What Walmart Has in Common with Call Center Scheduling

There are times the largest discount retailer doesn’t seem to have customer care in mind. During a recent stop at our local Walmart, it was clear that the stocker was much more concerned with getting his product on the shelves then letting a customer retrieve one of the items for purchase. It was during the afternoon and the store was rather busy. Will this particular customer come back to get the item or find another provider?

This is just one example of the many ways our local Walmart seems to have forgotten the core reason they are in business – to serve the local customer. Without those who roam the aisles and fill their carts to overflowing, there is no reason to be open. Customers seem to be willing to put up with a lot, but are lower prices enough to keep them coming back?

In a customer service move, it appears that the retailer may be taking customer care a little more seriously while also catering to the employee base. According to a post in Fortune, Walmart has put a new employee scheduling system in place. The goal, according to the company, is to improve staffing levels during peak shopping times for 650 U.S. stores. The company also hopes to provide employees with more certainty over their hours.

The new system, the Customer First Scheduling platform, allows associates to choose what hours they want and see if those particular hours are available. The system will also prioritize scheduling for peak shopping hours, taking into account foot traffic and sales data from each department within the store. The remaining shifts are then allocated to available staff members in the order of importance.

While the system is still new, employees and market experts watching the transition are still unclear as to the overall impact. The company claims this is a move to improve customer care and give employees more control, it could also end up limiting overtime opportunities, something retailer workers tend to rely on as part of their income.

Still, a process to better forecast and schedule according to needs is something the contact center has long practiced. Proven environments rely on robust call center scheduling platforms that ensure the right number of agents with the right skillsets are available at the right time. This helps to cut down on customer hold times and eliminate idle time when too many employees are scheduled for a given shift.

Robust call center scheduling is also important to ensure employees have the hours they need and can also help to reduce absenteeism, schedule adherence issues and even employee disengagement. With a clear focus on improving interactions overall, everyone wins.

Edited by Alicia Young