Whether you’re the agent or the operations manager, changing the way you schedule affects everyone. Implementing a new workforce management program can be a painful experience in your contact center, but it doesn’t have to be. In this five part series, I am going to discuss how to introduce a new scheduling process to your contact center in the most painless way possible. The following key points will help you along the way:
- Get Organized
- Ask Your Agents
- Share Your Strategy
- Test It
- Give It Time
There are many reasons you may want to change your scheduling process, but your overall goals should be to improve your processes, save money, and increase agent satisfaction (YES, you CAN do all three!). Perhaps you want to move to a shift bid process, or change from seniority-based scheduling to performance-based scheduling. Whatever the need, before you jump headlong into a schedule process change, take the time to understand the problems and plan for what you want to change.
The first step is to Get Organized. A great way to do this is to form a workforce strategy committee. We all know the expression that two heads are better than one, and that expression certainly applies in this case.
A workforce strategy committee can identify pain points and provide collaboration in creating a strategy for scheduling success. Then when the time comes, you’ll have advocates that are knowledgeable, ready and willing to implement and drive the changes.
When creating your committee, be sure to involve all levels of the contact center. This will ensure that you get perspectives from all angles. The committee members should be open to change, have a positive attitude, be willing to provide constructive feedback and be prepared to contribute in a meaningful way.
Creating your committee is the first step in driving change and success in your new scheduling endeavor.
