Workforce Management Featured Article
Overcoming WFM Implementation Hurdles
The contact center is littered with obstacles. Well, allow me to clarify. Without the proper solutions in place the contact center is littered with obstacles. Innovation at hand is removing the complexity of customer service and putting your call center agents in a position to succeed. Today, let’s take a look at some common workforce management obstacles, and overcoming each.
Whenever you implement new software in the call center, you need agent support. The team needs to be behind the addition, as with WFM comes much in the way of change. From shift assignments and scheduling, to how hours are calculated and then some. It is important to introduce the team to the WFM software solution and clearly outline the benefits provided – not just to the business, but each individual team member.
Change can be a great thing, but too much change can be penal to operations. Educate the team on new policy, practices and processes, but be mindful that a staff requesting to only work specific shifts and hours can add up to over and under staffed shifts. A way to alleviate this problem is by prioritizing requests. For example, a sick child would be an appropriate reason to swap shifts – not tickets to the ball game.
WFM offers flexibility. This cannot be understated, as when fire drills happen, the system can adjust address operational need. The key to the emergency staffing scenario is call center management being ready to react on the real time data provided by the WFM solution in place.
Managing a contact center workforce is no small feat, but with the proper practices, policies and processes in place WFM can take operations to new heights.
Edited by Maurice Nagle
