Workforce Management Featured Article
April 08, 2013
Workforce Management Can Improve Agent Adherence - if Used Correctly
Scheduling for the extensive activities that need to take place within the call center is something that used to demand a manual approach. Supervisors and call center managers often had to focus much of their time of forecasting for volume, scheduling according to availability and monitoring for adherence.
The last task listed, monitoring for adherence, is one of those requirements that is easily too time consuming. Agents know how to share availability, check the schedule for assigned shifts and request changes when the need arises. But, when they aren’t adhering to the schedule as posted and spending too much time completing tasks off the phone, scheduling statistics are thrown off. As a result, call center leaders have to monitor adherence, something that once took considerable time through manual processes.
A recent Monet Software blog examined this trend and the importance of schedule adherence in the application of a robust workforce management solution. With this automated platform, this task is completed in less time and with greater accuracy as compared with the traditional manual approach. In fact, Monet Software’s workforce management solution allows for adherence tracking and reporting in real-time.
To provide optimal value to the call center, the solution will track data on every status related to adherence, whether it’s a lunch break, coaching, agents off the clock for vacation time or any other status. Through the workforce management dashboard, this information is easily accessible and managers have the ability to compare an agent’s actual activities throughout the day against the overall company objective.
A call center manager can also use the dashboard to create custom states and guidelines that can be used to address atypical needs for the specific call center that may include work after-hours, special assignments, or out-of-office training. These guidelines are customized and set according to states or statuses that must be included in schedule adherence measurement. At that point, the workforce management system will do the rest.
For a user's convenience, different states are color-coded for easy monitoring from the dashboard. At that point, managers can easily review the efforts of each agent and classify work time as being performed within schedule adherence, or determine where the agent may be falling short. In doing so, the manager can shore up any productivity impacts due to time spent away from assigned functions.
Minor exceptions and changes can easily happen and are expected throughout the course of the standard call center day. These slight changes don’t have to significantly impact scheduling or the productivity of the center as a robust workforce management solution simplifies the process and keeps track of time that truly impacts overall performance.
Edited by Ashley Caputo