Workforce Management Featured Article
Increasing Efficiency and Reducing Costs with Workforce Management
Companies today understand that, while the expectations of the customer experience they offer are higher than ever, their resources and budgets are not unlimited. What this means is that most contact centers are looking for ways to increase efficiency and reduce costs while simultaneously improving the customer experience. One way to do this is to ensure that your organization’s workforce management solution is optimized. Service and contact center efficiency is enhanced when the right number of agents (with the necessary skills) is taking care of customers quickly and efficiently.
In a recent video produced to highlight customer successes, Monet Software (News - Alert) revealed that one customer saw a 20 percent rise in contact center adherence after only two weeks of using Monet’s workforce optimization solution. Another customer went from 119 agents to 94, while still maintaining a 98 percent service level. Another customer found they needed to spend 20 hours fewer each week on the creation of agent schedules. A modern workforce management solution can reduce shrinkage by 10 to 20 minutes per agent, per day, which translates to an improved customer experience and reduced costs.
One of the best benefits of workforce management is the elimination of unexpected call volume spikes, which cost companies customer goodwill and agent attrition. With a good schedule, abandon rates drop to the low single digits without the need to hire more agents. With WFM Live’s forecasting feature, some customers have cut agent idle time by 62 percent, according to Monet. (You can watch a demo of the solution here.)
By using a workforce management solution in the cloud rather than an older premise-based solution (or spreadsheets), companies can centralize their scheduling and take advantage of cost- and efficiency-saving options such as distributed contact centers or home-based agents. They can also bring mobile workers into the company’s workforce optimization and scheduling processes. Centralized administration brings a “big picture” view of the efficiency of the contact center and the quality of service being offered, helping companies make effective changes in their operations to bring up numbers while simultaneously bringing down costs.
An additional benefit of modern workforce management is a reduction in agent attrition: an efficiently run and properly scheduled contact center is less frustrating to work for, and agents are free to do their jobs rather than cope with emergencies, helping you keep your agents AND your customers more loyal.
Edited by Alicia Young