Each quarter SWPP surveys the workforce planning community on critical workforce planning topics. Over 140 call center professionals representing a wide variety of industries participated and provided insight into this quarter’s survey on management of schedule exceptions.
Fifty-three percent of the 140 participants in the survey work in centers with 500 agents or more. The rest are representative of a wide variety of sizes from under 50 to 500 agents. The financial, heath care, and insurance industries drew the largest number of participants, but all other industries are also well represented.
Respondents were asked how many full-time equivalents (FTE) they employ whose primary role is to enter schedule exceptions. Nearly half responded that they have 0 to 2 staff in this role. Over one quarter indicated that they have 3 to 5 staff entering exceptions with the remaining quarter utilizing 6 to 12 or more. The distribution of exception entry personnel seems to track with size of staff.
Respondents were asked to indicate which of the listed schedule exceptions they accept in their operation. Over 80% accept all the scheduled events listed as well as special projects. Less than 20% accept exceptions for long calls. While “tardies” are entered for more than half of the centers, a much lower percentage enter exceptions for “earlies.”
The respondents were to indicate which of the listed options were used as boundaries for the entry of a schedule exception. Over 40% indicated that there is a defined length of time that an exception must exceed before it is accepted for entry. There is a certain number of minutes per shift that is “forgiven” with a set percentage of adherence expected. For example, if the adherence goal is 93% for an 8-hour shift, the agent can vary up to 33 minutes per shift and still meet their adherence goal. Entering short items such as long calls or 5-minute tardies may be covered by this with no exception needing to be entered.
Twenty-nine percent require a supervisor approving the exception before it is entered. Nine percent of the respondents indicated that they have no specific boundaries for acceptance of schedule exceptions.
Twelve percent do not accept exceptions for things that happened in the past in the first question but 19% indicated they do not accept past items when the question was asked separately. For those who do enter past exceptions, 58% only enter specific items while 42% have no restrictions on what those exceptions might be. When asked what types of past exceptions they accept, free form text answers were provided. Technical issues were cited most often, with unscheduled meeting/coaching mentioned for some. Items that have been approved by management or HR and anything that affects payroll are also entered.
Enter Schedule Exceptions in the Past
Only Specific Schedule Exceptions in the Past are E ntered
Respondents were asked what the cut-off time is for entering exceptions. Over two-thirds indicated that there is no cut-off time utilized. The remainder require at least 1 day and up to a week or more of prior notice before the exception.
Respondents were asked if they have clearly defined standards for how exceptions are entered and which exceptions are accepted. Almost three-quarters of respondents indicated that they do have standards in place while the remainder do not. It is helpful to agents and WFM to know what the rules are and that they are applied fairly to everyone. Standards help to make that possible.
Based on the responses above, defining and entering schedule exceptions varies widely among the respondents. There is a balance to be struck between ensuring accuracy of time accounting (especially when payroll relies on the WFM system) and the time and effort expended in entering every item. Some centers focus on a high percentage of adherence to schedule and agents are incented to ask for “forgiveness” for every minute they can. Others find that the time agents spend asking, supervisors approving, and WFM doing data entry adds up to more time than it is worth. Finding the right balance for your operation is challenging.
