WFM Survey Results
Each quarter SWPP surveys the workforce planning community on critical workforce planning topics. One hundred and eighty call center professionals representing a wide variety of industries participated and provided insight into this quarter’s survey on schedule flexibility.
Survey Participants
Forty-six percent of the 180 respondents to this survey work in centers with over 500 agents. The rest are representative of a wide variety of sizes from under 50 up to 500 agents. The healthcare, financial, insurance, and “other” industries drew the largest number of participants, but all other industries are also well represented.
Full-Time Agents
Respondents were asked what percentage of their agents are full-time and slightly over half (53%) indicated that 91-99% of their agents are full-time and another 21% responded that all their agents are full-time. Only 4% indicated that less than 71% of their agents are full-time with 21% having between 70 and 90%.
Importance of Schedule Flexibility
Sixty-one percent of the respondents indicated that schedule flexibility is very important to their agents with another 18% finding it to be the most important criteria. For those indicating somewhat important or not that important, the hours of operation may not require late nights or weekends which are often the most undesirable schedules.
Option for Schedule Flexibility
The respondents were asked if they feel they are able to be as flexible in their scheduling as their agents would prefer. Over two-thirds (68%) indicated that they are not meeting their agents’ desires. However, 26% feel that they do have enough flexibility to meet agent needs. The remaining 6% indicated that they don’t know if they are flexible enough and this can be a hidden cause of agent dissatisfaction that shows itself in absenteeism and even turnover.
Roadblock to Flexibility
Respondents were asked what is preventing them from providing the level of flexibility their agents desire and multiple options could be selected. The majority of the respondents find that meeting their service level goals is the main roadblock. Interestingly, about 25% indicated their WFM technology is the next most cited roadblock. This suggests that exploration of options with the current vendors may be useful and upgrading to more flexible technology may provide significant benefits.
Questions in the Survey
Respondents were asked to assign a value of 1 to 6 for the level of importance of the items below (with 1 being the most important and six the least). Not surprisingly, compensation ranked as the most important issue to agents, but schedule flexibility is a close second. In many jobs, when the schedule requires an employee to work is only second to the compensation package and the contact center feels that acutely, especially when the center is open long hours or even 24×7.
Survey for Schedule Preference
Respondents were asked if they survey their agents regarding their schedule preferences. Slightly over half (55%) indicated that they do survey their agents while 45% do not. For those that do surveys, annually or as needed are the most often selected answers when asked how frequently they do them. There is often concern that asking agents what they would prefer will lead to dissatisfaction when their preferences cannot be met. However, by indicating the potential limitations before the survey is done and then negotiating for the closest option with each agent can go a long way to ensure that agents believe that the center is doing the best it can to meet their needs.
Survey Agents for Schedule Preference
Frequency of Surveys
Remote Agent Flexibility
Respondents were asked if they find that remote agents are more flexible than those working in-house. Fifty-six percent indicated that remote agents are more flexible, but 38% indicated that they are not. Eliminating the commute to a work location often offers options for longer or shorter lunch breaks, split shifts, and other non-traditional schedules that some agents find attractive. Where such options work for the center to adjust staffing to better match demand, it can be an added bonus.
Closing Comments
Based on the responses above, developing as much flexibility in the scheduling options as practical may be key to agent satisfaction and retention. With remote working, a wide variety of possible schedule choices may not only meet agent desires but help to make a more consistent match of staff to customer demand. Asking agents what they would prefer in a schedule and doing “what if” scenarios to find the best match to workload can pay significant rewards. Seeking the tools to make the best matches in the WFM tool is worth discussing with the vendors for both the products currently in use and options available.