What are the top workforce management strategies for call centers?

1 Define your objectives and metrics

Before you implement any WFM strategy, you need to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and how you will measure your success. You need to align your WFM objectives with your call center's mission, vision, and values, as well as with your customers' expectations and needs. You also need to define the key performance indicators (KPIs) that will track your progress and performance, such as service level, occupancy, average handle time, customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and attrition. Having clear and realistic objectives and metrics will help you set the right priorities, allocate the right resources, and evaluate the results of your WFM efforts.

2 Forecast your demand and supply

One of the most important WFM strategies for call centers is to forecast your demand and supply accurately and effectively. Demand forecasting involves predicting the volume, pattern, and type of incoming calls, as well as the impact of external factors such as seasonality, marketing campaigns, or events. Supply forecasting involves estimating the availability, skill, and preference of your agents, as well as the impact of internal factors such as training, vacations, or absences. By forecasting your demand and supply, you can anticipate and prepare for the fluctuations in your call center's workload and ensure that you have the right number and mix of agents to handle it.

3 Schedule your agents optimally

Another key WFM strategy for call centers is to schedule your agents optimally based on your demand and supply forecasts, your objectives and metrics, and your agents' needs and preferences. Scheduling your agents optimally means balancing the trade-offs between customer service, employee satisfaction, and operational efficiency. You need to consider factors such as shift length, start and end times, breaks, lunch, overtime, off-time, and shift swaps. You also need to factor in the skill level, proficiency, and versatility of your agents, as well as their personal preferences, availability, and constraints. By scheduling your agents optimally, you can maximize your service level, occupancy, and utilization, while minimizing your costs, idle time, and turnover.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?