WFM Survey Results

Each quarter SWPP surveys the workforce planning community on critical workforce planning topics. Over 170 call center professionals representing a wide variety of industries participated and provided insight into this quarter’s survey on shrinkage assumptions used in staff planning.

Survey Participants

Twenty-five percent of the respondents in this survey work in centers with between 51 and 200 agents. The rest are representative of a wide variety of sizes from under 50 to over 5000 agents. The financial, healthcare, and insurance industries drew the largest number of participants, but all other industries are also well represented.

Long-Term Shrinkage

Respondents were asked what overall percentage assumption is made for long-term planning. Half of the respondents answered between 26-35%. However, 24% of the respondents reported percentages higher than 35% while 25% reported lower than 26% is assumed. It is unusual in North American centers to experience less than 20% overall shrinkage when all breaks, vacations, sick time, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), training, meetings, coaching, adherence, system downtime, and general absenteeism are considered. It is also common to see shrinkage at over 40% in centers where agents perform off-phone duties such as research, call back, and contacts in other media. It is important to utilize your operation’s actual losses rather than the entitlements that employees are given to ensure that there will be enough staff logged in to meet service goals.

Shrinkage for Breaks

The respondents were asked what shrinkage percentage is assumed for breaks. Slightly over half indicated that they assume between 5% and 6% loss. Assuming an 8-hour shift length with two 15-minute breaks, the loss is 6.2%. Lower percentages may be found in centers with part-time personnel. In general, the amount of time for breaks is often mandated by law or may be set by contract in union agreements. It can also be affected by the distance agents must travel between the center and the break area.

Shrinkage for Sick Time

Respondents were asked what is assumed for sick time not including long-term disability and FMLA. If 10 days per year is assumed for full-time personnel, the loss would be 3.8%. However, 55% of respondents reported higher losses than that. It is important to include both paid and unpaid sick time losses as both create a shortage of staff.

Shrinkage for Long-term Disability and FMLA

Respondents were asked what percentage of loss is attributed to long-term disability and FMLA in their planning. Forty percent indicated that 1-3% is included in their shrinkage plan. While 16% indicated less than 1% loss is assumed, 23% reported losses over 5% with some reporting more than 10% loss. When added to the sick time assumption, these losses can require significant additional personnel on the payroll to be available to meet consistent service goals.

Shrinkage for Vacation

Respondents were asked what is assumed for shrinkage for vacations. Approximately one-third reported losses of 8-10%. This equates to over 4 weeks of vacation for a full-time person. While 2 weeks of vacation equates to 3.8% loss, the percentages assumed by the respondents are widely varying suggesting both utilization of part-time personnel (with little to no vacation entitlement) and significant numbers of tenured staff (with several weeks of entitlement).

Shrinkage for Meetings

When asked what is assumed for shrinkage for meetings (not including formal training), forty-six percent reported using 1-3%. The remaining respondents have widely varying assumptions from under 1% to over 10%.

Shrinkage for Training

Shrinkage assumptions for training show 46% assuming 1-3% loss. However, much like meetings, the remaining responses are widely scattered from under 1% to over 10%. Some businesses are very dynamic with training needed on new content regularly, while others may be relatively stable with little change over long periods.

Shrinkage for Non-Productive Time

Shrinkage for non-productive time (lack of adherence to schedules) varies significantly among the respondents. Assuming 3% per day is equal to 15 minutes of lost time out of 8 hours. This can be applied to “stuck on a long call,” unscheduled bathroom breaks, etc. However, 12% report assumptions of over 38 minutes per 8-hour day (8% to over 10% loss). Identifying causes and agents responsible for the losses can have a significant impact on the cost of personnel or the failure to meet service goals consistently.

All Other Shrinkage

When asked what is assumed for all other types of shrinkage than those specified in the questions above, the responses are distributed similarly to other questions. Sixty-five percent have losses between under 1-3%. All other can include such losses as system issues, special projects, union work, shadowing, loans to other departments, bereavement, jury duty, outbound calls, volunteer opportunities, remote working issues, etc.

Shrinkage to Start the Day

Respondents were asked what percentage of shrinkage still needs to be accounted for at the beginning of the workday. This includes, tardies, absences, adherence failures, etc. Twenty-eight percent report an assumption of over 10% loss within the day. For example, if the staff need to meet the service goal for a period is 70 agents, the assumption is that 78 need to be on the schedule (70 / 90% productive = 78). Like all other shrinkage percentages, use of your actual experience versus entitlements is key to service consistency. Likewise, making different assumptions for each day of the week and even each hour of the day can improve accuracy. Analysis of consistent periods of under- or over-staffing can reveal opportunities for significant improvements.

Closing Comments

Based on the responses to this survey, the variety of assumptions for shrinkage is significant. There is no reasonable loss percentage that can be applied to all or even the majority of centers. Each operation must analyze the actual losses that occur and use them to determine staffing requirements. Using entitlements or assumptions used by other operations can lead to service inconsistency, needs for overtime or time off without pay, and intraday chaos. Analysis of trends and/or periods that are consistently off the plan can reveal opportunities for improvements resulting in lower cost, better customer satisfaction, and a more stable work life for agents.