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Workforce management (WFM)

WFM in call and contact centers

What is Workforce Management (WFM) for Call and Contact Centers?

What is Workforce Management (WFM) for Call and Contact Centers? Is it a set of practices or is it a tool? And what are the actual benefits of WFM? 

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What is Workforce Management for Call and Contact Centers?
Benefits of WFM in call and contact centers
Agent satisfaction and simplified scheduling
Improved demand forecasting
Budget savings and increased efficiency
Improved customer experience
Key takeaways

What is Workforce Management for Call and Contact Centers?

Workforce Management (WFM) in call and contact centers refers to processes that streamline operation workflow by providing more precise demand forecasting and managing workforce scheduling.
This entails optimizing employee productivity and cost-effectiveness, scheduling paid labor hours while preventing employee burnout, and maintaining customer satisfaction.

In a nutshell, WFM ensures that the correct number of reps with the right skills are scheduled at the right time. Workforce management comprises two parts: efficient WFM software and competent specialists to ensure that the software operates optimally.

There is a great selection of WFM software on the market. The correct choice depends entirely on your company’s specific needs. Keep in mind the size, scope, and requirements of your call or contact center when choosing the optimal software.

If you need assistance choosing the software – FrontLogix can help you make the right decision. Our highly qualified specialists will advise you on everything you need to know and give you access to tactical WFM knowledge whenever necessary.

FrontLogix provides a full range of WFM Services, from strategic WFM support and consultancy to cost management improvement and performance monitoring ‒ to help you achieve business excellence.

A man with a headset on an online meeting
Colleagues discussing WFM strategies at the workplace

Benefits of WFM in call and contact centers

Well-implemented WFM delivers significant benefits, including reduced labor costs, increased efficiency through better planning, lower agent attrition, and improved customer experience (CX). Let’s dive deeper into the benefits of a good workforce management program for call and contact centers.

Agent satisfaction and simplified scheduling

Staff turnover is one of the most severe issues that call and contact centers experience. Finding and retaining qualified employees significantly impacts the bottom line and the quality of service.

According to Gartner, agent attrition is caused by feeling overburdened by their work and is highest during the first 90 days of employment. Losing an agent can cost anywhere between $1,500 and $20,000, depending on their experience level and duties.

Workforce Management can dramatically increase agent job satisfaction by streamlining the scheduling process. Scheduling flexibility can help agents achieve the work/life balance they require. The right WFM tool can offer more options in the scheduling process, such as:

  • Preference-Based Scheduling allows agents to be involved in the scheduling process, enabling them to request working hours that best fit their lifestyle.
  • More options for Intra-Day Changes which significantly reduce last-minute sick calls.
  • Shift Bidding is where agents can express interest in working open shifts.
  • Dynamic Scheduling Solutions that divide staffing requirements into configurable chunks enable work-from-home agents to easily work split shifts and sign in fast for unexpected call spikes.
  • Automated Trades allow agents to swap shifts with others with the same skills.
  • Automated Vacation, Voluntary Time Off, and Overtime Requests allow agents to use self-service tools and are an excellent opportunity for satisfying work requirements and satisfying agents at the same time.
  • Access to Schedules on Mobile Phones allows for effective communication and enables agents to interact with their work schedules at any time.

Improved demand forecasting

Demand forecasting is the foundation of WFM. It is the technique of predicting future call volumes based on historical and current data.

By abandoning spreadsheets in favor of WFM software, forecasting and managing agents’ time becomes easy, without having to bother with Erlang calculators.

Workforce Management tools simplify demand forecasting by identifying trends and patterns, leveraging historical data, and considering demand fluctuation from recent days and weeks, as well as weather conditions and seasonality. This makes it easier for a contact center to respond to increased contact volumes or staffing fluctuations.

Meeting of Call Center Managers at a table
Meeting of managers at a table

Budget savings and increased efficiency

Payroll is the highest cost of any call and contact center. Planning, scheduling, and management of human resources have a significant impact on the budget. WFM eliminates over-staffing by creating the most efficient schedules possible with the personnel at hand while keeping appropriate levels to deliver quality interactions.

Monitoring call center statistics and performance measures are critical for increasing efficiency, profitability, and, ultimately, customer satisfaction. WFM software facilitates this by automatically tracking key metrics such as service levels and time spent on tickets, chats, calls, average call wait time, conversion rates, and upsell rates.

Front Logix’s expert team can assist you in making the most of your data. We will help extract and analyze information and deliver detailed reports. We can assist your management team in analyzing data and historical trends across various critical indicators.

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Improved customer experience

An effective WFM system will help your company provide fast, quality, and consistent customer service. Your team can track real-time data to determine better if incoming customer requests exceed agent capacity. WFM improves call and contact center operations by estimating staffing and scheduling requirements based on historical customer demand.

The secret to pleasing consumers is having engaged and well-organized employees. With superior WFM, your organization will exceed customer expectations and provide excellent customer service.

Key takeaways

Workforce management (WFM) in call and contact centers refers to processes that streamline workflow through improved demand forecasts and agent scheduling. WFM comprises two components: efficient WFM software and competent specialists to ensure that the WFM software operates optimally.

With solid WFM practices in place, call and contact centers can significantly increase operational efficiency and customer satisfaction ‒ while greatly reducing agent attrition and labor costs.

FrontLogix is here to help you navigate through every step of the WFM process — from choosing the right WFM software, developing labor forecasting and scheduling rules, and identifying and implementing best practices to strategic WFM support and consultation, cost management improvements, and performance monitoring.

Utilize our 20+ years of workforce management experience to build your business excellence.

 Get a quote or contact us today to discuss how we can help you.

Workforce Management (WFM) services

Workforce Management (WFM) services

Successful Workforce Management involves two things: A great WFM system and a knowledgeable partner that offers Workforce Management (WFM) services.

Workforce Management (WFM) services have made its way into every sector, from WFM in contact centers to WFM in customer support, HR departments, and accounting. Well-implemented WFM can reduce labor costs, increase efficiency through better planning, provide higher levels of customer service, and boost team morale.

Successful Workforce Management involves two things:

  • A great WFM system for the company’s needs
  • The right people to ensure the best performance of the WFM system
Laptop with a dashboard of open tasks
Two colleagues laughing wile working at a computer

Choosing the right WFM system

There are numerous WFM systems available. Some software is stand-alone and focused on a single task, whereas others provide a broader suite of cloud solutions. Choosing the optimal software depends on the company’s size, industry, business objectives, and needs.

As part of our WFM services, FrontLogix can assist you in selecting the best WFM solution for your company’s requirements. Our highly skilled, on-demand management experts will advise you on all you need to know before committing to WFM software and provide access to tactical WFM knowledge whenever necessary.

Choosing the right WFM experts

WFM solutions can assist you in managing all aspects of your employees’ work assignments. From tracking time and attendance, allocating tasks, scheduling shifts, budgeting, and forecasting demand, WFM software is an excellent solution for increasing operational efficiency.

Since WFM technologies cover many focus areas, ensuring a proper system implementation, developing a WFM strategy, and providing adequate workforce training is essential.

While system setup and employee training can be costly, outsourcing WFM expertise can help you make the most of your WFM data. It will help you ease worries about resource limits, inadequate system implementation, and ineffective data management and usage – all at a significantly reduced cost.

Women looking into phone in an office setting

Benefits of WFM-managed services:

Built on our 20+ years of workforce management experience, FrontLogix’s Workforce Management (WFM) services deliver highly relevant, on-demand management skills integrated with your WFM solution to achieve outcomes like:

  • Improved customer experience by providing timely and proper service.
  • Improved company profits through the utilization of experienced WFM resources at a lower cost.
  • Reduced investment losses due to staff churn by eliminating the need for hiring and training new employees.
  • Increased product adoption by ensuring that your customers become aware of your product, perceive its value, and become regular users.
  • Increased employee productivity through setting employee benchmarks and taking corrective action if employees fall short of expectations.
  • Eliminated training costs of in-house personnel by offering a learning management system (LMS) solution. This will help reduce in-house training costs while providing comprehensive instruction from experienced pros.
  • Increased service levels by offering profound insights into how your company operates and indicating any potential areas for development.
  • Improved forecasting and time management by delivering a precise plan and a reliable forecast.
  • Improved agent adherence and utilization by providing precise adherence data and highlighting areas where agents thrive. As a result, WFM analysts will benefit from a better understanding and application of contact center trends.
  • Optimizing omnichannel support through Workforce Management (WFM) services will assist you in ensuring the correct agent with the relevant skills is available on the right channel.
(WFM) services

WFM-managed services

FrontLogix offers a full spectrum of Workforce Management (WFM) Services to help you build business excellence. From strategic WFM support to cost management improvements, we are here to guide you through every step.

FrontLogix’s Workforce Management (WFM) services include:

Strategic WFM support and consultation

Provide your WFM team with the most important insights and the best possible knowledge and assistance combined with your WFM system.

Precise data integration in your WFM system

By leveraging Workforce Management (WFM) services and ensuring that data is inputted accurately and correctly, your team will operate better and smarter.

Help in labor forecasting and scheduling

By utilizing Workforce Management (WFM) Services to understand and model scenarios, your company can achieve an accurate labor forecast.

Optimization of workforce resources

By incorporating Workforce Management (WFM) Services and conducting a thorough audit, we can pinpoint where inefficiencies lie and help you address them effectively. Additionally, we can provide insights on time tracking, absence mitigation, and overtime management.

Access to skilled and experienced WFM advisors

We can provide experienced WFM advisors at a competitive cost.

Comprehensive reporting

Comprehensive reporting enabled by our team of experts will help you get the most out of data and aid you by extracting and analyzing information and providing comprehensive reports.

Management analytics

By assisting your management team in analyzing data and historical trends across various key indicators, we can help you make the most of your WFM software, and access and interpret real-time data.

Efficiency enhancement

Facilitated by an improved organization and customization from our Workforce Management (WFM) Services experts, your WFM team can run smarter, better, and more efficiently

Cost management

Our cost management solutions will assist your company in rethinking its fixed expenditures, reducing variable costs, and performing effective budgeting.

Performance monitoring

Through performance monitoring and measuring employee productivity, we can help you improve your work quality and deliver a superior customer experience.

STRATEGY GUIDE

6 Simple Strategies To Improve Customer Retention

Actionable insights and proven techniques to keep your customers coming back.

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Our partners benefit from our decades-long experience as pioneers in workforce management. FrontLogix’s services include labor forecasting and scheduling, development of scheduling rules, identification and implementation of best practices, and our large pool of tactical knowledge.

Think of FrontLogix as a flexible and resourceful expert extension to your WFM system, available 24/7.

economic downturns

How to make your business recession-proof during economic downturns

Just like Amazon and eBay survived the bursting dot-com bubble in the early 2000s, businesses can weather the impending financial storm, remain profitable, and even grow during economic downturns. By reorganizing, making smart cuts, and redefining business plans, your business can thrive, even amidst high inflation and flagging growth.

The Covid-19 crisis, supply chain bottlenecks, and disruptions from the Ukraine war have sent prices and interest rates surging – resulting in weakening consumer demand. As a result, the highest inflation in four decades has left businesses navigating a sharp economic growth slowdown during economic downturns.

The fear of upcoming global stagflation has pushed businesses into pivoting their strategies, with several companies already announcing layoffs. After all, business success is measured in profit made, and manpower is often the single biggest cost of doing business.

Keep in mind that your business should keep moving forward during economic downturns, and staff reductions will put additional strain on your remaining employees. This, in turn, will force them to deliver mediocre work, pushing your business into a downward spiral. Make certain that you fill the void left by the layoffs.

How to make cost cuts without making a dent in the day-to-day operations and the quality experience your customers still expect you to deliver during economic downturns.

Where to make cuts

  1. Focus most of your attention on your core competencies and outsource the rest. Your core competencies have gotten you this far, and they should be able to get you through the economic downturn. Focus on them and outsource everything else. Find a Business Process Outsourcing partner that is located in a country with an emerging economy. Since living expenses in developing countries are much lower compared to Western countries, so is the median wage. Turning to outsourcing will help you reduce workforce costs through labor cost arbitrage during economic downturns.

    Cut back on office and technology costs. Consider moving to less expensive premises and introducing remote work. Again, outsourcing proves beneficial for cost-savings during economic downturns. Think of all the expenses involved in the upkeep of the offices, the technology, subscription services, and infrastructure (both hardware & software). With outsourcing, you can access the newest technologies without making further investments.

Where not to make cuts

  1. Customer Experience, Customer Care, and Customer Service quality should remain above par and show no signs of potential internal turmoil during economic downturns. As the labor market cools – so does consumer spending. Customers are the lifeblood of the business – and you need your loyal customers now more than ever. This is actually a golden opportunity to distinguish your brand from the competition. Many companies will fall back on below-average CX due to cutting costs on manpower and partnering up with a BPO that doesn’t deliver quality services.

    Many businesses fall into the trap of subcontracting a particular BPO solely because it offers incredibly affordable services, failing to consider how that practice may prove detrimental during economic downturns. Remember: your customers don’t differentiate your customer care provider from your business. They can quickly tell if an agent is well-trained and knowledgeable. Make sure that you don’t underestimate the importance of your BPO agents’ written and verbal communication skills. They are literally the voice of your business.

    At FrontLogix, we thoroughly screen all applicants for verbal and written communication skills. All of our Customer Care agents possess extensive knowledge of conversational English and technical vocabulary by studying it from the first grade. Once vetted through a 6-stage process, the candidates are trained on proper etiquette, current technology, single-call resolution for inbound and outbound calls, and the specifics of each client’s product or service. This approach ensures exceptional customer service even during economic downturns.

  2. Marketing and advertising during economic downturns is crucial. Even though it might seem counterproductive now is the time to step up your marketing efforts. During a recession, many companies feel pressured to cut back on their advertising budgets – leaving a void that the savviest businesses will seize upon. Trounce the competition by winning their customers over and strengthening your market position.
Business colleagues discussing over digital tablet at desk in office

Takeaway

An economic decline is a period of industry reshuffling, leaving only the best players at the table. When individuals started spending more in the post-recession period, those who played their cards right had a bigger pot to split. Through reorganization, making smart cuts, and redefining business plans, your company can come out of the economic downturns with a winning hand.

Partner with a BPO that shares the same company culture and values, and be savvy when choosing. It’s certainly easier to look for the market’s “biggest players” or those that offer incredibly low-cost services. Recognize that client satisfaction drives your business, and direct your efforts toward selecting a partner with talented and experienced staff who will represent your company in the best light. Numerous smaller BPO companies may be a better fit for your needs.

FrontLogix has centers in the United States and offshore facilities that can provide high-quality service at a significantly lower cost, resulting in a higher overall value for our clients.

Our approach toward every project entrusted to us differentiates us from our competition. The senior management team pays close attention to every project, with smaller applications receiving special attention from our smaller centers, while larger operations benefit from the scale provided by our larger centers.

With over 15 years of BPO experience and another 15 years of front- and back-office workforce optimization, we excel at client and team onboarding, ensuring that your outsourcing experience is as seamless as possible. Regular status meetings, ongoing contact from an assigned account manager, and prompt resolution of issues all contribute to developing a solid partnership with your company.

Front Logix offers a variety of Client Services, Digital Support Services, and WFM-managed Services, including:

Client Services

Digital Customer Support

  • Email
  • Chat
  • SMS
  • Social Media
  • In-App Messaging

WFM-Managed services

  • Strategic WFM support & consultation
  • Precise data integration with your WFM system
  • Help in labor forecasting and scheduling
  • Optimization of workforce resources
  • Cost-effective access to skilled and experienced WFM resources
  • Comprehensive reporting
  • Management analytics
  • Efficiency enhancement
  • Cost management improvements
  • Performance monitoring

Talk to us today to get started.

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6 Simple Strategies To Improve Customer Retention

Actionable insights and proven techniques to keep your customers coming back.

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Workforce management (WFM)

Workforce management (WFM), WFM software, and workforce-managed services

Have you ever heard of Workforce Management but are unclear about the term? Many organizations still use back-and-forth emails, manually created spreadsheets, and hard-copy roster sheets to organize their schedules and workloads. Are you surprised? Or is your company one of them?
Keep reading if you are ready to hop on the Workforce Management (WFM) bandwagon but need help figuring out where to begin.

In this blog post, we will cover the following:

What is Workforce Management (WFM)?
What is a Workforce Management solution (WFM software)?
Is WFM software the same as HCM software?
Which industries can benefit from implementing a WFM tool?
How to choose the right WFM software?

What is Workforce Management (WFM)?

Workforce Management (WFM) refers to a set of processes used by a company to streamline operation workflow. It is intended to maximize resource management and workforce productivity, ensuring the most effective use of labor and enabling more precise forecasting of workforce planning.

In simpler terms, Workforce Management (WFM) is an institutional process that improves performance and proficiency.

The two main aspects of Workforce Management (WFM) are demand orientation and optimization, and advantages may include the following:

  • Reduced operational costs
  • Increased service levels, productivity, and product adoption
  • Improved employee adherence, utilization, and empowerment through direct involvement in the scheduling process
  • Improved forecasting and time management
  • Optimized omnichannel support
  • Maximized customer experience
  • Accurate reporting, data collection, and analytics
  • Eliminated training costs of in-house WFM personnel
  • Freed resources for strategic projects
Workforce management (WFM) meeting at the office

What is a Workforce Management (WFM) solution or WFM software?

A Workforce Management (WFM) Solution or WFM software is an umbrella term for desktop and mobile programs that optimize, automate, and organize the Workforce Management process.

Think of it as the motherboard of an organization –  a single platform that connects all of the components. Essentially, it’s a tool with features such as workforce analytics, forecasting, employee scheduling, and attendance tracking software that replaces time-consuming tasks and provides insights and data analyses.

Is WFM software the same as HCM software?

Although these two terms are often used interchangeably, they are somewhat different.

Human Capital Management (HCM) software, as the name implies, is used by the – you guessed it – Human Resources department to drive productivity and business value by organizing HR processes such as employee recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training, and payroll, among others.

On the other hand, Workforce Management (WFM) software is used to track time and attendance, assign work, schedule shifts, budget, and forecast demand, and ensure that the workforce is managed and operated as effectively as possible by assigning tasks to employees with a matching skill set.

Which industries can benefit from implementing a WFM tool?

Organizations have adopted WFM software from a variety of industries in an effort to reduce costs and improve workforce effectiveness. In particular, companies with a mix of part-time and full-time employees who work shifts and deal with fluctuations in demand volume can benefit significantly from implementing a WFM solution.

WFM is well suited for organizations in industries such as customer service, hospitality, retail, and healthcare, among others. However, Workforce Management can be beneficial in other sectors and industries. Regardless of whether the company is a large enterprise, a midrange company, or a small business, implementing a workforce management tool can prove vital to any business management strategy.

Workforce management (WFM) meeting at the office

How to choose the right WFM software?

There are various WFM solutions out there. Choosing the right software depends on the company’s size, industry, business objectives, and whether there is a need for a general solution that covers numerous or specialized aspects. Some tools are standalone and are optimized for one task, while others offer a more comprehensive suite of cloud solutions.

FrontLogix can help you in choosing the right WFM solution for your company’s needs. As experts in client and team onboarding, we will advise you on everything you need to know to develop a tailored WFM strategy for your business.

We provide assistance through every step of the project – from labor forecasting and scheduling, developing scheduling rules, identifying and implementing best practices, to delivering best-in-class WFM tactics and strategies.
[Find more about WFM tools]

FrontLogix’s WFM-managed services include:

  • Strategic WFM support and consultation
  • Precise data integration with your WFM system
  • Help in labor forecasting and scheduling
  • Optimization of workforce resources
  • Cost-effective access to skilled and experienced WFM resources
  • Comprehensive reporting
  • Management analytics
  • Efficiency enhancement
  • Cost management improvements
  • Performance monitoring

STRATEGY GUIDE

6 Simple Strategies To Improve Customer Retention

Actionable insights and proven techniques to keep your customers coming back.

GET FREE GUIDE

FrontLogix is a flexible and resourceful extension to your WFM system that will help optimize the customer experience, reach new levels of productivity, and enhance your employee engagement and customer experience – while reducing costs.

We provide access to a team of WFM product experts, integration specialists, and industry veterans 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

As pioneers in workforce management systems, you can benefit from our decades-long experience and:

  • Maximize the overall customer experience
  • Utilize experienced WFM resources at a lower cost
  • Avoid investment losses caused by employee turnover
  • Increase product adoption
  • Increase productivity
  • Eliminate training costs of in-house personnel
  • Increase service levels
  • Improve forecasting and time management
  • Improve agent adherence and utilization
  • Optimize omnichannel support

Get in touch now