WFM for Beginners

Overview

The Workforce Management (WFM) process ensures that properly trained people are working optimized schedules to answer contacts with the highest resulting service level. Activities include forecasting, scheduling, communicating schedules to people, and real-time adjustments to meet changing circumstances. A specialized application like Eleveo WFM can be used to automate the process and accurately predict and schedule the correct number of people for a contact center.

Forecasting

Forecasting is the process of predicting how many calls, emails, or chats the contact center receives in a given time period. From this, the number of people needed to handle them can be calculated. Usually, forecasting is done based on historical data, which is used as a model to predict workloads in the future. Historical data, containing information on call volume in regular time intervals, is taken from Automated Call Distribution (ACD) systems such as Cisco UCCE/X or others.

Historical data includes unusual events, such as:

• High call volumes, for example, as a result of promotions or service, system, or power outages, which are normally removed from workload data for forecasting.

• Regular, predictable deviations from call volumes, for example, public holidays; these are normally saved as special templates to use for special-day forecasts in the future.

Analysts need to compare their forecasts with reality to decide if unusual data should be included in a given forecast or not. If an event is not likely to occur again, it can be safely removed from the forecast. Additionally, current developments or changes in the business model should be included in the forecast. Potential growth or market changes that are not visible in historical data may be added manually.

Scheduling

Scheduling is the process of planning the work schedule for the calculated number of people. Schedules are created based on the workload forecast.

Several factors that influence the scheduling process are:

• Multiple queues – Not all people can handle the same tasks.

• Contracts and labor law – Legally required minimum breaks between shifts, such as the EU law stating that workers must have a minimum 11-hour rest period between the end of one working day and the start of the next.

• Union rules – Changing working patterns can be seen as exploitation.

• Different activities or absences – Such as Islamic prayer breaks (up to five a day), jury service, compulsory military service, and similar; some may be paid and some not.

• Shrinkage – The process of compensating for the loss of resources due to time off or sickness. Some contact centers also factor in other non-productive activities, such as meetings or training, but this is not standard.

Fairness in shift distribution also plays an important role in schedule creation. This can often be a key factor in gaining acceptance for a new WFM system from trade unions.

Typical WFM Process

WFM processes are similar in most contact centers. The table below describes an example of a process and related actions.

Common Challenges

Some challenges can be easily recognized in most contact centers when it comes to planning the work of people:

• Workload volume is usually not evenly distributed during the day — a contact center can be overstaffed or understaffed depending on the time of day.

• Workload is also usually not evenly distributed during the month and year — a contact center can be overstaffed or understaffed depending on the month, season, or day of the week.

• Some events cannot be predicted, for example, a loss of service that causes high call volume in a support contact center.

• Shrinkage must be included in planning, for example, to account for unpredictable absences.

• Staff turnover requires ongoing training of new people as others leave.

• Forecasts based on historical data usually require manual corrections and adjustments.

• There is a risk of errors caused by human factors.

Benefits of Using the Eleveo WFM Application