Call Center Operation

110 3.7 Creating value through workforce optimization

are clearly understood and communicated to management, this approach

can be very useful when combined with other approaches.

Customer survey

A fourth method for choosing service level is to conduct a customer survey.

This involves analyzing caller tolerance.

It is always a good idea to know what callers expect, but random call

arrival means that different callers have different experiences with a call

center. Even for a modest service level such as 80 percent answered in 60

seconds, over half the callers will get an immediate answer. Some may still

be in the queue for three to five minutes (assuming no overflow or other

contingency). This significant range of response times means that many

callers in a set would claim that the service level was great, while others

would describe it as totally unsatisfactory!

There are variations in customer survey methodology. Some managers

take samples of individual callers and then compare the responses to the

actual wait times for their calls. Others conduct general customer surveys.

These samples indicate that waits of up to 60 to 90 seconds are acceptable

to a fair percentage of the callers surveyed.

3.7 Creating value through workforce optimization

Call center managers need to understand that successful management

means understanding the complex trade-offs inherent in the sophisticated

call center operating environment, where the proper allocation, dispersal,

and treatment of the human resource are fundamental requirements.

Quantifying and increasing the value of workforce optimization solutions is

important and needs to be addressed. Typically, analysis focuses on soft-

ware and infrastructure investments that will yield greater efficiencies

resulting from automation. Some call center product vendors, however,

take a different approach that assesses the return on investment in the

human resource, the employees in the call center.

Assessing value creation

Personnel costs usually account for 70 to 80% of overall operational

expenses in contact centers. Leveraging these personnel resources efficiently

through workforce optimization solutions can potentially provide signifi-

cant returns. However, most models for assessing value creation only con-

sider the benefits derived from streamlining the processes of forecasting and

3.7 Creating value through workforce optimization 111

Chapter 3

scheduling call center staff to meet service goals. These models may result

in significant gains through the automation of various functions, but they

fail to address the real complexity of workforce optimization and are far too

simple to portray accurately the real meaning of workforce optimization.

The major factors involved in managing and maximizing CSR produc-

tivity and the quality of customer interactions while maximizing the num-

ber of contacts handled per agent hinge on the ability to match the volume

and type of customer contacts precisely. These factors include availability of

agents by skill type and contact media type (e.g., e-mail, phone, or fax).

Done effectively, the returns for each call can be maximized and result in a

maximization of returns for the entire call center. (see Figure 3.7)

Staffing and customer service

To paraphrase a well-known authority on workforce optimization, Dr.

Richard Coleman, founder of Coleman Consulting Group, it takes an

organization as sophisticated as a contact (call) center to show how develop-

ing strategic staffing plans relies on understanding the complex trade-offs

inherent in each staffing scenario. The effects of seemingly insignificant

staffing changes are far-reaching. Staffing plans dictate the kind of service

Figure 3.7

Ascending levels of

CSR skills

experience.

Universal

agents:

mixed voice &

multimedia

Entry-level agents: voice only

Experienced agents: voice only

Communication surfers:

multimedia shifts