How Workforce Management Will Help the Business of the Future Better Meet the Needs of Its Customers (and Employees)

Most of us would probably agree that the modern world is more complex than it was in our parents’ or grandparents’ time. But what do we mean by that?

Certainly, the world today is a sprawling web of constantly multiplying interconnected systems. Businesses have to deal with a labyrinth of global supply chains, ever-evolving technology, shifting regulatory landscapes, and the increasing demands of both customers and employees.

Today’s knowledge workers find themselves at the nexus of all this complexity, tackling multiple roles that demand a blend of technological know-how, creativity, analytical prowess, critical thinking, continuous learning, and flexibility.

Consumers are impacted too. It’s not just about complexity but about the perceived difficulty of modern life, including financial challenges. One of the main reasons people turn to businesses and other organisations is to solve problems. In general, they want complex things made simple.

Too often, businesses can be so concerned with handling their own difficulties – legacy technology that doesn’t quite do what’s needed of it or operating processes that aren’t robust and flexible enough to cope with how quickly things change – that they end up doing precisely the opposite and making the simple things incredibly complex for the customer.

As businesses, we can do better.

Organisation and Planning

The best businesses manage to hide all their complexity from the customer. Even if they are paddling furiously underwater, everything appears serene on the surface. However, even if your business has the best technology, the best people, and the best processes in the world, it will struggle to perform for the customer if you are constantly under-resourced or your resources are marshalled in the wrong direction.

As any contact centre leader will tell you, the ability to deliver a great customer experience starts by connecting a customer quickly with the right person or system to respond to their request. The Workforce Management (WFM) and Workforce Optimisation (WFO) functions were developed to do exactly this.

WFM has evolved from a scheduling tool to a strategic tool that permeates the entire organisation. WFM can help your business understand how to allocate resources to most efficiently meet demand, enhance CX by delivering what customers need in a timely manner, optimises employee engagement, and enable data-driven decision-making across the enterprise.

Key Components of Modern WFM

Modern Workforce Management has evolved significantly, leveraging advanced technologies such as AI and machine learning to implement data-driven approaches that optimise workforce operations. The critical components of modern WFM all need to work together to enhance efficiency, improve customer experience, and boost employee satisfaction.

Advanced Forecasting

At the heart of modern WFM lies advanced forecasting powered by AI-driven predictive analytics. These sophisticated algorithms analyse historical data, seasonal patterns, and external factors to predict future demand. For instance, machine learning models can identify subtle patterns in customer behaviour that human analysts might miss, leading to more precise staffing predictions.

Intelligent Scheduling

Automated, constraint-based scheduling has revolutionised the way businesses manage their workforce. These systems can create optimal schedules that balance business needs, labour laws, and employee preferences. By considering hundreds of variables simultaneously, they produce schedules that maximise efficiency while minimising costs. Modern WFM systems allow employees to input their availability, shift preferences, and time-off requests. This not only improves employee satisfaction but also reduces absenteeism and turnover.

Real-Time Management

It’s one thing to predict and schedule, but businesses need to be able to adapt to moment-to-moment changes in demand. Real-time dashboards give managers instant visibility into real-time operations, allowing them to make informed decisions quickly. Intraday monitoring software can even suggest adjustments to maintain service levels.

Performance Analysis

Advanced analytics tools can process vast amounts of data to identify trends, bottlenecks, and opportunities for improvement. This goes beyond simple reporting to provide actionable insights that drive tactical and strategic decision-making.

WFM’s Role in Enhancing Customer Experience

WFM enables organisations to deliver a superior customer experience across multiple channels by optimising resource allocation, streamlining operations, and leveraging advanced technologies.

Omnichannel Support

Modern WFM systems seamlessly integrate various communication channels, ensuring a consistent customer journey across all touchpoints. This omnichannel approach is crucial in meeting evolving customer expectations for flexible interactions. According to the UK Contact Centre Decision Maker’s Guide, 39% of contact centres now use combined voice and digital channel workforce management applications.

Personalised Customer Interactions

WFM enhances CX by enabling personalised customer interactions through skill-based and task-based routing. This approach matches customers with the most suitable agents based on query nature, agent expertise, and customer history. By leveraging AI and machine learning algorithms, WFM systems can analyse the work queue and make these matches in real-time, improving the quality of outcomes and boosting first-contact resolution rates.

Reduced Wait Times and Improved Responsiveness

WFM significantly contributes to reducing wait times and improving overall responsiveness through:

1. Optimal staffing: Advanced forecasting algorithms accurately predict demand fluctuations, allowing appropriate staffing across different periods and channels.

2. Real-time adjustments: WFM tools provide real-time visibility into operations, enabling quick adjustments to handle unexpected demand spikes.

By ensuring the correct number of skilled agents are available at the right times, WFM reduces customer wait times and improves prompt response to customer needs, enhancing satisfaction and operational efficiency.

Employee Engagement (and Its Impact on CX)

As we all know, EX (employee experience) plays a massive role in determining the quality of your CX (customer experience). The WFM function is pivotal in enhancing employee engagement through various strategies and tools.

Flexible Work Arrangements

The post-pandemic era has accelerated the adoption of remote and hybrid work models. Various surveys suggest that around two-thirds of contact centres offer some remote or hybrid work option. Remote and hybrid work models offer employees greater flexibility, improving work-life balance, higher job satisfaction, and reduced turnover rates. In a contact centre of any size, WFM tools are needed for scheduling in hybrid workplaces to ensure everyone is working from where they’re supposed to.

Learning and Development

To keep up with demands in the modern workplace, continuous learning and development are now a daily part of life for most workers. Modern WFM systems can integrate personalised training programs that adapt to individual agent needs and performance metrics. AI-driven analytics can identify skill gaps and recommend tailored training modules for each employee, ensuring that training is relevant and impactful. WFM software could even automatically serve remote training programmes to employees during less busy times.

Employee Empowerment

Empowering employees is one key to enhancing engagement. Self-service scheduling options, enabled by advanced WFM tools, are becoming more popular. These give employees more control over their work hours, enhancing work-life balance and increasing job satisfaction and productivity.

WFM as a Strategic Business Tool

As we have seen, WFM has transcended its traditional scheduling role to become a more strategic tool for efficient resource allocation in planning and intraday real-time management.

Data-Driven Decision Making

Modern WFM systems are powerful data aggregators, collecting and analysing vast amounts of information from various touchpoints across the organisation. This wealth of data provides invaluable insights into demand and available resources, enabling leaders to make informed decisions about resource allocation across the enterprise. For instance, data on peak customer interaction times can inform contact centre staffing, marketing campaign timing, product launch schedules, and supply chain management.

Cost Optimisation

One of the primary benefits of strategic WFM is its ability to optimise costs without compromising customer experience. Efficient staffing models, driven by advanced forecasting algorithms, can help ensure your business maintains optimal staffing levels. This reduces overstaffing during quiet periods and understaffing during peak times, which can be costly. By reducing operational costs while maintaining or even improving service levels, WFM directly contributes to your operation’s bottom line.

Adaptability to Market Changes

Today’s WFM systems are agile enough to respond swiftly to shifting customer demands. The future of WFM lies in its integration with other business systems to create unified platforms for comprehensive workforce, supply chain and customer management. When data can flow seamlessly across an organisation, you get valuable insights that inform decision-making at all levels.

These days, there is no excuse for a business to make life more difficult for its customers or employees. The AI and machine learning technologies powering the latest WFM and WFO platforms can enable your business to make data-driven decisions, optimise costs, and adapt quickly to changing customer needs.

This is why we will see an increased use of WFM technology outside of the contact centre. It takes all areas of your organisation to work together efficiently to best serve your customers and deliver a high-quality customer experience at all touch points and in all moments of truth.

If you want to find out more about how Ventrica uses Workforce Management tools or about our award-winning planning team, please get in touch.