WFM in an Era of Pandemic and Work-from-Home

By Eric Hagaman, Aspect

There is little doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed our world and the way that people work.  Every day is a new learning experience with changing guidance on how to prevent the illness and protect employees and customers.  Adjusting to the new reality and preparing for the future of contact center life is a constant challenge, whether that work is done from a central location, employee’s homes, or some combination of venues.

What is Happening Now

A Gartner survey of CFOs in April 2020 asked, “What percentage of your workforce will remain permanently remote post-COVID who were not remote before COVID?” Approximately one-quarter each of the CIOs answered that it would be 0%, 5% or 10%.  Only 4% responded that they thought it would be half of the staff and just 2% thought more than half would remain remote.

Contrast that with a similar survey in July 2020 in which company leader intentions regarding flexible working after COVID-19 were surveyed.  In this survey, multiple responses were allowed.  “Let employees work remote some of the time” was chosen by 82%, while 47% chose “Let employees work remote all of the time.” Flex days and flex hours were chosen by 43 and 42%, respectively.

In the contact center specifically, a study by the National Association of Call Centers in 2018 found that 53% of centers reported that they had some agents working from home. 

The situation varies by size of contact center and by industry according to a 2020 Aspect survey of more than 500 agents “logging in mostly remotely.”  Larger centers have more remote agents, while banking has fewer than insurance and technology, for example.  The average across all sizes and industries was 28%.  The question is where will agents work in the future?

New Challenges for the Future

There are some big uncertainties that will help to drive the decisions.  Resurgence or mutation of the virus, state and local government regulations, efficacy of a vaccine, and threats of litigation are some of these.  There are some advantages to the work-from-home arrangement.  Employees have shown better performance and having had a taste of the option, seem to prefer it over commuting to the office.  That potentially results in higher employee satisfaction.  With fewer staff coming to the office, some savings in real estate may be expected.  Therefore, employees and employers both benefit from lower costs and lower potential to spread the virus.

There are some drawbacks for the work-at-home situation including the potential for more distractions of a personal nature, especially with home-schooling of children potentially part of the mix of responsibilities.  Some people are just not good at self-regulation and more active supervisory time may be needed to maintain good performance results.  Corporate culture may be more difficult to maintain as well.

Some security challenges of the work from home (WFH) environment may be driven by whether employees use personal computers or company-issued IT equipment.  The restricted use of cellphones and cameras is certainly easier to manage in a centralized environment and it is impossible to ensure that non-employees have no access to the home work area.  New technologies and procedures may be needed to maintain acceptable security.

Bringing agents back to the office allows for greater scrutiny of their performance and easier maintenance of the corporate culture.  There is better built-in help for new agents and the IT structure is easier to maintain.

According to Elizabeth Joyce, VP of Advisory in the HR Practice at Gartner, “The question now facing many organizations is not how to manage a remote workforce, but how to manage a more complex, hybrid workforce.”  Gartner’s July 2020 study showed that 13% of survey participants voiced concerns over sustaining productivity, 61% expect to use more frequent employee check-ins, and others are concerned most about maintaining corporate culture.

Another challenge may be maintaining expected average handle times (AHTs).  New security procedures and/or slower Internet/VPN connections may drive up the time required. 
The forced isolation of both customers and employees may result in more “social interactions” on the contacts as people seek some relief from their loneliness.

Challenges for the WFM Team

For the WFM department, forecasting in this highly unusual environment is challenging.  Several steps can be helpful including:

  • Review the before and after patterns for changes.
  • Historical patterns may be less relevant so place less weight on them in forecasting.
  • Intraday patterns and volumes may have changed dramatically.  Use knowledge of customers and agents
    to better predict the future.
  • Reconsider the entire forecasting process and replace elements that do not seem to reflect the current reality.
  • Consider starting from scratch using a new forecasting model, perhaps using some parts of the old process.
  • Scheduling has its own challenges and they are somewhat dependent upon where your operation is on the continuum of options between template schedules for maximum coverage and “build-your-own” schedules for maximum flexibility.  WFH tends to drive the need and opportunity for more flexible options.
  • Managing more flexible scheduling options can be easier with some automation of the processes including built-in business rules and automated approval or denial.

Driving Better Outcomes

As we navigate through these challenging times, we need to concentrate on the best outcomes for our business.  These typically include:

  • Cost
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS)
  • Customer Satisfaction
  • Employee Satisfaction
  • Customer Loyalty
  • Compliance

We need to look at our current goals and determine how realistic they are in the new environment.  Adherence, AHT, and SLAs that worked in a centralized environment may not be appropriate to the remote situation, and it may cost more to achieve the same NPS.  This is a good time to look at the key performance indicators (KPIs) and determine if they are driving the desired outputs.  Survey employees for ideas and look at the key metrics for opportunities for better options.  Focus on what drives the business toward achievement of its mission.

Coming up in the next newsletter…

Many of us are considering bringing some or all our WFH agents back to the center.  This may not be as easy as it appears.  There are many considerations that need to be explored and solutions implemented before this can be done safely and efficiently.  Stay tuned for a review of the challenges and ideas to be more successful in the transition.

Eric Hagaman is Senior Product Manager at Aspect. He may be reached at eric.hagaman@aspect.com

There is little doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed our world and the way that people work.  Every day is a new learning experience with changing guidance on how to prevent the illness and protect employees and customers.  Adjusting to the new reality and preparing for the future of contact center life is a constant challenge, whether that work is done from a central location, employee’s homes, or some combination of venues.

What is Happening Now

A Gartner survey of CFOs in April 2020 asked, “What percentage of your workforce will remain permanently remote post-COVID who were not remote before COVID?” Approximately one-quarter each of the CIOs answered that it would be 0%, 5% or 10%.  Only 4% responded that they thought it would be half of the staff and just 2% thought more than half would remain remote.

Contrast that with a similar survey in July 2020 in which company leader intentions regarding flexible working after COVID-19 were surveyed.  In this survey, multiple responses were allowed.  “Let employees work remote some of the time” was chosen by 82%, while 47% chose “Let employees work remote all of the time.” Flex days and flex hours were chosen by 43 and 42%, respectively.

In the contact center specifically, a study by the National Association of Call Centers in 2018 found that 53% of centers reported that they had some agents working from home. 

The situation varies by size of contact center and by industry according to a 2020 Aspect survey of more than 500 agents “logging in mostly remotely.”  Larger centers have more remote agents, while banking has fewer than insurance and technology, for example.  The average across all sizes and industries was 28%.  The question is where will agents work in the future?

New Challenges for the Future

There are some big uncertainties that will help to drive the decisions.  Resurgence or mutation of the virus, state and local government regulations, efficacy of a vaccine, and threats of litigation are some of these.  There are some advantages to the work-from-home arrangement.  Employees have shown better performance and having had a taste of the option, seem to prefer it over commuting to the office.  That potentially results in higher employee satisfaction.  With fewer staff coming to the office, some savings in real estate may be expected.  Therefore, employees and employers both benefit from lower costs and lower potential to spread the virus.

There are some drawbacks for the work-at-home situation including the potential for more distractions of a personal nature, especially with home-schooling of children potentially part of the mix of responsibilities.  Some people are just not good at self-regulation and more active supervisory time may be needed to maintain good performance results.  Corporate culture may be more difficult to maintain as well.

Some security challenges of the work from home (WFH) environment may be driven by whether employees use personal computers or company-issued IT equipment.  The restricted use of cellphones and cameras is certainly easier to manage in a centralized environment and it is impossible to ensure that non-employees have no access to the home work area.  New technologies and procedures may be needed to maintain acceptable security.

Bringing agents back to the office allows for greater scrutiny of their performance and easier maintenance of the corporate culture.  There is better built-in help for new agents and the IT structure is easier to maintain.

According to Elizabeth Joyce, VP of Advisory in the HR Practice at Gartner, “The question now facing many organizations is not how to manage a remote workforce, but how to manage a more complex, hybrid workforce.”  Gartner’s July 2020 study showed that 13% of survey participants voiced concerns over sustaining productivity, 61% expect to use more frequent employee check-ins, and others are concerned most about maintaining corporate culture.

Another challenge may be maintaining expected average handle times (AHTs).  New security procedures and/or slower Internet/VPN connections may drive up the time required. 
The forced isolation of both customers and employees may result in more “social interactions” on the contacts as people seek some relief from their loneliness.

Challenges for the WFM Team

For the WFM department, forecasting in this highly unusual environment is challenging.  Several steps can be helpful including:

  • Review the before and after patterns for changes.
  • Historical patterns may be less relevant so place less weight on them in forecasting.
  • Intraday patterns and volumes may have changed dramatically.  Use knowledge of customers and agents
    to better predict the future.
  • Reconsider the entire forecasting process and replace elements that do not seem to reflect the current reality.
  • Consider starting from scratch using a new forecasting model, perhaps using some parts of the old process.
  • Scheduling has its own challenges and they are somewhat dependent upon where your operation is on the continuum of options between template schedules for maximum coverage and “build-your-own” schedules for maximum flexibility.  WFH tends to drive the need and opportunity for more flexible options.
  • Managing more flexible scheduling options can be easier with some automation of the processes including built-in business rules and automated approval or denial.

Driving Better Outcomes

As we navigate through these challenging times, we need to concentrate on the best outcomes for our business.  These typically include:

  • Cost
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS)
  • Customer Satisfaction
  • Employee Satisfaction
  • Customer Loyalty
  • Compliance

We need to look at our current goals and determine how realistic they are in the new environment.  Adherence, AHT, and SLAs that worked in a centralized environment may not be appropriate to the remote situation, and it may cost more to achieve the same NPS.  This is a good time to look at the key performance indicators (KPIs) and determine if they are driving the desired outputs.  Survey employees for ideas and look at the key metrics for opportunities for better options.  Focus on what drives the business toward achievement of its mission.

Coming up in the next newsletter…

Many of us are considering bringing some or all our WFH agents back to the center.  This may not be as easy as it appears.  There are many considerations that need to be explored and solutions implemented before this can be done safely and efficiently.  Stay tuned for a review of the challenges and ideas to be more successful in the transition.

Eric Hagaman is Senior Product Manager at Aspect. He may be reached at eric.hagaman@aspect.com