Today’s customers demand both speed and empathy during their interactions. For contact centers, the challenge lies in balancing these elements without compromising quality.
1. Train Agents for Empathy
Agents must understand customer emotions and respond appropriately. Personalized training programs can help them build these soft skills, turning everyday interactions into exceptional experiences.
2. Equip Agents with Tools
Efficiency tools, such as AI-assisted Knowledge Management systems, provide agents with instant access to the resources they need, allowing them to focus on meaningful conversations.
3. Measure and Improve
Track metrics like customer satisfaction and average handle time to find the balance between efficiency and empathy. Use insights to refine processes continually.
Empathy Meets Efficiency
Find out how Call Design’s contact center solutions can help you achieve this balance and deliver exceptional service.
Gamification is a proven method for increasing engagement, motivation, and performance in contact centers. By introducing game mechanics to everyday tasks, businesses can improve productivity and employee satisfaction.
1. How Gamification Works
Gamification involves applying elements like points, leaderboards, and rewards to workplace activities. These elements incentivize employees to achieve specific goals while fostering a sense of friendly competition.
2. Benefits of Gamification
Boosted Engagement: Employees remain motivated and focused.
Improved KPIs: Metrics like first-call resolution and average handle time often see marked improvements.
Using Call Design’s Performance Management solutions, you can easily integrate gamification into your workflows, tracking results and refining strategies.
Start Gamifying Today
Transform your contact center with performance-driven gamification tools. Visit our gamificationsolutions page to learn more.
High agent turnover can cripple a contact center, leading to increased costs and reduced customer satisfaction. Tackling this issue requires a focus on employee empowerment and scheduling flexibility.
1. Flexible Scheduling: A Game-Changer
Agents thrive when their schedules accommodate personal needs. Advanced WFM tools like flexible scheduling solutions create win-win scenarios: satisfied employees and optimal staffing levels.
2. Empowerment Through Tools and Training
Agents need resources to succeed. Providing tools like AI-assisted knowledge bases ensures they have immediate access to solutions, boosting confidence and performance. Additionally, regular, personalized training keeps them equipped for evolving challenges.
3. Recognize and Reward Excellence
Recognition programs, such as gamification-based performance incentives, drive engagement. Learn how performance management tools can transform your workplace by rewarding excellence.
Empower Your Team Today
By prioritizing empowerment and flexibility, you can turn your contact center into a hub of efficiency and satisfaction. Check out our full suite of WFM tools to begin your transformation.
Workforce management (WFM) is undergoing significant transformation as technological advancements and workplace trends reshape the industry. For contact centers, staying ahead means adopting tools and strategies that optimize both efficiency and employee satisfaction.
1. AI and Automation: Revolutionizing WFM
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how contact centers operate. Automated scheduling and forecasting tools eliminate guesswork, enabling precise staffing decisions that reduce costs and improve service levels. Solutions like Workforce Management tools not only streamline operations but also free up WFM teams to focus on high-impact projects.
2. Embracing Hybrid Work Models
The rise of hybrid and remote work demands flexible WFM systems. Cloud-based platforms ensure that teams remain connected regardless of location, enabling real-time collaboration and access to performance metrics.
3. Real-Time Data Analytics
Real-time analytics is no longer optional—it’s essential. By continuously monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs), managers can identify trends, address issues proactively, and ensure that operations align with business goals.’
Stay Competitive
As trends like AI, hybrid work, and data analytics continue to evolve, contact centers must adapt to maintain a competitive edge. Explore ho
In many organizations, people are promoted because they’ve been in a role for a while, and they know the right buttons to push or the right people to work with. And I think that’s a problem.
Don’t get me wrong, I think internal promotion and giving people a career path is fantastic! Study after study has shown how important professional development and career growth are to retaining talent, especially younger generations. The point isn’t to say we should stop promoting people internally, but I think that people should be interviewed, even internally, when receiving a promotion.
I can hear your comments now. “I shouldn’t have to interview for a position I’ve already earned” … “Interviewing for a promotion is just an extra hoop to jump through” … “I hate interviewing! If they make me interview, I’m going to tank and lose out on this opportunity.” I get it and I think your concerns are valid and should be considered as these processes and policies are implemented. But what you don’t realize is that the organization is doing you a disservice by not interviewing you for the role. Hear me out.
In my role, I’ve had an opportunity to help people move from one organization to another. Whether that’s hiring them into my team or coaching them through their job search process. One of the biggest challenges I’ve seen from people is their inability to articulate their value in an interview. “Why should we hire you.” It’s a common enough question but so many people swing-and-miss on this question and it’s such a critical answer for you to nail!
I’ve heard plenty of people mention how they are self-starters, self-learners, quick learners, self-motivated, team players, great communicators, etc, etc. These are likely all true and possibly valuable. However, why would I hire you, a self-starter who loves to collaborate, over someone else that expresses the same thing? There needs to be more definition, a finer point, or a better way to communicate your value.
And here is where interviewing for internal roles comes in.
When organizations interview for internal roles, it gives you the opportunity to practice articulating the “why me” answer. It gives you the chance to self-assess and look for the core nuggets of why you’ve been successful and then how to articulate that to other people.
There will be a temptation to simply point toward the projects you’ve run well or the team that has grown under you. The problem is that those examples don’t get to the core of your value add. Great, you ran a project well, but what was it about your skillset and unique ability that allowed you to do that? You’ve got to dig deeper and articulate something specific and unique.
So how do we do this and what does it look like? I’m so glad you asked!
You think you work well in team environments and that is a reason someone should promote you or possibly hire you. But when is that true and when has it not been true? Do you work best when teams are made up of certain people or in certain environments? So you refine your answer to “I’m a great team player with people who love to dream and cast vision”, but why is that true? What is it about working with them that you enjoy and that makes you so valuable in that environment? You refine further. “I love working in a team environment with people that cast vision and dream well because I don’t do those things well.” We’re getting closer but we don’t want to end on a negative. Plus, we need to go one level deeper. So instead of saying “I’m a great team player” you can say “I work well in team environments with individuals that cast vision well. I’ve found that my skill is in taking someone else’s vision and making it a reality. I love refining and executing big picture thinking and I work well in environments that include that.” You don’t just work well in team environments, you’re an executor and refiner!
For myself, I could just say “I’m curious and I like to ask questions”, and that might be a bit unique but it’s far short of what it could be. My answer is “I’m incredibly curious and love to ask questions. I’m very comfortable being the dumbest person in the room and asking the questions that everyone thinks but no one wants to ask. My questions typically help teams investigate assumptions and norms to ensure everyone is aligned and on the same page before moving forward. Simply put, you should hire me because my curiosity can help your organization improve communication and move faster by uncovering the unanswered questions.”
This type of self-assessment and ability to articulate your unique value can lead to greater confidence and impact, even in your current organization. When you don’t interview for internal roles and promotions you miss out on the opportunity to assess why you’ve been successful, find a way to articulate that and practice your answer well before trying to land that dream job, possibly at another organization.
Whether you’ve been with an organization for 2 years or 20 years, do yourself a favor and practice your answer to “Why should I hire you”, your next career move may just depend upon it!
At Call Design we believe that employees have the right to be happy, engaged, fulfilled, and aligned at work. Part of finding fulfillment at work includes knowing what you’re good at and what you love to work on. If you’d like help discovering your unique skills or being able to articulate them, please reach out and let us know. One of our coaches would love to work with you and help you find fulfillment at work!
A culture-driven team is intentionally built around shared cultural values and norms, which are considered essential for success. It’s about identifying the values that resonate with your team and using them as the compass to guide your hiring, onboarding, and development processes. Building a culture-driven team means going beyond individual expertise and focusing on collective growth and collaboration.
Hiring for the Team, Not Just the Individual:
To build a culture-driven team, it’s crucial to prioritize the team dynamic over individual roles. Instead of solely focusing on qualifications, seek candidates who are the best fit for the team’s cultural fabric. You may be tempted to think that your new hire will typically have few opportunities to work with other people, so you don’t need to worry about team dynamics. Their “just” a forecaster, or scheduler that will be in the corner just pushing a few buttons (an oversimplification of their role!). The reality is that each person, regardless of how vocal or connected they are, impacts the whole team. As you hire each role you need to be thinking about the values your team is centered around, finding those values in the interview process, and then supporting the values during the training and onboarding process. Remember, a strong team always outperforms a lone superstar.
Possible Team Values:
There are a ton of values you can center your team around, and which ones you should pick will be dependent upon your leadership style, company values, and even your geographical area. For this blog, we’ll focus on four values that Call Design sees as important to helping people be Happy, Engaged, Fulfilled, and Aligned at work.
Curiosity: Look for candidates who exhibit a genuine thirst for knowledge and a desire to continuously learn and grow. This soft skill can be developed in others, but it’s incredibly hard to impart it to people who lack it entirely. Find individuals that naturally ask questions and look to dig into things.
Embracing Chaos: Seek individuals who thrive in dynamic environments and see chaos as an opportunity for innovation and adaptation. Contact center and WFM teams are full of days where things are constantly changing. The key isn’t just how they respond in chaos, but how they feel in chaos. Is the constantly changing environment life-giving or life-taking for them? Plenty of people can put up with the chaos, but where are the people that enjoy the chaos?
Transparency: Value candidates who prioritize open and honest communication, even if it means challenging the status quo and leadership! Organizations that not only allow but encourage people to push boundaries and innovate position themselves to be successful long-term. Sure, curiosity is important to innovation, but even more important is an environment where people are open and honest to push on bad ideas and share their opinions, even if it’s the opposite of the boss.
Kindness: Prioritize kind team members. It’s simple to say but hard to do. We all know that kindness doesn’t make up for an inability to do a job. We’ve all worked with a Kind Karen who is super sweet but is constantly needing help. And we’ve also worked with a Mean Megan who gets work done but no one wants to work with her. Reminder, we’re trying to build a team and not just fill roles. Karen’s kindness is going to have a bigger positive impact on the team than Megan’s, even if you try to isolate Megan to minimize the negativity while still benefiting from her efforts.
Interviewing for Cultural Fit:
Here are some questions you can use to find the four team values we’ve already highlighted.
Curiosity: “What questions do you have for me?” Normally we ask this question at the end of an interview but when we start with this question we learn a few things immediately. Did the person do any research and come prepared with a list of questions? If they didn’t, how quickly are they able to switch into questioning mode and how insightful are their questions? We can learn a lot about someone’s curiosity within the first few minutes of an interview by starting with this question.
Chaos: “Is chaos life-giving or life-taking”. Most people have a great answer as to how they respond in chaos, but the key here is how they feel in chaos. You can teach someone the steps you want them working through during fire drills, but if your chaotic environment is going to suck the life out of them, well that’s the opposite of what we’re looking for. Hire for feeling and train for action.
Transparency: “Tell me about a time you told your boss they were wrong.” If they can come up with a dozen examples they may be more interested in pointing out flaws than coming up with solutions. If they’ve never told their boss they’re wrong then they may not feel comfortable sharing honest feedback. This question allows you to see how easily the person can push against authority and possibly provide helpful feedback, even for the boss.
Kindness: Observe how candidates speak about their former employers and colleagues, looking for indications of a cooperative and compassionate mindset. Again, this value is so simple but it’s incredibly impactful on your team. Don’t overlook how well the interviewee would or would not get along with the rest of your team.
Reinforcing Culture through Onboarding and Development:
Once team members join your organization, it’s crucial to nurture and reinforce the desired culture:
Curiosity: Don’t just encourage curiosity, communicate that it’s an expectation. Every team meeting, 1-1 interaction, or catch-up conversation ask them what questions they have for you. If they are consistently saying they have none then that should be a big red flag. Help them understand that you expect them to have questions and to come to you with them. More than any other time, onboarding is when they need to be bringing questions to the table.
Embracing Chaos: After they’ve been on your team for a while ask them how they feel their job description should change. What should be removed and what should be added? Help them see that they have a chance to shape the chaos and focus on what brings them joy. Plus, they’ll be engaged and find fulfillment in a role they help shape!
Transparency: Lead by example and share your challenges, creating an environment where honesty and open communication are rewarded. Help them see that you value honesty and openness over being right and perfect. They’ve likely made a career of constantly having the right answer and getting things correct. Show them that even their leader is still making mistakes and trying to learn things. Set a tone that promotes transparency and honesty.
Kindness: Encourage team members to connect on a personal level and build relationships with their colleagues. It’s easy to do meet-and-greet meetings and just learn about the person’s role in the organization. Push your team to really find out about the person. The more they can learn about the person’s personal and professional life the better they’ll be able to collaborate and work together.
Building a culture-driven team is an investment that pays off in multiple ways. It not only enhances productivity and collaboration but also creates an environment where employees can be happy, engaged, fulfilled, and aligned. At Call Design, we are passionate about helping contact centers and workforce management teams unlock their full potential. We believe in the power of culture-driven teams and the positive impact they can have on organizations. If you’re ready to take your team to the next level, let’s connect and explore how we can collaborate to elevate your workforce management strategy. Together, let’s build a culture-driven team that drives lasting success!
In a post-pandemic workplace landscape, the future is clear: it’s hybrid. According to a recent Gallup article by Ben Wigert, Jim Harter, and Sangeeta Agrawal, eight in 10 remote-capable employees expect to work in a hybrid or fully remote fashion. This shift is a testament to the changing dynamics of the modern workplace, and as Workforce Management (WFM) leaders, we need to stay ahead of the curve. At Call Design North America, we’ve always believed in aligning with the latest trends and research, and we’re thrilled to share our insights on why the Alvaria Workforce Reserve is more relevant than ever.
The Changing Landscape
Since the onset of the pandemic, the global workforce has been navigating an ongoing experiment in remote work. The tug-of-war between employers and employees on returning to the office has been a consistent headline. Yet, as organizations like Meta, the U.S. federal government, and Zoom mandate hybrid work, it’s clear that the office landscape is evolving.
As WFM leaders, it’s crucial that we understand the implications of this shift. Gallup’s extensive research shows that hybrid work is the new norm, with a significant percentage of employees embracing it. In fact, only 20% of remote-capable employees work entirely on-site, while 29% are fully remote, and 50% work in a hybrid model.
(Another example of a changing landscape: Franconia Notch State Park in October)
Best Practices for Hybrid Workplaces
As hybrid work becomes the new norm, it’s essential to leverage key insights from Gallup’s research while tailoring them to your organization’s needs:
Define a Compelling Office Experience: With remote work on the rise, leaders should make in-office experiences purposeful. The office should be a hub for collaboration, professional growth, and relationship-building. Design hybrid policies and office spaces that inspire teamwork and align with your organization’s culture.
Empower Teams to Shape Hybrid Work: Rather than imposing rigid guidelines, encourage teams to adapt hybrid work practices to their unique requirements. Collaborative decision-making ensures team members understand their roles and responsibilities, fostering a sense of shared ownership.
Enhance Performance Management: Trust in hybrid work hinges on accountability. Implement a performance management system that provides visibility into goals, key metrics, and regular progress checks. Beyond metrics, prioritize coaching and behaviors aligned with your organization’s values.
Invest in Training: Equip managers and teams with the skills needed to succeed in a hybrid work environment. Training is crucial to ensure effective collaboration and leadership in this evolving landscape.
Adapt Office Space Strategically: As the nature of work changes, consider the impact on office space. Reconfigure your workspace to accommodate a hybrid workforce and embrace the shift toward remote participation in meetings. Ensure both office and home environments are optimized for productivity and collaboration.
The Role of Alvaria Workforce Reserve in Achieving Best Practices for Hybrid Workplaces
As contact centers transition to hybrid work, Alvaria Workforce Reserve can play a vital role in aligning with best practices tailored to the contact center.
Define a Compelling Office Experience: In the contact center, it’s crucial to make in-office experiences purposeful. Contact centers should be hubs for collaboration, professional growth, and relationship-building. Alvaria Workforce Reserve streamlines seat assignment changes, ensuring that when employees come into the office, they find seats that match their needs. This design encourages teamwork and collaboration, enhancing the overall office experience.
Empower Teams to Shape Hybrid Work: Reserve empowers teams to adapt to hybrid work practices by automating seat assignments based on business rules, schedules, and capacity. This automation allows WFM teams to have flexibility without the burden of manual seat management. It aligns with the best practice of collaborative decision-making by giving teams the autonomy to shape their workspace.
Enhance Performance Management: Reserve plays a role in performance management by ensuring that employees adhere to their assigned seats, minimizing disruptions, and contributing to schedule adherence for contact center operations. This feature, along with Reserve’s automation capabilities, supports an environment where performance can be effectively monitored and managed, crucial in the context of contact centers and WFM.
Invest in Training for Contact Center Success: With Reserve, contact centers can ensure that agents are optimally positioned based on their specific training needs. This feature facilitates the onboarding process, allowing new agents to be strategically located for better learning and support. Additionally, Reserve can be used to manage seat assignments for training rooms, ensuring that the training environment is conducive to productivity and collaboration.
Adapt Office Space Strategically: Reserve’s automated seat planning and management tools allow contact centers to efficiently generate seating plans for both front and back office personnel. It ensures that the right seats are matched with the right agents at the right time, which is essential in a contact center setting. As the nature of work changes, Reserve supports contact centers in reconfiguring office space to accommodate a hybrid workforce and remote participation in meetings, aligning with the best practice of adapting office space strategically.
(Remote work can sometimes look like early morning work chats by the beach)
What Call Design Offers: Navigating the Hybrid Landscape with Confidence
At Call Design North America, we’ve been at the forefront of the remote and hybrid work revolution for over six years, long before it became the norm. Our extensive experience in navigating the intricate dynamics of this evolving landscape positions us as leaders in the field. We understand the complexities of managing contact centers and WFM teams in remote, hybrid, or in-person settings.
Our seasoned professionals have been leading WFM and contact center teams remotely for more than a decade, accumulating a wealth of knowledge and expertise. CDNA’s commitment to staying ahead of the curve ensures that we’re well-versed in the best practices that enable WFM teams to thrive in any work environment.
Your Trusted Partner in the Hybrid Future
Whether you’re seeking solutions for optimized seat allocation, remote engagement, or strategic workforce management, CDNA has the experience and tools to guide your organization to success. We recognize that every organization’s needs are unique, and our tailored approach ensures that we align with your specific goals and values.
In an era where workplace flexibility is paramount, CDNA is your steadfast ally, offering cost-effective solutions that meet your organization’s evolving demands. As the workplace landscape continues to transform into a hybrid model, our commitment to adaptability and the latest workforce management trends remains unwavering. Embrace the future with confidence, knowing that CDNA and Alvaria Workforce Reserve are here to support your organization on this transformative journey.
The Q4 holiday season is here, that time of year when the demands placed on the Workforce Management (WFM) team are the most challenging. One after another they come: Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Day, when contact centers must balance the extremes of what customers want and what agents want.
On our Wish List for this blog: specific planning considerations that can help your WFM team strike that essential balance and win the Q4 Holiday Season.
Your WFM Team (The Gift that keeps on giving)
Even the worst Grinch in a contact center has to acknowledge the pivotal role of the WFM team during the holiday season. Their expertise and problem-solving insights play a huge part in determining whether a contact center’s holidays are Happy and Bright or will become a Blue Christmas.
It’s not just about meeting customer demands; it’s also about ensuring that your agents have the flexibility to spend time with their families. You don’t need Winter Warlock magic to make both the customers and the agents happy— proper planning and communication can help make it work.
Let’s dive into four key categories that will guide you through the process: Forecasting, Scheduling, Technology, and Coordinating with other Departments.
Forecasting (Not all holidays are the same)
Forecasting is the foundation of a successful Q4 season. Review previous holiday volumes, shrinkages, and any changes in customer behavior during the season. In these times of change, compare data from multiple years to create a more accurate forecast. Remember that not all of the holidays have the same predictable impact.
Thanksgiving is normally easier to predict since it’s a Thursday, just as you know what days Black Friday and Cyber Monday fall on. However, the actual date of Thanksgiving changes, and if your industry has end-of-month sales, you may be looking at a Cyber Monday + EoM promotional environment. Christmas and New Year’s are also challenging to project with the floating days and the observed days that go along with them, impacting volume in different ways depending on the day of the week they fall on, and how it changes from year to year. The key is to consider how the holidays may be the same year-over-year, and how they may change based upon new promotions.
Scheduling (A spoonful of sugar helps the OT go down)
Effective communication is key when it comes to scheduling during the holiday season. Start by communicating your scheduling plan early and do it repeatedly to ensure everyone is on the same page. If your contact center is open on a holiday and the volume is lower, solicit volunteers among your agents to cover the base and then assign the remaining hours—usually these will fall on lowest-tenure agents, but remember to plan for higher shrinkage for the agents who didn’t volunteer.
If your center is closed on a holiday, consider moving employees normally scheduled to work on that day to one of their off days during the week. This approach allows you to utilize additional staffed hours without incurring overtime rates.
To account for higher volume post-Holiday, add hours to schedules on the days following. For example, if you are closed on Monday, add 2 hours to agent schedules on Tuesday and 2 hours on Wednesday before or at the end of the shifts. Yes, it’s like mandatory OT, but wrapping the extra hours in with Holiday Scheduling and explaining the reason why this is unavoidable are always helpful.
Emphasize to your stakeholders that a team effort is vital to navigating the Holiday Season, and a manageable amount of pain from everyone on the team will help to avoid an unbearable amount of OT piling up on a few unfortunate agents. Also, make sure to take into consideration any state or labor/union restrictions when making changes.
It’s not a bad idea to maintain excess staffing to handle unexpected volume spikes. This allows you to offer Voluntary Time Off (VTO) as a way to manage workloads without resorting to overtime or scrambling at the last minute to force agents to work extra hours. If you haven’t already done it this year, consider conducting yearly holiday bids in the future to help distribute the burden of extra hours fairly among your agents. Rotate holiday assignments yearly to prevent employees from working the same holidays each year.
Technology (No fast busies!)
Collaboration with your Telecom and IT teams is crucial to ensure that your center has the capacity to handle the expected contact volume on peak days. If your center uses cloud-based SIP trunking that offers the elasticity needed to automatically handle spikes, that’s amazing, but make sure your infrastructure can handle the increased contact volume. A real example from one of the Call Design team members was a Monday after Thanksgiving where the contact center ran out of Citrix licenses and agents could not log in to take voice calls!
Prepare for high volume by incorporating messages in your IVR to notify customers of potential long hold times; this can also help deflect calls to other channels if available. Regular communication with your IT department can also help keep you aware of any IT technology freezes scheduled for the end of the year.
Also, be sure to take full advantage of the agent- and supervisor-facing functionality that your WFM software should offer: communicating the latest schedule changes to agents’ cell phones keeps them aware of any sudden changes the WFM Team has to make, even if the agents are not online. The ability to push out automated VOT/VTO offers at a moment’s notice is extremely helpful, and the ability to process these requests automatically allows the WFM Team to respond quickly, which is crucial during a sudden contact volume change.
Flexible shift bidding can help turn those 2-extra-hours-to-your-schedule additions from mandatory edicts (which are not only demoralizing, but also might accidentally be distributed unevenly, making some agents feel unfairly taken advantage of) to more voluntary experiences that allow agents who want extra hours to choose to apply for them when they are available.
Lastly, What-If forecasting capabilities are an extremely valuable tool to allow you make contingency plans for: the possibility of sudden volume or AHT changes and the benefits of deflecting calls to digital channels.
Coordinating (Sharing is caring)
Effective communication with other departments is vital. Be in sync with your Marketing team and help them understand the impact of volume-increasing marketing drops that are timed during high volume seasons. You should also coordinate with Training and HR to be sure they complete any required employee training before the holidays.
Identify and source available trained resources that can be on-call to support the contact center if needed. Supervisors, trainers, and back-office workers can serve as backup support for various types of customer contacts.
The airline and retail industries have highlighted the need to plan for yourself and your partners in advance of the holiday and sale season, especially if there are BPO partners involved. As well as ensuring forecast accuracy, there’s the need to ensure adequate staffing both internally and externally. BPO partners should be notified as early as possible about the staffing required from them so they can conduct appropriate hiring and training for additional demand.
Snow Miser Got You Down? Contact us!
Having lived through it ourselves, most of us here at Call Design know exactly how the WFM Team feels at this time of year. If you got coal in your WFM stocking this year, we’re here to help. Contact us if you need support facing the forecasting and scheduling challenges that come around in Q4.
After a long road, you’re finally ready to implement. You did the research and selected the platforms you wanted to look at. You sat through too many demos and sales calls and finally selected your new Workforce Management (WFM) platform. The platform has been installed, you’ve set up the initial configuration, and you’ve gone through the training. Everything is ready to go, and then, like an amusement park ride at Disney World, the resistance begins to rise. You start getting pushback from the agents, their supervisors, or maybe even your own WFM team. What is this all about?!
Well, let’s start with why you might be getting some of this internal resistance.
Understanding the Resistance
Internal resistance to change isn’t unique to WFM or contact centers. From professional to personal, non-profits to Fortune 10 companies, the world is full of people who are scared or uneasy about change. Whether it’s because of loss of control, excess uncertainty, or past resentments we need to stop and consider the environment of our key stakeholders. Why might they be resistant to a WFM software change?
1. Agents: Balancing Work and Life
Agents often view changes in WFM software through the lens of their daily routines. This software, more than others, directly impacts their work/life balance. Issues like schedule selection and management, PTO requests, and overtime availability are vital to them. Study after study has shown work/life balance can have huge positive impacts on employee engagement. When WFM software is introduced to an environment agents are rightly going to be concerned that it may negatively impact their work/life balance and be resistant to this change.
2. Agent Supervisors: The Changing Roles
Agent supervisors are often the bridge connecting management’s directives and the agents on the frontline. When new WFM software is introduced, it can signify a shift in their roles, and this can lead to resistance.
Imagine you’re a supervisor accustomed to handling PTO approvals, schedule adjustments, or real-time monitoring. These responsibilities are integral to maintaining team performance. However, as the new WFM software takes its place, these tasks might transition to automation. For supervisors, this shift can be met with skepticism and apprehension. They may wonder if their importance is diminishing, as the software now handles functions they previously managed.
3. WFM Team: Embracing Automation
Similar to the supervisors, the WFM team may see the new software as a threat to their roles. Automated forecasting by just clicking a few buttons can feel threatening to a forecast analyst who has built a career on the accuracy of their Excel spreadsheets. Schedule optimization and what-if scenario building can also look like a threat to the WFM professional who has always heard “Your schedules are so creative!” Automation can appear to replace their expertise, potentially leading to downsizing, and this will consistently lead people to resist change.
4. Company Leadership: The Big Picture
For company leaders, software changes represent more than just a shift in tools; they can affect the entire organization. These leaders, responsible for steering the company toward its goals, often view such transitions with a critical eye. They may be concerned that these changes could disrupt daily operations and potentially divert attention from primary objectives. Anything that may negatively impact customers, employees, or the business is going to be met with resistance.
(Sure, we might have forced a dog picture into this blog off of the “adoption” header… but aren’t you enjoying this blog a bit more now that this picture is in here?)
Fostering Buy-In and Adoption
Now you better understand why the people around you may be resistant to change, but what do you do about it? Regardless of role, there are three keys to fostering buy-in and adoption that you need to keep in mind:
1) Know and Connect with Stakeholders
Before you can connect the software to what matters to them, you have to know what matters to them. Get to know your stakeholders and understand their priorities and challenges before you start implementing new software.
Once you know their priorities and challenges you can then connect the new WFM software to what’s important to them. Coming to them with WFM bells and whistles that aren’t grounded in what they care about will do nothing to reduce or eliminate their resistance. Get to know them, and then show them how the new software will help remove their challenges and reach their goals.
2) Don’t Stop Training
You’ll certainly adjust the training of the platform to the audience, but you at least need to introduce the product to all of your stakeholders. Company leaders need a walk-through, the agents need to understand how to submit requests, and the WFM team needs to understand how to administer the platform. We all know the value of training, and differing that training for the audience, but one training isn’t sufficient.
Of course, the contact center environment is often hard-pressed to find another 30-60 minutes for classroom training. However, there are a variety of ways that you can go after additional training.
WFM team members can get additional training through the user groups, WFM networking groups, or 3rd party consulting. This is especially critical as new features are released in the tool and new functionality is made available. They can also sign up for online webinars that they can either attend live or watch the recording afterward.
Agents and supervisors may need less access to consistent training, but the adoption of the platform will benefit from the WFM team making themselves available. This might look like Office Hours where WFM is available to field any questions they may have. It could also take a more structured approach where WFM shares best practices during a town hall or webinar.
The key to long-term adoption is consistent training. Helping people understand the value the platform provides, how it continually adds value to their environment, and how to best use it for their needs. You may not have another 30-60 minutes for in-classroom training, but you shouldn’t need it to still provide additional training.
3) Communicate Throughout the Process
One of the best ways to create buy-in from all your stakeholders is to keep them in the loop throughout the process. You should have already connected with them and you’re able to show how the platform benefits them. But if you’re not communicating with them about the changes that are coming, before they happen, then all of the benefits in the world won’t be able to overcome the resistance to sudden and unknown change.
Agents and Supervisors – You may want to wait until you’ve settled on which platform you’re going with, but letting them know a change is coming in a few months will help. This gives you a chance to explain to them why it’s happening and how the new platform can help them.
WFM Team – You’ll probably want to include them in the research and vetting process. Maybe the whole team doesn’t need to be involved, but you’ll get great buy-in from your team if they feel like their opinion is being heard when it comes to selecting the tool they’ll use every day.
Company Leaders – Varying what you share can be important for this group. You don’t want to overshare details with them that they aren’t going to find helpful. However, keeping them in the dark until rollout will also likely frustrate them. Pay attention to how involved they are with the contact center. If they are heavily involved then they’ll likely want updates throughout the selection, training, and implementation process. If they have little to do with the contact center, then just give them an overview as you select the tool and roll it out to the team.
Understanding the Benefits
You get the resistance to change, and you understand how to get buy-in, but maybe you aren’t sure about why people would care about WFM software. As a leader in WFM, we can easily miss the larger picture and just see the value of our environment. Ease of use, increased forecasting, better reporting, and visibility, all these features clearly benefit WFM, but they can benefit others in the organization as well.
As mentioned above, knowing how the software can benefit others is critical for adoption, and you still need to hear from them before you can sell them. But as you’re listening to their challenges and priorities having these benefits in mind may help you highlight the value of the software.
For Agents
Improved Work/Life Balance: WFM software can streamline scheduling, making it easier for agents to request time off, pick up extra shifts, and maintain a better work/life balance.
Empowerment and Autonomy: The ability to indicate their shift preferences and availability can give agents a sense of empowerment and greater control over their work schedules.
Fair Scheduling: With the help of the software, agents can ensure a fair distribution of shifts and opportunities, reducing any perceived scheduling biases.
For Agent Supervisors
More Time for Coaching: With automation handling administrative tasks, supervisors can focus more on coaching and providing support to agents to improve their performance.
Data-Driven Decisions: WFM software provides valuable data and insights that can highlight performance gaps for supervisors and enable more data-driven decisions.
Team Visibility:It can be challenging, especially in remote environments, for supervisors to see who is working and when their team might be able to meet for a team meeting. WFM software can provide them visibility, and could even go a step further in scheduling team meetings at optimal times.
For WFM Team
Enhanced Efficiency: Automation in forecasting and scheduling simplifies complex processes, increasing efficiency and accuracy in their roles.
Creative Scheduling: WFM software can help the team develop more creative scheduling solutions, enabling them to create schedules that meet business needs, while still providing exceptional customer service and employee schedule flexibility.
Real-Time Monitoring: The software provides real-time data, enabling the WFM team to make informed, timely decisions based on the latest customer and employee data. It isn’t just seeing what is happening in the moment, but also better predicting what will happen the rest of the day and making adjustments accordingly.
For Company Leadership
Optimized Staffing: WFM software ensures that staffing aligns with customer demand, reducing unnecessary labor costs and increasing operational efficiency.
Improved Customer Experience: Through efficient scheduling and staffing, the software helps maintain high service levels, leading to improved customer satisfaction.
Increased Employee Engagement: The software can also provide agents the schedule flexibility they’ve been asking for without having to sacrifice customer or business outcomes. This will increase employee engagement, helping the organization retain talent that they likely see as their strategic advantage in the marketplace.
Implementing new WFM software comes with its share of challenges. Agents, supervisors, the WFM team, and company leaders may resist the change, but it can be effectively managed by understanding their concerns and offering ongoing training. Embrace the software’s benefits, such as improved work-life balance for agents, streamlined decision-making for supervisors, and better staffing alignment for company leadership.
At Call Design North America, we’re here to guide you through this transformative journey, ensuring your organization is fully prepared for the transition. We don’t just implement or train and leave, we make sure you are thinking through all of the challenges of change management and helping you avoid common pitfalls. We can also help with continuous training, ensuring you’re getting the most out of your WFM platform.
Change may be challenging, but it’s also an opportunity for growth and success. With the right strategies and the right partner, resistance can transform into enthusiastic adoption, propelling your contact center to new heights.
We are thrilled to announce that Call Design North America (CDNA) has achieved Great Place to Work certification! This certification shows our commitment to great employee experience and our dedication to creating a nurturing work environment. We’re excited to share why working with Call Design is so rewarding for employees and customers.
What is the Great Place to Work program?
It’s a global program that recognizes companies that have outstanding workplace cultures. The program measures things like employee satisfaction, leadership, and other factors that make a workplace great. There are two main types of criteria that are used to evaluate companies for the Great Place to Work certification. The first is what’s called “quantitative criteria”, which are things like surveys of employees and other data. The second type of criteria is called “qualitative criteria”, which is more subjective and involves interviews and observations of company culture.
To get certified, a company needs to meet both quantitative and qualitative criteria. Companies that are certified by Great Place to Work are considered to be great places to work, and this can be a huge benefit for attracting and retaining talent. It can also improve productivity and profitability.
Setting Expectations and Providing Guidance
At CDNA, we understand that constructive guidance, coupled with constructive criticism, is essential for personal and professional growth. We take pride in maintaining open lines of communication with our team. Our employees always have a guiding hand and a source of inspiration to help them navigate their career journeys.
In fact, we believe that clear expectations and regular feedback are the building blocks of any thriving workplace. Our approach ensures that every team member understands their role and how it contributes to our shared goals. We’ve seen firsthand how setting clear expectations fosters personal accountability and empowers our employees to excel.
Work-Life Balance is a Major Priority
We acknowledge that achieving work-life balance is crucial for the overall well-being of our employees. In fact, our commitment to providing a supportive work environment goes beyond just offering flexible scheduling options. We’re dedicated to ensuring that our team members can enjoy the best of both worlds, both personally and professionally.
In a recent survey, when asked about work-life balance, one of our employees stated, “I really appreciate CDNA’s schedule flexibility—work-life balance is extremely important to me and my family.”
Call Design North America strongly believes that when employees can maintain this balance, it contributes to their overall well-being, ensuring they can be at their best in both realms. It’s all about ensuring that our employees are happy, engaged, fulfilled, and aligned at work (HEFA).
Empowering Our Team Through Learning
The world is evolving at an unprecedented pace, with new technologies and tools reshaping the workplace. At CDNA, we’ve made it our mission to ensure that our employees remain at the forefront of industry trends. We are committed to investing in their growth and development, particularly in emerging fields such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Our dedication to continuous learning and skill-building creates viable career paths within our organization. We take pride in providing opportunities for advancement, recognizing that our team members’ success is intertwined with the growth of our company.
In a recent interview, one of our employees shared, “I really like the emphasis on professional development. It’s a big part of my objectives.”
Leadership That Cares
What truly sets us apart is our exceptional leadership. Our leaders have created an environment where people feel safe and cared for. This leadership ensures that CDNA is not just a place to work but a place to thrive.
Our CEO, Michelle Gaffney, embodies this caring culture. In a recent interview, she explained, “Call Design believes that people are an organization’s most strategic asset, and every one of them deserves to be happy, fulfilled and aligned at work. This belief drives our work and behaviors with customers, and enables us to balance customer satisfaction, employee well-being, and operational efficiency.”
Supporting Non-Profits
In the past year, we have gone above and beyond to care for not only our employees but also our community. During an in-person team meeting in March, we organized a heartwarming initiative where our team members wrote over 20 letters for seniors in the Nashville area. These letters were presented to the Greater Nashville Regional Council, contributing to their broader letter-writing campaign during the month.
In May, we not only sponsored the ContactNB conference and trade show but also played a vital role in helping the event raise over $2000 for local food pantries. This commitment to community support showcases our dedication to making a positive impact.
We are deeply committed to charitable causes, including our support for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. One of our employees, Nate, participates in the annual Bike Jack and Back bike ride to support the MS society, and we consistently support his fundraising efforts. Additionally, at conferences and trade shows, we encourage attendees to submit forms through QR codes, with each form submission resulting in a donation to both the Multiple Sclerosis Society and Thistle Farms in Nashville.
Consulting Services for Our Customers
Our journey towards becoming a Great Place to Work has equipped us with invaluable insights that we now extend to our customers. We understand that many companies might still be on their journey to creating a great place to work. That’s where our experience and knowledge can make a significant difference.
We offer comprehensive consulting services that delve into effective hiring strategies, techniques for interviewing and selecting the right candidates for workforce management teams and building winning Workforce Management (WFM) teams. Our expertise in creating an exceptional workplace is now available to help other companies on their path to success. Find out more about how CDNA can help you build a thriving WFM team that can help build a foundation for your own Great Place To Work! Contact us by clicking here!
For Call Design North America, achieving certification as a Great Place to Work is a milestone that signifies our commitment to our employees, our nurturing work environment, and our aspiration to be an industry leader. It serves as a reminder that the most successful companies are deeply invested in the success and well-being of their people. We look forward to continuing our journey of excellence and empowerment, setting new standards for the workplace and for our industry.
