Workforce Management (WFM) & why you need one

What is a workforce management tool?

A Workforce Management (WFM) is a cloud-based software application to integrate a set of processes that a company uses to optimize productivity and minimize the costs of its employees. It’s a solution that lives in the cloud as an integral part of the contact center (CCaaS) platform. WFM allows contact center leaders to make accurate forecasts and schedule staffing needs, helping to deliver exceptional customer service.

WFM Features

A WFM system involves effectively forecasting labor requirements and creating and managing staff schedules to accomplish a particular task on a day-to-day and hour-to-hour basis. Such a set of processes includes but is not limited to analyzing, forecasting, and planning workforce supply and demand, assessing gaps, and determining target talent management interventions. To ensure that an organization has the right people – with the right skills in the right places at the right time.

Why is it beneficial for a contact center to use WFM?

Contact centers are complex business units, often with large groups of employees with different levels of skill, knowledge and experience. Some contact centers can also combine on-site, offshore or remote workers, so a robust WFM system is needed for scheduling staff, forecasting needs and optimizing the customer experience. Large staff turnover can be expensive and can harm morale and productivity internally. The best WFM systems actively reduce staff turnover and absenteeism by improving communication between manager and agent – providing a system for e-learning and continuous professional development.

WFM benefits and values

• A planning solution that is optimized for contact centers
• Simplifies forecasting, planning, managing staff requirements
• Safely hosted in a business-class cloud infrastructure
• Upgrades, security patching and version control are seamlessly optimized
• Cost-effective, flexible and scalable. WFM can quickly be implemented and is suitable for companies of all types and sizes
• Optimizes productivity
• Reduce staffing costs
• Easy access to work schedule and activities for staff

If you are trying to reach full contact center efficiency, a WFM system is probably what you want to take a closer look at.