Calculating The Return On Investment Of Workforce Management

Customer Inter@ction Solutions, May 2007 by Seeley, Rick, Glew, Rick

Vendors know how important proof of return on investment is to the success of a workforce management project - and, ultimately, to die success of the proposal they put on the table and the company's willingness to make a commitment. This is to the contact centers advantage. Vendors understand the need to be accountable and demonstrate the long-term value of the company's products in a way everyone can agree on.

The well understood need to present compelling ROI figures, however, also creates risk that figures may be inflated or circumstances exaggerated in order to gain buy-in on the benefits of a specific solution. That is why the ROI terms should be clearly outlined by die contact center, in accordance with business needs and project expectations. Allowing vendors to establish the entire ROI proposition without any input from the center is a recipe for confusion, particularly when it comes to attempting to compare the merits of different project plans or different vendor solutions.

That said, deciding on the true implications of ROI can be done successfully and in a collaborative manner. The contact center just has to know where to look, what to expect and how to measure.

Before even considering a particular workforce management solution, identify how, where and when improved visibility and accuracy into agent scheduling could benefit die business. Think about how a deeper understanding of agent skill sets could contribute to improving customer service. Also, identify ways changing demands on the contact center, including new channels and the resulting shift in the mix of contacts, will need to be addressed by more timely and accurate agent scheduling. Once the project team has built this understanding, die group will be able to direct die terms of the ROI discussion with vendors interested in satisfying the organization's needs.

When Less Is More

Productivity is a crucial component of workforce management ROI. At its core, die discipline of workforce management focuses on reallocating resources to be more efficient and effective, closing shrinkage gaps, reducing overtime, paring down talk time and so forth. Hard ROI measurements often zero in on these clear-cut advantages. If better workforce management aids in die creation of a schedule that takes 150 hours of overtime per week out of the schedule, and the fully loaded cost of each hour of overtime is $22, then that solution provides a $3,300 per week ROI through overtime reduction alone. Similarly, a schedule that consistently takes 70 hours of regularly scheduled time out of a plan can produce savings equivalent to 1.75 full-time employees (FTEs). These calculations are straightforward and meaningful to all of the stakeholders.

Some efficiency gains are more subtle and less easy to see on the floor but are equally important to include in the workforce management ROI calculation. Organizations with ineffective or manual workforce management processes not only produce inefficient schedules, diey spend too long crafting them. Reporting specialists or floor supervisors may be investing extra hours poring over spreadsheets and vacation request logs attempting to craft a schedule. By taking them away from the spreadsheet and putting them back on tasks that create real value, companies can realize a greater return on investment than they are already making in these managers and technical specialists.

Keep in mind that return on investment never takes places in a vacuum. New scheduling models that save overtime and/or FTEs return true value to the organization only if they can be executed without adversely affecting customer satisfaction or revenue opportunities. Good workforce management is not simply enabling agents to slam the phone down in lieu of making a potentially profitable upsell or protecting customer value through delivering a completely satisfying experience to the caller. Good workforce management strategy means creating the right opportunities for the right agent to handle contacts at the right time.

ROI analysis should also include a look at indirect and intangible benefits. The flexibility, transparency and fairness provided by workforce management can play a positive role in agent retention rates. Stability in the agent pool means less time and money spent in hiring and new agent training. It also means more skilled agents who have the time and reach to develop a full understanding of the business and its products. This increased proficiency can also lead to stronger customer experiences, higher satisfaction rates and greater loyalty in the long term. Experienced, knowledgeable agents have a better ability to close calls quickly, accurately and on the first attempt - all characteristics which are appreciated by time-pressed customers.

ROI: It's Not As Easy As It Looks

When considering a workforce management system investment, avoid always equating ROI with the concept of less. Staffing fewer agents, spending less time on the telephone and fielding fewer live customer inquiries can represent a net benefit to your overall operations. Many workforce management improvements, however, accompany and support a broader change in contact center strategy. The real, positive impact workforce management capabilities bring is not in "making something less" but rather in keeping the contact center running smoothly and efficiently in a world of changing demands.