Call centers that optimize their human capital can significantly increase efficiency and productivity. This was the objective of our example company, a customer service center which had launched eight years previously with one healthcare client. Last year, when they adopted Workforce Management Suite, they provided inbound and outbound support for six health insurers, three nationwide financial clients, and two auto insurance firms.
In optimizing human capital, the organization had four specific goals:
- Increase precision of scheduling to improve employee productivity
- Reduce overtime and better enforce employee breaks
- Keep labor costs in check while still providing a high level of service
- Accommodate staff members’ scheduling preferences to increase employee morale and reduce turnover
Our case study had invested in a software-based, onsite WFM system five years before switching to Workforce Management Suite. It was fairly sophisticated when installed, but the manufacturer had not kept up with the latest technology and its value diminished as the company evolved. Additionally, the software updates were costly and the system was down for days when something went wrong.
Solution – Workforce Management Suite
The forward-thinking owners were eager to upgrade to a call center Workforce Management system that made it simple to implement the latest Workforce Management best practices to gain an advantage in a crowded call center market. Though they had spent thousands on their onsite software, they knew their needs would be better met with an SaaS solution. Workforce Management Suite, which contains TimeWorksPlus, TimeSimplicity, and TimeWorksTouch, capably met each of their objectives, as explained below.
Scheduling Precision
With TimeSimplicity, the scheduling solution in Workforce Management Suite, department managers can create standard schedule templates for busy and slow sales periods, which vary per department. With the standard schedule in place, supervisors can drag and drop to customize for each client, employee group, or other department-specific criteria. The system has virtually put an end to coverage gaps, over-staffing, and departmental imbalances.
Strategic Forecasting
TimeSimplicity gives managers user-friendly tools to analyze attendance history, discover trends, and forecast future needs. As the weeks go by, managers have an ever-increasing amount of key data to help elevate the accuracy of scheduling.
Overtime and Break Management
Companies that fail to control overtime can really take a financial hit. Workforce Management Suite customizable overtime notifications have reduced labor expenses while proving to be a huge timesaver for managers.
Reduced Labor Costs
Time card estimation was common at the organization prior to Workforce Management Suite. The call center staff members would estimate start and end times after the fact if they forgot to punch in. TimeWorksPlus has a schedule adherence function which doesn’t clock employee time outside of prescribed hours and enforces authorized break and meal duration. Tardies and absences are monitored and controlled and buddy-punching has become impossible. The firm is now only paying associates for time actually worked.
Accurate Time Cards and Hassle-free Payroll
TimeWorksTouch has PunchLogic, a feature that makes it ’employee-aware.’ For example, it doesn’t allow team members to unwittingly clock into the wrong activity. It gives the employees only the options that apply to their current work status (shift beginning, break, meal, or shift ending). Time card accuracy has improved dramatically, saving managers countless admin hours previously spent fixing inaccurate time cards.
Accommodate Scheduling Preferences While Retaining Quality of Service
Call centers usually have a high attrition rate because customer service is an entry-level job for many young workers and a common short-term stint for students and individuals who are temporarily unemployed in their chosen field. Call centers that succeed are able to attract competent employees, quickly train them to be excellent service reps, pay a competitive wage, and minimize attrition.
Meeting Scheduling Preferences
The management at our example office had discovered that accommodating employee scheduling preferences let them to pay slightly less than the median rate in their metro area. The benefits were two-fold:
a savings in labor costs and increased employee retention. These savings increase exponentially as they continue to expand their labor force. TimeSimplicity allows supervisors to specify minimum/maximum hour preferences per employee. Automated time-off requests simplify life for employees.
Mobile Employee Self Service (ESS) allows employees to monitor their schedule, shift opportunities, and accruals from anywhere. The management team also experimented with allowing fully trained team members within the same skill set group (phone, email, or live chat certified) to manage their own shift trades. When presented with this display of confidence, the reps rose to the occasion and the policy has since become permanent. The practice has not been abused, and turnover has decreased.
Improved Employee Work/Life Balance
The management team believes that prior to the change in policy, most associates were afraid of requesting too many shift trades per week. Now that they are trusted to cover their own shifts when they make a trade, they have more schedule flexibility than ever before. The committed staff does not want to give up this valuable perk, even to sling a slightly higher wage at a competitor’s company.
Improved morale has improved the quality of service provided by the reps. Agents who are respected and trusted by management can focus on doing quality work and meeting production intents.
Workforce Management Suite: Essential For Continued Growth
Now that the office has optimized human capital, the owners plan to expand their services to include order processing and lead response. They are certain that Workforce Management Suite will help them successfully accommodate this growth.
UPGRADE TODAY
Absolute Payroll Inc offers WorkforceHUB, the Human Resources Management System (HRMS) that makes it easy to optimize the performance of your managers, employees, and business processes.
WorkforceHUB includes TimeWorksPlus, TimeSimplicity, TimeWorks Mobile, and ApplicantStack. We’ve just added recruiting, onboarding, benefits enrollment, performance reviews, and employee engagement! WorkforceHUB was developed for busy employers like you who need to reduce cost-per-hire, streamline scheduling, automate time tracking, maintain regulatory compliance, and reduce labor costs.
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We can get you up and running with WorkforceHUB immediately. Contact us today to set up a demo.
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