As organizations adapt and move to new staffing models during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, there are a lot of opportunities for the workforce management team to contribute to a smooth and successful transition. Time moves in only one direction and business and contact centers are likely moving toward a “new normal,” not returning to the old one of 100% in-office staffing. Events have significantly accelerated adoption and acceptance of remote, mobile, and hybrid in-office/remote workforce models. What we would like to explore here is how workforce management practices can help to combat the potential downsides of a distributed workforce while taking advantage of its potential upsides.

As offices begin to reopen, it makes sense to have some or all agents return while complying with local COVID-19 protocols.Additionally, the health and safety of agents is paramount to maintaining a positive culture and productive business.The chart below is from Gallup 2020 studies:

As you can see, the movement to more employees working in the office increased as the organizations became more comfortable with managing the COVID protocols. If the survey had been done again perhaps in December 2020 and/or January 2021, the trend likely continued, and the availability of vaccines has probably moved it even further along. However, even with this shift over time, there are still many employees working remotely in more than half of the surveyed companies.

Agent Perspectives

Some employees may be more efficient while working remote, others are more efficient working in-office.An IBM poll in July 2020 showed 58% of employees want to remain working remotely all the time, while 80% of employees currently working remote would like to remain working at home at least some of the time. Companies are looking hard at this data and considering how best to achieve both employee satisfaction and productivity.Supervisors/managers should remain flexible and have equally flexible software to meet these needs.

Alvaria (formerly Aspect Software) conducted a study during March of 2020 including about 500 agents. The results are segmented by those agents working at home and those in the office. In every attribute, the remote agents rated these items higher than those in-office by the percentages shown at the end of each line.

Implications

Here are some of the implications of continuing work from home (WFH) from the Alvaria survey:

• WHF agents rate their contact centers more favorably than on-site agents across all attributes surveyed!
• Many more WFH agents think they are getting a competitive wage than on-site workers.
• Many more WFH agents think they are being respected as individuals than on-site workers.
• Perhaps WFH agents have better attitudes because they are happier.

Hybrid Models

Prior to the pandemic, most organizations had a small contingent that worked remotely, but the bulk of employees worked in the facility. That shifted to place the bulk of employees at home as the pandemic developed with only a small group working in the office, perhaps to keep systems and processes running smoothly. Now as we emerge from the pandemic, a hybrid model is developing with many more personnel at home than prior to the pandemic but more in-office than at the peak.Some agents may return full-time to the office, but others may work some of the time in the office and the rest of the time remotely.

“Remote work will rise to 300% of pre-COVID-19 levels. Most companies will employ a hybrid work model, with fewer people in the office and more full-time, remote employees. As a major portion of the workforce develops the skills and preference for effective remote work, they will expect work-from-anywhere tech and culture – triggering major changes in talent acquisition (and poaching).
– Forrester

Remote Work for the Long-Term

As COVID-19 unfolded, the move to working at home was done on an emergency basis.However, as this model matures and the crisis is past, it is reasonable to expect some stricter home environment rules.These might include a requirement for dedicated office space, more effective childcare, and dedicated equipment/internet to support the best customer experience.Some of the cost of these items may be shifted to the employee as well.

When the employees moved to a home environment, some were located in different time zones than the company facility. Long-term, the company may choose to standardize on a single time zone for management and scheduling and that could complicate the WFM processes, especially as employees find that they can literally live and work from homes anywhere there is effective internet connectivity.

Access to management by the employee changes in this environment. It is important for the employees to be able to communicate with their supervisors and for the management team to provide the information and training needed as well. In addition, the use of meetings has been changing to convey information that requires some interaction or collaboration, while information that can be provided, stored, and referred to later is often being sent in messages rather than discussed in meetings.

If employees are working in a different geography than where they were hired (including different countries), there may be some tax or benefit implications for both the employer and employee.

In-Office Work for the Long-Term

Even if some employees are working from the company office facility, the supervisor may not be in that same facility. This means that the same challenges of access between the parties exists that would be experienced in the WFH model.

With some in-office and others remote, access to peers for collaboration can be challenging. Different tools and processes may need to be in place. It is important for the management team to offer equal opportunities for development and promotion regardless of the employee’s work location. Care needs to be taken not to favor the employees that can be seen over those that are not in-office. Planning for the extra time to interact with the remote staff cannot be left to chance and will need to be scheduled.

Scheduling for the in-office personnel is likely to be less flexible than for the WFH group due to the commuting requirement but also to ensure a safe environment. And the safety procedures, spacing, and group size restrictions may create a less social environment than in the past. Hours of operation at the facility may be reduced if the WFH hybrid allows for remote coverage during the less attractive periods.

The WFM team may need to work with a variety of restrictions to accommodate group size such a staggering breaks and shift start times. Shift trades and other changes may be more complicated as they take into account the additional restrictions. There may also be a need for WFM to plan the seating to ensure safe spacing and to support any need for contact tracing based on where employees were seated if someone becomes ill.

Some companies will find that they can reduce the office space overall with some portion of their staff working remotely long-term. This will further restrict the planning with fewer options available.

The Hybrid Environment

Each of the separate environments offer some advantages and some potholes. To get the best of remote and in-office staff, scheduling practices and performance goals may need to be adjusted.

How do you deliver the same quality to your customers from all parts of the workforce?

Will you allow employees to flex between remote and in-office work? Would they be able to get a schedule for one environment and use it as well in the other if they switch back and forth? With safety concerns and the commute in one and not the other, that could be challenging. How do you ensure that changing work locations is not taken advantage of, or a cause for confusion?

Blending of the work environment may result in some cost shifting to employees, and facilities available may be reduced. For staff who can work remote and in-office, the dual environment may result in more overall cost, some borne by the company and some by the employee.

Business Level Workforce Concerns

The chart below shows the risks and strengths of each environment accompanied by a list of issues.

In fairness, the active collaboration can be a strength in the remote environment if the supporting tools and processes are in place. However, it can also be a risk if they are not. Passive collaborations are much more difficult as casual meetings with other employees are unlikely.

Workforce Management Concerns and Strategies

The concerns for the WFM team are displayed in the chart below. In the chart below, the concerns have been categorized as strengths or opportunities.

While volume forecasting is essentially the same in either environment, handle time can be a bit more variable with different work characteristics, adherence, etc.

Employee performance and adherence goals and practices may be different in each environment. This can make the planning and tracking more complex and comparing employees working under different rules can be unfair.

Strategies for handling some of the needed functions are displayed in the chart below.

Some of the functions do not require planning at the same level in each environment, such as the quick stand-up meeting or collaborations that would occur more naturally in the office setting.For example, in a hybrid environment, it would not be appropriate to limit a meeting to only those employees in the facility.Supervisory one-on-ones will need to be specifically scheduled to ensure that they happen in the remote and hybrid environment where they might be a more casual opportunity in the office.Training content needs to be the same whether it is delivered in-person or virtually.

Workforce Management Serves All Four Quadrants

The role of the WFM team covers all four of the important quadrants of work including forecasting, scheduling, tracking, and performance & adherence.

In the forecasting area, be aware of the potential differences in handle time and shrinkage in each environment. By now, many centers have experienced shifts in customer activity levels and have updated their forecasting models to take that into account.Handle time for remote workers can be extended by internet speed, the time it takes to access and sign on to systems, reach out to a supervisor, and even go into the wrap state.

Shrinkage can also vary. For example, the in-home employee schedule for breaks may be more flexible than the office and planned meeting times may be different as well. Another variation might be less absenteeism on Friday for home workers or reduced tardiness. Even the amount of vacation time that employees have taken in the last year might be significantly different from prior years and may go back to the historical pattern when the crisis passes. Track each environment separately and adjust to forecast them separately if the differences justify it.

Scheduling may need to accommodate more meeting time, more one-on-ones, differences in flexibility of scheduling, safety issue variances, the options to move between the environments, and the need to schedule management time as well. Be sure to adjust shrinkage assumptions for everything that is planned in the schedules so that double counting does not occur. New requirements to meet safety concerns will also need to be part of the equation, especially if seating charts are part of the WFM plan. For example, planning for the additional time for employees to pass the safety protocols as they report to the office (temperature checks, etc.) may need to be accommodated along with decisions about what part of this time is paid versus unpaid. Some organizations have chosen to create rosters of schedules that are fairly rigid and set for longer periods in order to meet the safety requirements for in-office personnel. Home workers may have more flexible schedules that may have various levels of staff such as senior personnel who work a fairly set schedule while others may work like contractors building their own schedules from available hours of need.

Overall, scheduling for remote workers is flexible in almost every regard. In-office work schedules can be limited by facility availability, safety needs, and commuting requirements. These differences apply to start and stop times, breaks, split shifts, days of the week worked, and even time of day worked. Be sure to evaluate your situation, HR rules, and local requirements as they evolve. It is a good practice to pilot a new scheduling plan with a small group and get feedback before rolling it out more broadly.

Monitoring the intraday situation is similar for all environments. However, managing the intraday environment may be different with more flexibility provided by the in-home staff so the reaction to deviations may vary as well. Take care to avoid burnout and “whiplash” if the home workers are subject to a lot of changes. Keeping the schedules and seating assignments up to date may be more crucial for the in-office staff to maintain safety, but this group provides a reliable base staff. Unproductive time and occupancy could also be different between the environments. Be sure to maintain fairness in opportunities for all workers.

Be aware that as scheduling, management practices, and goals diverge, adjustment to goals for each environment may need to be made as well.

Transitioning between the office and home environment is something that needs careful consideration. Some organizations will allow it while others will not, and some will require that home workers spend some time in the office. Some things to consider in the decision include availability of equipment in both locations, the length of time needed to make the transition and whether this is paid time, and as companies adjust the amount of office space to accommodate a smaller in-office staff, how can the additional personnel be safely housed. Some organizations are changing to a “hotel desk” model versus having assigned space for each employee. It may also be necessary for the employee to work a different schedule when in-office than when at home.

Automation of change requests/approvals can be helpful. However, there may be new rules required for the process. For example, in-office changes may need to consider the number of people on breaks simultaneously or the availability of a seat. Will trades between workers in different environments be allowed? Take care to maintain equity between the groups in what is allowed.

Adherence goals and monitoring alerts may need to be different to accommodate flexible shifts. For example, if an in-office worker has a typical 8-hour shift and is tardy starting the work, the monitoring may be set to send an alert after 15 minutes out of adherence. The worst-case impact on the customers might also be up to 15 minutes. But if the remote worker has a daily work plan such as 8AM to 10AM, 12PM to 2PM, and 3PM to 5PM, having a period of up to 15 minutes before an alert at each of these start times might impact the customer by up to 45 minutes.

Providing access to the same tools for both environments may require mobile access to the capabilities that in-office workers have at their desktop. This works for managers to keep a view of all the workers and the situation overall, but also accommodates remote workers needing to access schedule changes, etc.

Overall Takeaways

Deciding on the all in-office, all-remote, or hybrid environment has many challenges on the way to each organization’s “new normal.” It is an opportunity to reevaluate the basics based on the staffing mix. Some existing processes may be used in new ways and some new practices may need to be developed as well. Consider in-office safety, remote flexibility, and how the WFM team can enable managers/supervisors to build and maintain corporate culture.

Alvaria was founded through the merger of Aspect Software and Noble Systems, technology leaders in Customer Experience (CX) and Workforce Engagement solutions. Our name is derived from Latin for “hives” – nature’s perfect form for millions of years – bringing you solutions that are scalable, resilient and secure, with efficiency, speed and pinpoint accuracy. ALVARIA™. Reshaping Customer Experience™. For more information, please visit www.alvaria.com.