WHITEPAPER PROACTIVE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT USING INTELLIGENT INTRADAY AUTOMATION

Transcription

1 WHITEPAPER PROACTIVE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT USING INTELLIGENT INTRADAY AUTOMATION

2 PROACTIVE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT USING INTELLIGENT INTRADAY AUTOMATION Executive Summary Each day, contact center workforce administrators sift through a tremendous amount of interval data in order to identify and address issues related to their center s key performance indicators (KPI s). Once an issue has been identified, the administrator must determine the best course of action, execute any needed changes, and then communicate those changes to the people affected in a timely manner. In most centers, this is an extremely complex and resource-intensive process requiring constant monitoring and analysis. When resources are in short supply, workforce administrators find themselves reacting to the events of the day instead of proactively managing their center s performance. This white paper explores how automation of intraday data analysis, decisioning and communications (Intelligent Intraday Automation) can fundamentally shift the performance management paradigm in the contact center from reactive to proactive. The result is a significant improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of intraday workforce administration and contact center performance. Table of Contents Executive Summary... 2 The Contact Center Performance Management Challenge... 3 The Solution Intelligent Intraday Automation... 4 Summary... 4 Proactive Performance Management Use Cases... 5 Page 2

3 The Contact Center Performance Management Challenge Contact centers are complex environments making a workforce administrator s job a difficult one, even in relatively small environments. In larger centers, where there can be hundreds of contact types and thousands of agents, administrators face even greater challenges in their attempts proactively manage their center s performance. KPI Complexity Contact centers use a multitude of key performance indicators (KPI s) in order to monitor and manage the performance of their agents and their various contact channels. Common KPI s used in most centers include: average handle time (AHT), after call Work (ACW), service level (SL) and schedule adherence. Each KPI typically has a performance target that acts as a gauge for determining if corrective actions need to be taken. Automatic call distribution (ACD) systems and workforce management (WFM) systems collect the data that feeds these KPI s. This KPI data, however, is not always captured at the same frequency or maintained in the same databases, making it difficult for administrators to view a single, consistent version of their operation s performance. Additionally, KPI s can sometimes work against each other. This can happen when an over-emphasis on one KPI negatively impacts another. For example, driving high occupancy is good from a cost perspective, but it can lead to agent burn-out and eventually has a negative impact other KPI s like schedule adherence and quality. These KPI cross-impacts are one factor that makes analysis and decisioning complex and time-consuming for workforce administrators. Timely Communication A second challenge is in communicating the right information to the right people at the right time. It would be far more advantageous, for example, for an agent to be notified at 11:55am that their lunch break is coming up in 5 minutes as opposed to telling an agent at 12:05pm that she is 5 minutes late for her lunch break. Additionally, an agent who struggles with managing after call work (ACW) would find coaching from their supervisor far more impactful if discussions were to take place within minutes of a customer interaction as opposed to days later. Prioritizing Actions A third challenge for workforce administrators is deciding which issues should be acted upon first. It would be very difficult for a workforce administrator who is engaged in taking action on an issue for one call type to simultaneously take action on a concurrent issue for another. In large centers where there are dozens, or even hundreds, of different call types, there will undoubtedly be delays in identifying and addressing all the issues that occur, and many issues never get addressed at all. The only option most centers have to remedy this issue is to increase the size of their workforce administration team. But this is a costly alternative for organizations that are already burdened with trying to do more with less. Page 3

4 The Solution Intelligent Intraday Automation When you analyze the work of intraday workforce administrators, the majority of their time is typically consumed with three key activities: Monitoring KPI s and identifying issues Determining which actions to take Effectively communicating those actions to the right people in a timely fashion In most centers, certain issues associated with specific KPI s tend to reoccur. As a result, administrators often have a standard set of actions they usually take based upon their past experience. As an example, when actual call volume is higher than forecasted, the administrator may decide to either cancel team meetings or offer overtime (and in some instances, they may do both). Once the decision is made, the administrator then takes a series of actions to execute the decision, including deleting the scheduled meetings in the workforce management system or identifying which overtime segments to offer. From there, they need to communicate to the agents and the supervisors that the meetings have been cancelled or that overtime is being offered. Using Intelligent Intraday Automation, it is possible to automate all of these steps, thereby leveraging the time (and talent) of administrative resources. Simply put, Intelligent Intraday Automation makes it possible to automate the monitoring and real-time analysis of various KPI s and then determine a set of recommended actions based upon a set of predefined business rules. It also makes use of a flexible communication engine so that agents, supervisors and administrators can be contacted using the most effective communication channel, thus ensuring that the right people get the right message at the right time. For instance, if an agent is working in the contact center and has no immediate access to or a cell phone, a screen pop would be the most effective communication mechanism. For a team leader walking the floor, an SMS message might make the most sense, whereas a workforce administrator may wish to be notified via . Summary Proactively managing the performance of any contact center is a challenging and time-consuming endeavor. The larger and more complex the organization, the more difficult the workforce administrator s job becomes, even with the use of a workforce management system. Intelligent Intraday Automation enables you to leverage your workforce administrator s time by making it possible to automatically monitor and take proactive action on the KPI s for all your contact types. The net result is improved performance at a reduced cost. Learn more about Intelligent Intraday Automation at Page 4

5 Proactive Performance Management Use Cases The following are four examples of Intelligent Intraday Automation that can be used to drive superior performance and agent satisfaction in the contact center. USE CASE 1 Managing After Call Work (ACW) Hanging out in after call work (ACW) is a common tactic agents use to avoid taking the next call, especially during times of the day when volumes are high. Managing ACW is necessary for increasing agent productivity and minimizing call queues, but monitoring it on a real-time basis may not be the best use of a supervisor s time. An Intelligent Intraday Automation system could be configured to identify agents who exceed ACW thresholds and gently notify them when they have exceeded the standard two or more times within their shift. The system could also be configured to notify the agent s supervisor of the issue enabling them to coach the agent on their ACW performance in a timely manner. USE CASE 3 Improving On-Line Training Effectiveness Desktop training technologies and learning management systems (LMS) enable contact centers to take advantage of low occupancy times to push training to agents. When used effectively, they are able to eliminate shrinkage associated with traditional classroom training and convert non-productive idle time into productive training time. To make this training time even more effective, an Intelligent Intraday Automation system can monitor individual agent KPI results and automatically select the online training modules that will best address an agent s specific needs. And after an agent has taken a given course, the system could send them a follow-up message to reinforce how the training helped them improve their performance for a certain KPI by a given percentage. USE CASE 2 Correlating KPI s with Productivity Tool Utilization Speech-to-text (STT) is an emerging technology being implemented in many contact center operations. By enabling agents to talk instead of type, STT has been reported to improve call-handling productivity by 10% or more. But because STT is not required to actually handle a call (an agent can still type), it can be a challenge to make sure agents use the technology. Intelligent Intraday Automation could be configured to automatically notify supervisors of agents who have high AHT / low STT correlation so they can be coached to make use of the technology. The result is higher ROI on the STT investment and lower average handling times. USE CASE 4 Implementing an Agent-Empowered Bonus Program Many companies offer bonuses to agents based on their KPI scores. But many times agents lack visibility into which of their metrics need improvement in order for them to earn that bonus. Intelligent Intraday Automation could be configured to provide agents with current KPI data so that they know exactly what needs improvement. This same information could be sent to supervisors enabling them to focus their coaching efforts on these improvement areas. The result is a bonus for the agent and improved contact center performance. Page 5

6 About WorkFlex Solutions wor k fle x s o l u t i o n s WorkFlex Solutions LLC is the Industry Leader in Intelligent Intraday Automation solutions for contact centers. Our award-winning technology maximizes agent scheduling flexibility, optimizes intraday performance and reduces workforce administration overhead. Designed to easily integrate with existing Workforce Management (WFM) and Automated Call Distribution (ACD) systems, WorkFlex enables clients to leverage their existing enterprise software investments, and quickly generate a positive ROI. WorkFlex deployments span multiple industry sectors including financial services, communications, healthcare, automotive, cable/sat and government. For more information or to schedule a demo, please visit us at WorkFlex Solutions, LLC 7872 Cooper Road Cincinnati, Ohio P: (513) E: info@workflexsolutions.com