Schedule Adherence Critical to Call Center Success

Call centers tend to be very complex and hard to manage. One of the most important things a call center manager can do is create an agent schedule and have them stick to it. Even if only one or two agents fail to adhere to the schedules, this can have a dramatic impact on service level and customer service. Schedule adherence is one of the main ways call center managers achieve labor efficiencies and improve customer service.

Not only must a call center manager stay on top of its agents to make sure they are clocking in and out on time, but they must also ensure that each agent is completing the work in a timely and efficient manner. The most important thing is to have the correct agents with the right skills in the proper job position.

Monet Software said regardless of how many agents you have in a call center; schedule adherence could make the difference between serious revenues or serious losses.

“Schedule adherence is particularly important for ensuring smooth transitions between shifts,” said the company on its official blog. “If you run a small call center with 5 to 20 agents, you might think schedule adherence isn’t all that important. But if you take a closer look at all the different junctures throughout the day where agent time is “lost,” you’ll realize that it can add up to a serious loss of revenue over the course of a year.”

Companies need to make sure to impress upon the call center managers, supervisors, and staff about the importance of schedule adherence on a daily basis. Schedule adherence can include everything from introducing a new phone system to log phone hours, implementation of goals for the employees to track their work, monitor employees breaks and shift transitions, to rewarding employees for proper schedule adherence.

The most important thing a company could do is to provide incentives. Rewarding agents can help boost morale and make agents want to work that much harder.

Monet said, “Reward agents that adhere to their schedule through recognition within the team and tie bonuses to good scores. It is also critical that all agents are aware of the consequences of out-of-adherence behavior, as this establishes their responsibility towards the success of a call center.”

The bottom line when it comes to scheduling is that you need to move from enforcing adherence to enabling adherence by making sure employees are educated and aware of the call centers goals. 

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Edited by Amanda Ciccatelli