How do you schedule your agents to ensure you’re operating at maximum efficiency? Are you running off a manual spreadsheet? Or perhaps you’re using a basic scheduling tool like Google Calendar or When I Work? But what happens when you need to make intraday changes or when you have a seasonal spike coming up?
As your organization grows, it’s time to stop winging your workforce management. Employing technology sounds complicated, but it’s not. The right tool is your secret sauce to smooth operations. It’s the behind-the-scenes hero that predicts your staffing needs, ensures employees stick to their schedules, and keeps the show on the road.
So, what is WFM exactly? Let’s dive in.
What is WFM?
In a nutshell, workforce management (or WFM) is a method or tool you use to make sure you always have the right number of people in the right place at the right time to meet your contact center’s demands. In simpler terms, it’s how you ensure you have the right resources exactly when you need them.
From forecasting the number of agents you’ll need on a Monday morning to ensuring your team isn’t slacking off during their shift, WFM tools and strategies help you streamline operations and manage your workforce effectively. Without WFM, you’d either have too many agents twiddling their thumbs sitting idle or too few to handle the flood of customer inquiries.
Understanding the Core Components of Workforce Management
Workforce management is like my dad’s old Swiss Army knife for contact centers. It has a few super sharp tools that make it work and make your life much easier. Below, we’ll break down the core components.
Forecasting and Scheduling
This is the bread and butter of WFM. Predicting demand (or, you know, forecasting) helps you prepare for volume peaks and valleys. It looks at past data to find trends to help you with your resource allotment. For instance, Mondays might be hectic for your team, but Friday afternoons? Not so much.
Once you have a forecast, the next step is scheduling your agents. WFM software ensures enough agents are scheduled to cover the predicted demand without overstaffing. It’s the perfect balancing act of making sure no one’s sitting idle and no customer is stuck on hold forever.
Real-Time Adherence Monitoring
Real-time adherence lets you keep an eye on whether your agents are sticking to their schedules. Think of it like the referee at a football game — it makes sure everyone is in position, and no one is offside. If someone is supposed to be answering calls but they’ve hit the kitchen to grab a snack and chat with a friend, the right WFM tools will let you know. This ensures smooth operation without too much downtime.
Reporting and Analytics
It’s cliché but true: data is king. It unlocks trends and gaps while giving you an accurate look at your contact center’s operations. Detailed reports help you understand what’s going on in your center using agent performance and operational efficiency.
Are there times when you’re short-staffed? Which agents are knocking it out of the park? Who might need a nudge? Reporting and analytics help you to find the answers and optimize your people and processes so everyone is more satisfied with their experience.
The Key Benefits of Adding WFM to Your Contact Center
Still wondering why WFM is a better option than manual methods of scheduling? Sure, manually managing and planning your workforce is more cost-efficient in the short term. But over time, is it? (Spoiler alert: it’s not.)
Below are some top benefits of adding WFM to your contact center.
Improved Operational Efficiency
What is WFM known for? Improving your team’s operational efficiency. The software optimizes staffing by predicting demand, meaning you’re never under or overstaffed. No more scrambling when things get busy or wasting money during slow periods.
Enhanced Service Quality
When you have the right number of agents on deck, your customers get the help they need. And they get it fast. This means fewer grumpy (or, dare I say, irate) customers waiting on hold and more agents ready to help when needed. Ultimately, your service quality gets a nice bump.
Increased Agent Satisfaction
Believe it or not, WFM doesn’t just benefit management. It’s a win for your agents, too. Clear, predictable schedules help employees balance their work and personal lives more effectively. Plus, fewer stressful shifts mean happier, more motivated agents who aren’t looking to jump ship at the next opportunity.
Better Reporting Capabilities
As mentioned above, data is everything. It’s the foundation of your entire contact center and should be used to optimize your processes and technology. What is WFM but a hub for your volume data? The right software gives you robust reporting tools that dig deep into how your team is performing against your center’s average volume at any given moment. With this kind of data at your fingertips, it’s easy to make informed decisions that improve efficiency and service quality.
Feature Spotlight: Inside Broadvoice’s WFM
The Broadvoice team has worked hard to bring you some of the most advanced tools on the market to help improve your contact center operations. With WFM by Broadvoice, you can reduce your staffing costs and improve service levels with smarter, easier forecasting, scheduling, and reporting using AI to streamline your workload.
A Few FAQs
Q. What is WFM by Broadvoice?
A. WFM by Broadvoice is an AI-infused workforce management solution designed to optimize the scheduling, monitoring, and performance management of your contact center agents. It has capabilities like insanely accurate forecasting, multi-time zone scheduling, automated staffing adjustments, real-time analytics, and capacity planning.
Q. What industries can benefit from using WFM in their contact center?
A. WFM is helpful for most industries. Our tool is best suited for those in industries like retail, financial services, hospitality, manufacturing, insurance, utilities and energy, automotive, logistics and transportation, and government.
Q. How can WFM help my team?
A. WFM can address issues like inefficient manual staffing processes, long customer wait times, challenges in managing global workforce schedules, and real-time agent adherence and occupancy rate tracking.
Q. Does your WFM tool handle global operations or multi-time zone scheduling?
A. Yes! It was designed to manage complex scheduling across multiple time zones, ensuring your team can consistently provide the highest levels of support and workforce coordination on a global scale.
Q. What makes WFM from Broadvoice different from other workforce management tools?
A. Great question. Our WFM solution offers AI-driven forecasting tailored for voice channels, real-time analytics, and customizable reporting tools. With it, you can ensure precise staffing, operational efficiency, and seamless integration with your existing systems. What’s more, since it’s part of our platform, you have a single point of contact for your entire system, including WFM.
Have more questions about WFM? Let’s connect.
