In the dynamic realm of a global contact center, the orchestration of agent schedules is a complex interplay between time zones, labor laws, forecasting algorithms, and individual preferences. In their quest for greater efficiency and effectiveness, workforce managers often rely on the Goldilocks principle.
In the classic children’s story, Goldilocks makes her way through the three bears’ house. She helps herself to three bowls of porridge: The first is too hot and the second too cold, but the third is just right. She then tries out three chairs: The first is two hard and the second too soft, but the third is just right. And then, finally, she climbs into three beds: Again, the first is too hard and the second is too soft, but the third is just right, so she lies down and falls asleep.
In much the same way, WFM teams need to get schedules “just right,” with just the right amount of people—neither too few or too many—staffed at the right time, with the right skills, to meet customer demand.
In the contact center, getting schedules “just right” involves a few primary inputs that include:
- Global workforce dynamics due to operating in diverse time zones and adhering to distinct laws of the land, such as the labor laws of the respective country.
- Staffing requirements that are obtained through advanced forecasting algorithms and True to Interval technology and that are aligned with key performance indicators (KPIs).
- Agent profiles that take into account multiskilled agents with availability, preferences, and defined work hours.
- The manager's conundrum, which is analogous to Goldilocks’ quest for the perfect porridge, chair and bed, as they try to find the perfect balance between work rules, staffing requirements, and agent profiles.
CXone WFM helps managers achieve schedules that are just right—in other words, optimized to the contact center’s unique needs—by:
- Defining work rules: CXone WFM provides the optimal set of rules to be defined by a manager—they’re neither overly simplistic, which would end up in creating too many rules, nor overly intricate, which would create challenges for the manager. It gives managers a great degree of flexibility when defining work rules, which are then used by WFM’s intelligent scheduling engine to map the staffing requirements and strike the right balance.
- Creating optimal schedules: When schedules do not meet staffing requirement, it results in one of two things:
- Understaffing: When the number of agents scheduled is less than the staffing requirements, agents get burned out and abandon customer calls, which can negatively impact contact center performance.
- Overstaffing: When the number of agents scheduled is greater than the staffing requirements, contact center costs increase.
- Optimizing changes: In the dynamic contact center environment, agents and managers are making constant changes to schedules. CXone WFM’s advanced algorithms regularly optimize the schedules to ensure that the contact center is always adequately staffed.
The Goldilocks principle of finding things that are “just right” has never been more applicable than when scheduling in today’s constantly changing contact center. CXone delivers on this goal, achieving a delicate balance in scheduling by using work rules, intelligent scheduling engines, and AI algorithms that not only ensure that staffing requirements are met but also pave the way for efficient, cost-effective, and digitally integrated contact center operations.
Your business is growing, and having just the right WFM tool can help you perform optimally while growing with you. Watch a demo to learn more about how CXone WFM is helping contact centers manage an expanding workforce.
