Call Center Management Featured Article
Workforce Management by Spreadsheet Leads to Spot-Checking and Inefficiencies
The call center, like any other department in a company, is a tool. Just like any tool, how it’s used will determine whether it loses money or makes money. An inefficiently run contact center will act as a cost sink, sucking up money and offering very little in return. Regardless of how well trained agents are or how great a company’s products and services are, if resources are being wasted, most efforts will be in vain.
In day-to-day contact center operations, two of the key drivers for cost savings are schedule adherence and optimization of daily agent rituals like breaks and lunches, according to a recent blog post by Monet Software’s CEO Chuck Ciarlo. Despite this, many companies still attempt to forecast and schedule using spreadsheets and tired, dated algorithms that don’t take into effect the multichannel nature of today’s contact center. Workforce management solutions, on the other hand, are designed to take all factors and all channels into consideration.
“With spreadsheets only limited spot-checking is possible. When you can’t monitor adherence in real time, there is bound to be higher shrinkage and either over- or understaffing. Result? Missed service levels, and wasted resources. By switching from spreadsheets to workforce management software, real time adherence and monitoring is possible. That restores service levels to projected levels, while reducing shrinkage by as much as 15 minutes per agent day.”
Many of today’s solutions even contain mobile integration, so managers can receive alerts and reports on their mobile devices if agents are out-of-adherence based on custom thresholds. This allows managers to be more mobile instead of being chained to a desktop.
Modern workforce management also allows contact centers to optimize their downtime. Slow call volume needn’t be a waste of money if managers ensure that the downtime is used productively, for training. And by correctly scheduling lunch breaks and other approved time away from the desk, managers can make the most of the time agents do spend at their desks.
“How managers schedule lunches and approved breaks, and how well agents adhere to the time allowed for them, can have a tremendous impact on staffing costs and productivity,” writes Ciarlo. “At most call centers, these shrinkage rates fall somewhere between 20% and 35% with an effective WFM solution, depending on the size of the business. And when shrinkage rates fall, productivity and profits increase.”
While many companies believe that sticking with spreadsheets rather than investing in workforce management is saving them money, in reality the opposite is likely true.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi