Call Center Management Featured Article
The Benefits of Workforce Management in your Call Center Staffing Strategy
Your ability to keep staffing levels in equilibrium with the demands of your call center are crucial to the success of your communication operation. Workforce management software can help accomplish this balance by offering call center managers a way to quickly and effectively forecast and optimize schedules for the week. A workforce management solution in your call center provides you with several advantages over spreadsheets in scheduling processes.
First of all, a WFM program will allow for more accurate forecasting. By documenting and archiving information on the fluctuations of seasonal call volume, workforce management systems provide you with an intuitive and more clearly denoted sense of what’s on the horizon. They also allow for drills, with different scenarios that can help you determine effective staff levels in advance.
The ability to schedule call and non call activities is also a distinct advantage to using a workforce management program compared to legacy schedule management. By pinpointing lulls and peaks in call volume, you can more efficiently schedule training or other essential off-phone requirements. You’ll also know in advance which days will require your agent’s full attention.
The flexibility granted by a WFM will be appreciated by workers and managers alike. As Monet software points out in a recent blog post, “With a WFM solution call centers are able to implement a more flexible schedule to address center needs (fluctuating call volumes) and agents needs (flexible start/end time, time off), resulting in higher center productivity.”
Last but not least, a workforce management utility can help curb shrinkage and spur schedule adherence amongst your workforce. With real-time adherence and adherence reports you, can more effectively work with agents on reducing shrinkage, better educate agents about impact of adherence and set measurable goals. In addition, you will be better prepared to provide incentives that motivate adherence behavior.
So ditch the spreadsheets in favor a power and more effect workforce management solution in your call center scheduling strategy.
Chris DiMarco is a Web Editor for TMCnet. He holds a master's degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University. Prior to joining TMC (News - Alert) Chris worked with e-commerce provider Suresource as a contact center representative and development analyst. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Rich Steeves