In today’s contact center, it is critical to align employee experience (EX) with customer experience (CX). And workforce optimization (WFO) can help us in this endeavor. WFO has been a buzzword in contact center circles for years, conceptualizing the integration of quality, training, analytics, and workforce management to maximize staff effectiveness and efficiency.
For example, imagine you’ve been planning for weeks to align staffing for a new call type that is set to launch in four days. Current service levels are satisfactory, but staffing is lean and your forecasts reveal a volume spike and several “optional soft skills trainings” are scheduled.
To maintain service level, you decide to postpone all training for the next three days and begin rescheduling sessions for the following week. Shortly after implementing these changes and distributing new schedules, you receive an email from the training team. Unbeknownst to you, this wasn’t just an “optional soft skills training.” Nope, it was an essential training needed for the new volume type you were staffing for. The cancelled sessions were crucial for equipping agents to address caller concerns. Now agents lack the necessary training for the new call type that is launching soon. To complicate matters, Quality Assurance (QA) has updated call scoring forms to include the new skill set, potentially penalizing agents for training they haven’t received. This will not be good EX or CX.
If this scenario sounds familiar, you’re not alone. This situation is more common than one might think, stemming from a lack of robust WFO strategy and process. Your standard operating rhythm should come from a WFO lens -- not just WFM. While technology can facilitate WFO, the core issue isn’t about software – it’s about philosophy and organizational culture.
While the idea of WFO seems straightforward and appealing, its practical implementation often proves challenging. The key to making contact center operations and support services work cohesively lies in asking a fundamental question: “Why are we here?”
The answer is simple yet profound: we’re here to deliver positive outcomes for customers. In our world, the most important person is the customer in front of us now. The second most important is the next person in line. To meet their needs effectively, we must empower and optimize our agents’ capabilities. Regardless of the contact center type, the primary goal is to provide the best possible service and support in all contexts.
Quality Assurance aims to ensure agents meet service expectations. The Training team prepares agents to deliver excellent service. Workforce Management (WFM) predicts needs and allocates resources for optimal service delivery. These goals are not mutually exclusive but interconnected facets of WFO. By focusing on “Why are we here?”, the synergies between support services become apparent.
Synergy occurs when multiple components work together to produce an output greater than the sum of their individual efforts. Consider a three-legged stool – no single leg can support the full weight alone, but together they create a stable structure. Similarly, Quality, WFM, and Training must function in harmony to create a comprehensive customer experience.
In many contact centers, these components operate in silos, leading to suboptimal outcomes. The ideal scenario involves these key elements working in tandem to deliver a superior customer experience. Remember, our primary focus is the caller, and our collective mission is to connect them with a well-prepared agent at the right time to address their needs.
Revisiting the cancelled training scenario, how could this have been avoided? The answer is in aligning our focus on service delivery. The trainer’s role is to equip agents with new content and documentation. QA ensures the correct information reaches callers. WFM guarantees appropriate staffing to handle volume and maintain timely service. When the training was cancelled, the goals weren’t conflicting – they were aligned but suffered from a lack of communication and timing coordination.
Let’s examine this further. As someone who transitioned from Training to WFM, I’ve gained unique insights. In WFM, we consider numerous variables including call volume, timing, agent capacity, and shrinkage (unavailable time). We staff to accommodate a certain percentage of shrinkage. For example, if we need 10 agents and anticipate 30% shrinkage, we plan for 13 agents. Do your Training and Quality teams understand the impact when we have more than the 30% shrinkage we planned for? Communication and training from WFM can help them understand how we schedule.
Excessive wait times fuel customer frustration and agent fatigue, ultimately affecting call quality. Conversely, if agents aren’t adequately prepared, swift answer times become irrelevant and long handle times may occur. Effective WFO teamwork prevents such issues.
But how can we create a robust framework for this teamwork? First, we need to break down silos between departments. QA, Training, and WFM should operate with transparent communication and shared objectives, and aligned operating rhythms. Establishing regular cross-functional meetings can help bridge gaps and enable teams to discuss challenges and opportunities collectively. These should be working and planning sessions, not just data presentation.
Developing shared Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that reflect the interconnected nature of WFO components can promote alignment. Customer satisfaction metrics should be tied to agent training effectiveness, and staffing levels should account for the elements that QA identifies as critical for success. Creating incentives for departments to work collaboratively can also foster teamwork.
The role of analytics within this collaborative framework cannot be understated. Analytics, while often treated as a separate component in WFO, serves as the glue that connects all operations. By leveraging data from quality assessments, training outcomes, and workforce metrics, we can gain insights that drive decisions across departments.
Analytics teams can produce comprehensive reports that share insights across QA, Training, and WFM. For example, if analytics reveal that certain training programs are directly linked to improved customer satisfaction scores, then QA and Training teams can collaboratively refine those programs. Similarly, if WFM finds that staffing levels directly affect quality scores, they can work with QA to optimize both elements.
Another critical aspect is the culture of continuous learning. To ensure that agents are always equipped to respond effectively to callers, we should instill a mindset of ongoing development. Training shouldn’t just be a scheduled event; it should be integrated into daily operations. Creating a repository of easily accessible learning resources, such as e-learning modules or podcasts, can help agents continuously improve their skills without disrupting service levels.
The training curriculum should be adaptive to include soft skills and technical skills. Regularly updating training materials based on QA findings or new service initiatives will ensure that agents have what they need to succeed. Trainers should collaborate closely with WFM to schedule training sessions in a way that minimizes impact on service delivery while maximizing learning effectiveness.
The main purpose in driving the effectiveness of WFO lies in the cross-pollination of ideas and inputs across these departments. For example, if agents express a need for training on a specific type of customer interaction, the Training team should rapidly respond by developing and delivering that training. Simultaneously, QA should update call scoring forms to ensure that agents are assessed on their new skills. And Training should work with WFM to schedule the training in times that don’t affect service level.
As organizations strive to deliver excellent customer service, particularly during peak times, it’s essential for teams to be agile and responsive. In practice, implementing a flexible workforce strategy can help schedules and resources to be adjusted in real-time. This can be supported by adopting advanced WFM tools that allow for rapid adjustments in staffing based on incoming call volumes and agent performance metrics.
Ultimately, this agility should extend to addressing knowledge gaps among agents as well. As illustrated before, having a quick reference guide for most common scenarios can empower agents to solve issues without lengthy hold times or transfers. These materials can be updated regularly in response to feedback from QA and customer interactions.
To underscore the importance of this approach, let’s circle back to our initial scenario. Imagine if the QA team had provided early warning signals about potential skill gaps related to the new call type initiative to both Training and WFM. The Training team could have adjusted quickly, working with WFM to roll out targeted training that prevented the misalignment of agent capabilities and customer needs at the times that WFM deemed best.
Moreover, once the new call type was launched, tracking the customer feedback and scoring metrics in real-time would enable immediate adjustments. This way, we create a cyclical process of constant improvement that reflects the needs of our customers and empowers our agents effectively.
In conclusion, bridging the gaps between EX and CX requires a sustainable, cross-departmental approach that is proactive rather than reactive. By focusing on synergy, communication, and continuous learning in your WFO strategy, contact centers can not only mitigate risks of poor service delivery but also enhance employee engagement and satisfaction. When agents feel confident and equipped, they are more likely to deliver the exemplary customer service that keeps clients coming back. By being united in purpose and harnessing the strengths of each department, contact centers can transform their operations into a cohesive unit aimed at achieving common goals. After all, a better-prepared agent translates directly into a better experience for the customer. EX = CX so focus on the EX in planning and the CX will follow.
Marshall Lee is currently the Director of Training and a Consultant with Human Numbers. He has experience in training, workforce management, business process improvement, and coaching. He has a proven track record working across diverse industries including telecommunications, tech support, insurance, HR support services, and healthcare services, with experience in both contact centers and back-office support teams. Marshall has been serving on the Board of Advisors for SWPP since 2011, and speaks and contributes to various events and publications. He may be reached at ma******@**********rs.com.
