fair and predictable schedules, reducing burnout, and increasing employee retention
- Reduce Operational Costs: By optimizing schedules and resource allocation, WFM minimizes idle time and unnecessary overtime, ensuring the center runs cost-effectively
- Increase Productivity: With agents appropriately scheduled and workloads evenly distributed, productivity naturally improves, leading to better performance metrics. Calls can also be directed to agents according to the skills required – ensuring a more satisfying outcome for both agent and customer.
Functions of WFM in a Contact Center
An effective workforce management process in any call center typically entails several essential pieces:
- Forecasting customer interaction volume
- Using the forecasted data to generate optimal agent schedules
- Assigning agents to schedules depending on their preferences and business requirements
- Managing intraday activity
Critically, each of these functions operates within a cycle – each part depends on input from its predecessor component to function effectively and continuously change over time.
Call Center Forecasting
WFM solutions can significantly enhance the accuracy and reliability of call center forecasting – leading to improved customer satisfaction, reduced costs and optimized operational efficiency.
What is WFM forecasting?
WFM forecasting predicts future workload volumes in a contact center, such as the number of calls, emails, chats, or other interactions expected during a specific period. Forecasting is an important part of WFM, ensuring that the correct number of agents with the right skills are scheduled to meet customer demand.
WFM forecasting involves analyzing historical data, identifying patterns (such as daily, weekly, or seasonal trends), and incorporating factors like marketing campaigns, holidays and product launches to make accurate predictions. It helps contact centers manage staffing levels efficiently by ensuring they have enough agents to handle the projected workload without overstaffing – which wastes resources – or understaffing – which can hurt service levels and customer satisfaction.
By leveraging WFM forecasting, call centers can improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and maintain high service quality by aligning staff availability with customer demand.
Getting Started with WFM
It’s clear that effective WFM brings multiple benefits to a contact center’s operations – but getting started can feel like a daunting process.
A platform like Bright Pattern’s Contact Center and Call Center Workforce Management is already built into Bright Pattern’s solution – reducing management complexity with no further integration required. It enables businesses to optimize agent scheduling, improve forecasting accuracy, and enhance operational efficiency.
Features include:
- Advanced Forecasting: Leveraging AI-powered forecasting algorithms, Bright Pattern accurately predicts call volumes, agent availability, and other relevant metrics
- Intelligent Scheduling: Automatically generates optimal agent schedules based on forecasted demand, agent skills and preferences
- Real-time Monitoring: Provides real-time visibility into call center performance, allowing for timely adjustments and proactive management
- Skill-Based Routing: This routing method directs calls to agents with the appropriate skills to handle specific inquiries, improving customer satisfaction and reducing average handle time (AHT)
- Agent Performance Management: Tracks agent performance metrics, provides feedback, and identifies areas for improvement
Bright Pattern CEO Michael McCloskey explained that they deal with many contact center managers who do not like their current WFM system as they can be “difficult and hard to manage”. Some contact centers even require a person or team to manage the WFM aspect. The fact that Bright Pattern’s WFM system is integrated with the existing call center solution is a game changer – making the management smoother and more efficient.
As the customer service landscape continues to evolve, investing in a robust WFM system is not just an operational upgrade – it’s a strategic move that positions your contact center for sustained success in an increasingly competitive market.
Implementing an advanced WFM solution, such as Bright Pattern’s integrated platform, simplifies the complexities of workforce management. From AI-powered forecasting to real-time performance tracking, these tools empower contact centers to operate more efficiently, meet customer expectations, and foster a positive work environment for agents.
Find out more at: https://www.brightpattern.com/call-center-software/
