Prepared On Behalf of:

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1 C3-8 ICBC Call Center Workforce Review Prepared On Behalf of: The Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union 378 (COPE 378) December 2014 Submitted by: Penny Reynolds Call Center Workforce Consultant 815 Vaughan Road Clarksville, TN USA

2 Table of Contents Executive Overview Study Objectives 4 Assessment Approach 4 Results of Analysis 5 Staffing Requirements 8 Conclusions 20 Detailed Report Study Objectives 22 Assessment Approach 23 Results of Analysis 30 Forecasts 30 Staff Requirements 33 Staffing Scenarios 35 Stakeholder Impact 36 Customers 36 Employees 43 Senior Management 45 Conclusions and Recommendations 48 Penny Reynolds Background and Qualifications 49 Page 2

3 Executive Overview Study Objective In August 2014, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) filed a rate increase for its policyholders. ICBC s call center employees represented by the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union 378 (COPE 378) took this opportunity to file Matters of Interest documents related to the operation of the contact center serving ICBC policyholders. The evidence on the record of this proceeding shows that call volumes have steadily increased over time, and a Claims Transformation project undertaken in the recent past has caused handle times to increase substantially. These increases in both call volume and call handle times have added a substantial workload burden for the center. However, the management team has elected not to increase staff to correspond to the increased workload. The result has been a severe understaffing situation that has resulted in very long wait times for callers, high caller abandonment rates, diminished service capacity, and long-standing unreasonably high workload for the staff. This study was commissioned by COPE as an outside, independent review of call center workforce planning and management. The review is designed to assess the overall workload of the call center, including the patterns and trends associated with business factors including but not limited to the Claims Transformation Project. This analysis provides calculations of appropriate staffing levels for the center based on ICBC s established service goals for policyholders as well as reasonable staff occupancy levels. A comparison of actual staffing to required staffing is provided that shows the implications from a service, occupancy, and cost perspective. Assessment Approach Workforce management is an art and a science where call history and business drivers are analyzed to predict future call volume, handle times, and patterns of work. A workload prediction by month, day, and half-hour is then used to determine staffing requirements to meet speed of answer service goals. This base bodies in chairs staffing requirement is then adjusted to account for staff shrinkage (necessary paid unproductive time) and other scheduling considerations to arrive at an overall schedule requirement and FTE count. Page 3

4 This workforce review was performed using ICBC-provided data from the Aspect workforce management software system. This data provides a forecast workload number (based on call and handle time predictions) along with a planned staff number. The analysis reviewed the forecasts and staffing projections compared to actual staffing that was in place. The Aspect reports show actual service level numbers for the study period, along with other service-related data such as abandoned call volumes and percentages. As part of the staffing analysis, staffing calculations were independently done to verify staff requirements. This staffing analysis involved using industry-standard Erlang staffing calculations to arrive at actual staff requirements, as well as to show the whatif results if staff numbers were not in place as planned. These Erlang C calculations were used to arrive at service level, average speed of answer (ASA), and occupancy numbers to be expected with ICBC s actual staff in place. Analysis Results Arriving at the right number of staff to provide acceptable service levels while balancing costs begins with a workload forecast. Call volumes and handle times from past history are analyzed to predict future workload, taking into account any relevant business factors. Over the last two years, there was a gradual increase and upward trend in call center contact volume, as well as a major increase in call handle times caused by two business drivers the Claims Hierarchy project and the ClaimCenter transformation. The actual call volumes and handle times from are shown on the following pages. These actual numbers were compared to forecast call volumes and forecast handle times to first examine the accuracy of the forecasting process at ICBC. There was very little variance between the forecast and actual requirement numbers, showing that the workforce team at ICBC performed this part of the workforce planning process very well. The understaffing that has occurred over the past two years was apparently not a result of bad forecasting, but rather staffing decisions that were made. The Aspect IntraDay Performance (IDP) reports show Forecast versus Actual Requirements with variances between the two in a reasonable range. It is the difference between the Actual Requirements and the Actual Scheduled Staff where there is an alarming variance what was required for service delivery compared to actual scheduled staff. Page 4

5 Month-to-Month Workload Numbers are provided below that show the overall workload increases during the study period. Workload is calculated by multiplying the number of calls (NCO) by the average handle time (AHT). The first table shows month-by-month comparisons of the number of calls offered (NCO) and the second table shows AHT patterns. Note the steady increases in both from 2012 to 2013 to (Note: Data supplied only complete through October 2014) Exhibit 1A: Number of Calls Offered Number of Calls Offered Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total Calls Exhibit 1B: Number of Calls Offered ,000 95,000 90,000 85,000 80,000 75,000 70,000 65,000 60,000 55,000 50,000 Number of Calls Offered Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Page 5

6 Exhibit 2A: Average Handle Time Average Handle Time Month Jan ,095 Feb ,219 Mar ,160 Apr ,152 May 979 1,008 1,404 Jun 916 1,030 1,456 Jul 956 1,041 1,396 Aug 932 1,030 1,348 Sep 923 1,047 1,269 Oct 866 1,041 1,164 Nov 853 1,100 Dec 894 1,157 Grand Total 910 1,008 1,274 Exhibit 2B: Average Handle Time Average Handle Time 1,500 1,400 1,300 1,200 1,100 1, Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec As seen above, call handle times have increased substantially over time. While there have been some decreases in the AHT in recent months, the numbers are still well above 2012 levels and remain above 2013 levels as well. These two components of call volume and handle time are multiplied together as the base calculation of staff workload. The following table and graph show the calculation of staff workload (NCO x AHT) by month. Workload is expressed as hours of work. Page 6

7 Exhibit 3A: Call Workload Table Call Workload Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Workload Exhibit 3B: Call Workload Graph 42,000 Call Workload 37,000 32,000 27,000 22, ,000 12,000 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec In addition to the steady increase in workload over time, there are several notable changes in the data outlined above. The Claims Hierarchy project rolled out in April 2013 and there is a corresponding significant jump in workload beginning in May The next sizable jump in workload occurs November 2013 with the rollout of ClaimCenter. While an increase in calls does occur steadily over time, the major change in workload is due to the increased time required to handle calls. Page 7

8 Staffing Requirements This increase in workload would indicate a corresponding increase in staffing levels. The table below shows the following for each month: Actual Workload Hours (NCO x AHT) Required WFM Workload Hours (includes Erlang C staffing adjustment plus 10% unproductive time) Required FTE Actual Scheduled FTE FTE Variance Exhibit 4A: Monthly Staff Hours and FTE Requirements 2012 Actual Workload Hours Required Workload Hours Actual Required FTE Actual Scheduled FTE FTE Variance 2012 Jan 16,137 19, Feb 14,430 17, Mar 15,288 18, Apr 15,930 19, May 17,867 21, June 15,900 19, July 18,538 22, Aug 18,475 22, Sep 16,791 20, Oct 17,763 21, Nov 16,738 20, Dec 17,467 21, Total , , As seen in the table above, in 2012, staffing was just a bit under the needed numbers. For the most part, staffing was satisfactory and caused service level to remain fairly stable and in the range of the 80%/100 second target. With the rollout of Claims Hierarchy and ClaimCenter in 2013, staffing needs rose dramatically and were not filled as needed, as shown in the tables below. Page 8

9 Exhibit 4B: Monthly Staff Hours and FTE Requirements Actual Workload Hours Required Workload Hours Actual Required FTE Actual Scheduled FTE FTE Variance Jan 17,327 20, Feb 13,014 15, Mar 14,907 18, Apr 18,743 22, May 21,065 24, June 20,708 24, July 23,441 27, Aug 21,256 25, Sep 21,119 24, Oct 21,597 24, Nov 23,857 26, Dec 25,159 27, Total , , Exhibit 4C: Monthly Staff Hours and FTE Requirements 2014 (Jan Oct only) Actual Workload Hours Required Workload Hours Actual Required FTE Actual Scheduled FTE FTE Variance 2014 Jan 23,762 26, Feb 24,042 26, Mar 23,231 25, Apr 23,360 25, May 33,307 36, June 34,637 37, July 36,410 39, Aug 31,526 34, Sep 28,841 31, Oct 24,916 27, Nov Dec Total , , The gap between staff required and actual scheduled staff widened further in Page 9

10 Exhibit 5A: Annual Staffing Requirements Versus Actual Scheduled Hours Workload Hours Actual Required Hours Actual Scheduled Hours Variance , , ,011-11, , , ,749-40, , , ,474-79,017 Exhibit 5B: Annual Staffing Requirements Versus Actual Scheduled Hours Forecast FTE Actual Required FTE Actual Scheduled FTE Variance Exhibit 5C: Annual Staffing Requirements Versus Scheduled Hours (with Full Shrinkage) Forecast FTE Actual Required FTE Actual Scheduled FTE Variance As shown in the Tables above, there has been a serious staff shortage year over year as ICBC has not staffed up appropriately to respond to increasing workload. The service implications of this staffing shortage are evident from the actual speed-of-answer numbers shown below, along with the resulting call abandons and call abandon rates. Service Levels The fewer the staff in place, the longer the wait time for callers. It is obvious from the numbers in the table below that staffing levels dropped to unacceptable levels throughout 2013 and 2014 as evidenced by the declining service levels. Page 10

11 Exhibit 6A: Actual Service Levels Service Level Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Grand Total Exhibit 6B: Service Level Graph, Service Levels for All Hours Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec While the stated goal of ICBC is to answer 80% of calls in 100 seconds, service levels declined and remained well below the 80% mark throughout the period in question from early 2013 to the end of the study period in late Abandoned and Deflected Calls As service levels decline and customers wait longer and longer in queue, many callers become frustrated with the wait time and abandon calls. The table below shows the increase in the number of abandoned calls and the corresponding abandoned call percentage rate during recent years. Page 11

12 Exhibit 7A: Monthly Call Abandons Call Abandons Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total Abandons ,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 Call Abandons Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec The numbers here represent a startling number of callers giving up and leaving the queue. These numbers are shown as a percentage abandon rate the in table below. Page 12

13 Exhibit 8A: Call Abandon Rates Call Abandon Rate Month Jan 6% 12% Feb 2% 18% Mar 4% 7% Apr 8% 6% 9% May 7% 15% 27% June 4% 17% 35% July 10% 17% 39% Aug 9% 11% 34% Sep 10% 9% 22% Oct 6% 8% 11% Nov 4% 19% Dec 12% 21% Average Abandon Rate 6% 12% 22% With the rollout of Claims Hierarchy in April 2013, there is a dramatic rise in call abandon rates due to decreased staffing and low service levels starting in May Averaging the call abandon rate from May through December of 2013 shows a call abandon rate of 16% and that rate increases to 22% in 2014 as staff levels remain too low. Exhibit 8B: Graph of Call Abandon Rates Call Abandon Rates 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec These call abandon numbers and percentages are alarmingly high and are well above industry averages. They are extremely high for an organization like ICBC where there is no other alternative service-provider available for the caller. While it is more common to Page 13

14 see high abandons for a call center where there are many competitors and alternatives available, ICBC has a captive audience of customers with no place else to go to discuss a claim. In addition to the high level of call abandons outlined above, there are also many other callers that attempted to reach the ICBC call center but never made it into the center at all. When not enough telephone trunks are in place to bring calls into the center, the caller simply receives a busy signal. There was an extremely high level of busy signals and deflected calls at ICBC, as evidenced by the following numbers. Exhibit 9: Deflected Calls (April October 2014) Month Deflected Calls April ,254 May ,343 Jun ,517 Jul ,970 Aug ,530 Sep ,479 Oct Nov ,049 Grand Total 81,844 This is a very high number of calls to be rejected at the front door of the call center, receiving a busy signal and being forced to retry the call at a later time. There was indeed a reduction in deflections in August of 2014 that coincides with additional telephone trunks being added in the form of another T1 facility, but as the most recent November data indicates, there are still many customers being denied access to the center, even to get in and wait in the queue. Day in the Life Perspective In addition to the annual and monthly perspectives outlined above, a more granular view of the numbers is provided that illustrates staffing and service scenarios for sample days throughout the study period. This review provides more of a day in the life illustration of the call center situation from both a customer and an employee perspective. Page 14

15 The service level numbers outlined in the tables above represent an average statistic for a month at a time. While there are periods of lower call volumes when service is at reasonable levels, there are also many periods where service really suffers. Obviously customers don t call every day and assimilate all these experiences into an average one. At any given time, and especially on busy days like Mondays, customers may face an unreasonable service situation due to the chronically understaffed center. Customer Service Impact For example, on a Monday morning in late October (late in the study period when ICBC says the service problems have taken a turn for the better as the ClaimCenter transformation upheaval has settled), customers encountered the following staffing and service situation. (Note: These numbers were taken from ICBC s Intra-Day Performance Reports. This sample is taken from October 27 at 10:30am, a typical Monday in the study period, with some days being better than this and other days worse than this scenario.) Exhibit 10: Sample Hour Staffing and Service Scenario Calls Offered Calls Abandoned Calls Handled Actual AHT Required Agents Scheduled Agents Service Level % In this 10:30 am scenario, staffing for the actual number of calls offered (NCO) would have indicated a workload of 108 hours or erlangs (191 x 1021/1800) with 114 staff required. With only 105 staff in place, long delays would have been experienced and 22 of the 191 calls abandoned. The remaining 169 calls with the 105 staff in place generated a service level where only 13% of callers for the hour were handled in under 100 seconds (rather than the 80% goal). From a customer service point of view, understaffing results in longer delays. While a small amount of understaffing will naturally occur from time to time as workload fluctuates throughout the day, too many missing staff can have a significant impact on wait times. The relationship between staffing levels and wait times is not a linear one. There is an exponential worsening as the understaffing number grows. With the workload scenario outlined here (191 calls, 1021 AHT), the following shows the impact on service as staffing numbers vary. Page 15

16 Exhibit 11: Sample Staffing and Service Scenario NCO per Half-Hour AHT Erlangs Staff Service Level in 100 sec Average Delay (in sec) % % % % % % % % % % % 87 94% % 64 93% % 48 92% % 37 92% Staff Occupancy In this example, staff would have resulted in a +/- 10% range around the desired service level goal of 80%. However, once the staff number drops below those levels, the service level drops by bigger and bigger percentages (56%, 44%, 30%, and 13%). Note the corresponding actual average delay for these staffing levels increasing in this exponential pattern going from an 87 second delay with 114 staff as required to delays of 121, 177, 277, 503, and 1429 seconds as staff numbers decrease. (Note: Staffing calculations and the service implications are discussed and explained in detail in the Detailed Report that follows.) While customers do have some tolerance for delays, especially if they have no other alternative for service, when delay times reach these high numbers, many callers will abandon. As noted in Exhibits 7 and 8 above, ICBC customers abandoned calls at an alarming rate. Almost all call centers shoot for abandon percentages in the low single digits and ICBC met these standards for the most part in However, by not reacting to the overall growth in workload with corresponding staff increases, delay times were unreasonable in 2013 and 2014 and proven unacceptable to customers by the very high call abandon rates. ICBC has responded to these claims of poor service by stating that service level is not what customers care about and rather have focused on First Call Resolution (FCR) as the primary driver of customer satisfaction. While it is true that call resolution is key to customer satisfaction, having a contact handled in a reasonable timeframe is also an important factor in customer satisfaction and loyalty. Page 16

17 As shown below, despite claims that FCR is high, customer satisfaction has dropped during the study period. While there are many factors that contribute to customer satisfaction, the delay time that prevents timely access to claims processing has to be a contributor to the lower satisfaction ratings. Exhibit 12: Customer Satisfaction Ratings Claims Service Satisfaction Customer Approval Index Employee Perspective Keeping customers happy is the key to running a successful business. The other key to success is keeping employees happy. Happy employees treat customers better and a stable, predictable work environment supports high levels of staff productivity and quality of work. There are many factors that contribute to employee satisfaction or dissatisfaction in the workplace. These factors include physical work environment, schedule flexibility, supervisor relationships, growth opportunities, and others all contribute to job satisfaction. One of the critical factors that contribute to job satisfaction in the call center is the dayto-day work environment and the level of workload to be accomplished within the day. Therefore, staff occupancy (often referred to as agent occupancy) is one of the most important metrics in the call center. It is a useful measure to senior management to ensure that the center s personnel resource is being utilized effectively. It is also a measure from the employees perspective to show whether or not there is a reasonable level of work distributed to the staff. Occupancy is simply a measure of how busy the staff are processing work (active on call or in after-call work) compared to sitting idle waiting on the next call to arrive. While it is desirable for this agent occupancy number to be high (since they are after all being paid to do the work), it is important that it is not too high or the staff will be overworked with not enough breather in between calls. The desirable range of staff occupancy for most call centers is 85% - 90% and most centers staff so that occupancy will not exceed 95% even during the busiest times of day. Page 17

18 When looking at the previous Exhibit 11, it is clear that the understaffing situation at ICBC has caused unreasonably high occupancy levels. In this example, the required staffing level of 114 staff would result in an occupancy level of 94% -- a high level by industry standards even if the desired staffing were in place. Given that there were actually many fewer staff in place than required for this and nearly every other half-hour period of the day, occupancy levels were most often at 100%. In other words, there were more hours of work to do than staff hours in place to handle the on-demand work. This means that when an agent was finished with a call, there was almost always another call waiting, so there was no recovery time not even a few seconds in between calls. When occupancy levels are consistently above 90%, it creates a difficult and taxing work environment. When occupancy levels reach 100% as they did on the sample day outlined in the table that follows, the workload burden is oppressive. The frontline staff are faced with call after call with little to no breather to recover and prepare for the next call. When this high occupancy is sustained over more than a few half-hours (as it is here), performance starts to suffer. High occupancy rates almost always lead to higher handle times, decreased schedule adherence, and a decline in call quality. The table below shows the actual staffing and service for a sample day with the occupancy number added as the final column. Page 18

19 Exhibit 13: Service and Occupancy for Sample Day ACTUAL FORECAST ACTUAL FORECAST ACTUAL FORECAST REQ SCHED ACD STAFF Time NCO NCO AHT AHT STAFF STAFF STAFF VARIANCE SL% OCC % 7: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : This high occupancy rate has been in place for a very long time at ICBC and is likely a factor contributing to decreasing scores in Employee Satisfaction surveys. While ICBC does have a policy where employees are provided with a stretch break every hour in which a regular break is not scheduled, it is unclear from the data provided whether or not these are actually used. Since schedule adherence is a big factor on the frontline reps performance scorecard, taking unscheduled breaks would put them out of adherence and they may choose not to take these breaks in order to meet other goals. (Note: It is difficult to review use of these stretch breaks since there is not a specific code associated with logging out for this activity.) It is important to also point out that if indeed the breaks were taken, that would remove even more staff from the call-handling picture, making the occupancy even higher than noted in the table and more of a burden to those left on the phones. Page 19

20 Employee Engagement scores have declined from 54% in 2012 to 33% and 34% in 2013 and While the data is not specific as to what the causes of dissatisfaction are, the oppressive workload generated by the understaffing these last two years is likely a significant factor in the decline. Management Perspective ICBC s response to the call center understaffing is that the company s focus was not on service level but attention to first call resolution (FCR) as a more important measure of service and quality. While it is true that FCR is the metric most closely correlated with customer satisfaction, FCR and service level are not mutually exclusive. Ideally, ICBC should be concerned with both, as both of these speed and quality are important to the customer. It is certainly desirable to focus on FCR. However, it is unclear from the data provided here whether ICBC s actual FCR results are as stellar as noted. The results reported are good, but only represent about one percent of customers perspectives. And more importantly, even if the results are excellent and customers are happy with call resolution, it does not mean that it is acceptable to ignore the speed of answer. Management s other concern is operational cost. While running a successful call center operation means managing by the numbers and watching the personnel resource cost closely, labor decisions that result in too high a level of understaffing can have many direct and indirect costs to the operation. Longer delays translate into a higher cost of telecommunications from a trunking and usage perspective. High occupancy generally leads to longer call handle times, decreased schedule adherence, lessened call quality, higher absenteeism, and eventually burnout and turnover all of which will eventually translate into higher costs. The biggest cost to ICBC may be the long-term damage that can be done to ICBC s service reputation with these long service delays. Customers that call only to reach a busy signal or then to enter the queue and wait there very long periods of time begin their interaction on a negative note that may be very hard to turn around, even with great service and high call resolution. Page 20

21 Conclusion and Recommendation ICBC has failed to staff its contact center appropriately to respond to the changes in contact volume and handle times brought about by normal business growth and internal process and technology changes. Despite what appears to be a solid forecasting and planning process that results in a reasonable staffing and schedule requirement, ICBC has elected not to staff to required FTE levels. The result of this understaffed situation is a service level way below the stated goal and a high level of abandoned and deflected calls. ICBC customers are not being well served when their calls are either deflected due to insufficient resources or they are forced to wait for long periods to have their calls answered. The understaffing situation is hard on the employees as well. Too few staff in place translates into very high levels of occupancy hour after hour. This creates an unreasonable work environment and can impact many aspects of performance in a negative way. While in the short run, the decision not to add staff can be viewed as a cost-saving measure for the corporation, understaffing has many direct and indirect costs. Longer wait times create more telephone usage time which is a direct cost to the company, especially when many calls are abandoning and returning only to tie up phone lines multiple times. High occupancy rates can cause staff to have higher handle times in the short term and can contribute to decreased schedule adherence and absenteeism in the long term if not corrected. And finally, the impact of poor service on customer satisfaction can have longterm impacts and costs. It is recommended that ICBC re-examine its staffing levels and add requisite staff to correspond to current and planned workloads. With the appropriate number of staff in place, ICBC will see a return to desired service levels, a reduction in abandoned calls and deflections, and a more reasonable workload for its staff. The forecasting and planning process in place appears to be a sound one. With the upheaval and learning curve of the ClaimCenter project mostly over, it is recommended that ICBC create a solid forecast for 2015 and 2016 and move to immediately staff up to fill the current personnel gaps in order to accomplish stated service goals from a customer perspective and reasonable occupancy goals from an employee view. Page 21

22 DETAILED REPORT Page 22

23 Study Objective In August 2014, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) filed a rate increase for its policyholders. ICBC s call center employees represented by the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union 378 (COPE 378) took this opportunity to file Matters of Interest documents related to the operation of the contact center serving ICBC policyholders. The evidence on the record in this proceeding shows that call volumes have steadily increased over time, and two projects (Claims Hierarchy and ClaimCenter) undertaken in the recent past have caused handle times to increase substantially. These increases in both call volume and call handle times have added a substantial workload burden for the center. However, the management team has elected not to increase by enough staff to correspond to the increased workload. The result has been a severe understaffing situation that has resulted in very long wait times for callers, high caller abandonment rates, diminished service capacity, and long-standing unreasonably high workload for the staff. This study was commissioned by COPE as an outside, independent review of call center workforce planning and management. The review is designed to assess the overall workload of the call center, including the patterns and trends associated with business factors including but not limited to the Claims Transformation Project. This analysis provides calculations of appropriate staffing levels for the center based on two factors -- ICBC s established service goals for policyholders as well as reasonable staff occupancy levels. A comparison of this requirement compared to actual scheduled staff is provided that shows the implications from a service, occupancy, and cost perspective. Workforce management is an art and a science where call history and business drivers are analyzed to predict future call volume, handle times, and patterns of work. A workload prediction by month, day, and half-hour is then used to determine staffing requirements to meet speed of answer service goals. This base bodies in chairs staffing requirement is then adjusted to account for staff shrinkage (necessary paid unproductive time) and other scheduling considerations to arrive at an overall schedule requirement and FTE count. These schedule numbers are then analyzed based on actual service delivery (for customers) and occupancy levels (for employees). Assessment Approach This workforce review was performed using ICBC-provided data from the Aspect workforce management software system and other ICBC generated reports. The Page 23

24 following steps are involved in the workforce management process and were reviewed as part of the analysis: 1. Forecast Workload The first part of any staffing plan is to build a reliable forecast. This forecast takes into account past call history to analyze and predict future call volume and handle times. The most common approach in call center forecasting is time-series analysis. This method uses past history to determine the overall trend in the call data, as well as to break apart and identify seasonal, month-to-month patterns based on the business. ICBC uses the Aspect ewfm workforce management system, which is based on this time-series analysis approach. A base forecast from time-series analysis would then be adjusted based on known business factors. In ICBC s case, the most obvious business factors would have been the rollout of Claims Hierarchy in April 2013 and ClaimCenter in November While call volume was not necessarily impacted in a major way by these changes, the average handle time of calls was significantly increased and the forecast handle time and overall workload reflected these anticipated changes. A comparison of forecast call volume and handle time shows that workload forecasts were reasonable for the study period. While variation above and below the actual numbers are to be expected, for the most part forecasts were within a reasonable range. This variation was examined with a percent difference calculation as well as looking at a standard deviation calculation. Forecast Staff Hours Actual Required Hours Percent Variance This accuracy in forecasting is important to note, as it is not the underlying cause of the understaffing that has been apparent over the past two years. When some call centers experience understaffing, it is due to an insufficient and flawed forecasting process that has failed to predict the workload and need for staff. At ICBC, the forecasting process and results are sound and point to a requirement that was simply not filled at the scheduling phase of the workforce planning process. Page 24

25 2. Calculate staff and schedule requirements. This data provided a forecast workload number (based on call volume and handle time predictions) along with a planned staff number. The analysis reviewed the forecasts and staffing projections compared to actual staffing that was in place. The Aspect reports show actual service level numbers for the study period, along with other service-related data such as abandoned call volumes and percentages. As part of the staffing analysis, staffing calculations were independently done to verify staff requirements. This staffing analysis involved using industry-standard Erlang staffing calculations to arrive at actual staff requirements, as well as to show the whatif results if staff numbers were not in place as planned. These Erlang C calculations were used to arrive at service level, average speed of answer (ASA), and occupancy numbers to be expected with ICBC s actual staff in place. To better understand the staffing numbers and the relationship between workload, staff requirements, scheduled staff, and resulting service and occupancy, it would be useful to explain the staffing calculation process. Step 1. Calculate workload. First, a workload calculation is shown here based on call volume and handle time for a sample half-hour of a day in the study period. 10:30am 11:00am 191 calls, AHT 1021 seconds 191 x 1021 = 195,011 seconds 195,011 seconds/1800 seconds per half hour=108 hours Staffing will be based on 108 hours or erlangs. Step 2. Determine base staff requirement (bodies in chairs). The first basic rule of contact center staffing is that there must always be more staff in place than the hours (erlangs) of work to do. That is because telephone calls arrive randomly within the hour and not in a formal, back-to-back fashion. This random arrival necessarily means that there will be periods where staff are idle waiting on calls to arrive, while at other times during the hour calls will be stacked up and waiting. This inefficiency caused by randomness is built into the Erlang C staff calculation approach that takes into account random arrivals and the queuing for the next available agent setup. Page 25

26 It should be noted here that this randomness of calling can be exaggerated by many factors and one of these factors is the handle time of calls. With the same amount of workload, a scenario with fewer calls and higher handle time (like ICBC) will take more staff than more calls with lower handle time. This is due to the fact that high handle times contribute to randomness while higher volume/lower handle times look more like sequential, back-to-back work. As an example, consider a staffing situation with 1800 calls per hour and a handle time of 300 seconds, equating to 150 erlangs of work (1800 x 300 / 3600). This scenario to meet a 80% in 100 second service goal would require 154 staff. Now with the same workload, but offered as 600 calls with a handle time of 900 seconds (600 x 900/3600 = 150), the required staff would be 158 bodies in chairs. Therefore, as ICBC s handle time has increased, it has contributed to an increased workload just as part of the equation of call volume multiplied by handle time. However, it is important to note that this increased AHT has a double impact as the increased handle time makes random arrivals more apparent and further bumps up the requirement for staff. There must always be more staff than hours of work to do, and how many more staff depends on the desired speed of answer. If a call center wishes to answer the calls very quickly, more staff will need to be in place, while long service delays require fewer staff. The base staff requirement (commonly referred to as bodies in chairs ) was calculated based on ICBC s stated speed-of-answer goal of 80% of calls answered in 100 seconds. There is a wide range of service goals within the call center industry and no single industry standard for service level. However, the majority of centers have a speed of answer goal very close to 80% of calls answered in 20 or 30 seconds. ICBC s service level goal of 80% of calls in 100 seconds allows for a much longer wait time than experienced in most call centers in North America. There is no right or wrong goal for service, but it should be noted that the service level target, even if it is met, would give ICBC callers a noticeably longer wait time than callers would perhaps get when calling other call centers. Using this 80% of calls in 100 seconds, base staff requirements can be calculated. The following table shows the number of staff required to meet various service levels. This chart also shows the resulting average delay and staff occupancy with any given number of staff in place. Page 26

27 Exhibit 14: Sample Staffing and Service Scenario NCO per Half-Hour AHT Erlangs Staff Service Level in 100 Sec Average Delay Staff Occupancy % % % % % % % % % Note the non-linear change in service level and ASA. To meet the 80% in 100 seconds service level, 116 bodies in chairs would be required. While one additional person improves service level by 4%, removing a person impacts it by 5% (and then 6%, 7%, 9%, 12% and so on.) 3. Determine actual schedule requirements. The above tables show the progression and calculations from calls to base workload to actual workforce workload. This workload number includes a 10% non-productive time factor (due to the 90% schedule adherence factor) as well as the various factors and Erlang C calculations built into the workforce management system to account for the randomness of inbound calls. In addition, once the scheduling stage occurs and the need to move from a bodies in chairs base staff requirement to an actual schedule requirement, it is necessary to account for the fact that staff are not always available to take calls. There are times when staff will be on break, at lunch, in meetings, or doing other off-phone work. In addition, it is necessary to build in additional time for paid time off and any other state that takes staff away from phone duty. For the staffing numbers in this report, there are two steps of building in this nonproductive time. First, to get to an actual staff work hours required, a non-productive time factor of 10% was used, along with the standard Erlang C staffing calculations. Page 27

28 When looking at the overall actual schedule requirement for scheduling purposes, a full shrinkage amount that takes into account all non available hours was used. At ICBC, staff shrinkage is tracked for the following categories with the numbers shown in the table representing the annual hours of time going into each category for the year. Exhibit 15. Annual Staff Shrinkage Category One-on-One Absence ACD Breaks File Meeting Other Work Paid Leave New Hire Training Vacation ClaimCenter Train Total Total FTE Shrinkage % Shrinkage is incorporated into the base staff requirement to inflate the staffing number to include time for breaks, meetings, training, paid time off, scheduled off phone work, etc. This schedule requirement was then adjusted for any scheduling rules and inflexibility to arrive at the needed FTE count. In the example here, with a workload of 108 hours and a base staff requirement of 116 staff, actual staffing requirements would incorporate shrinkage in the following way: Actual Staff Requirement = 116 / ( ) = Evaluate staffing scenarios. An analysis was done comparing the required staff to actual scheduled staff. The actual staff numbers were taken from ICBC provided reports, including Aspect ewfm Intra- Day Performance (IDP) reports and the center s SuperState Excel Reports, the reports used to generate payroll that provide full information about shrinkage and FTE numbers. Page 28

29 5. Evaluate impact on stakeholders. The assessment of staffing and service is provided to review actual versus required staffing levels and the implications from three different perspectives. These three perspectives represent the three main stakeholders of the contact center - customers, frontline staff, and the management team. As part of this Stakeholder Impact Assessment, there are several important considerations from these three perspectives: Customer Customers care about the service they receive from the call center. There are many ways to define service from their perspective, including the following: Service Level. Service level is the most common way to define and measure the speed of answer in the center. There are other speed of answer measures, including average speed of answer (ASA) and longest delays in queue, but service level is the most common approach in the industry, as well as the primary way ICBC measures and reports on service. It is described as the percent of calls that are answered in a defined wait time threshold (x% in y seconds). In addition to service level, another useful way to examine service statistics is to look at the average delay or average speed of answer (ASA). Abandoned Call Percentage. A primary indicator of whether staffing is sufficient or not is the abandoned call percentage. Most centers aim for no more than 2 5% of calls to abandon the queue. While some abandons are unavoidable, a high percent of callers leaving the queue is generally a red flag that staffing levels and wait times are unacceptable to callers. Access Availability. A crucial part of service delivery is to provide adequate access in terms of local or long-distance telephone access. If not enough telephone trunks are in place, there will not be enough pathways into the center and callers will receive a busy signal and have to retry their calls. Page 29

30 First Call Resolution. There are many industry studies that show the primary indicator of success and satisfaction is whether or not customers get their questions answered or problems resolved on the first attempt. Call centers measure First Call Resolution (FCR) in a variety of ways, both from an internal tracking approach as well as a direct query to customers. Customer Satisfaction. While there are many indicators of satisfaction as outlined above (service level, abandoned calls, and FCR), the best indication of customer satisfaction is a direct query to customers about selected elements of service. Frontline Staff Some of the issues that staff care about most are related to workload and their work schedules, with these two measures being primary indicators of satisfaction: Staff Occupancy. This is simply a measure of how busy the staff are active on a call or in related after-call work (ACW) compared to idle waiting on a call to arrive. While staff should be busy processing calls, there needs to be a reasonable breather between calls for the staff to catch their breath and recover from the last call to be ready to handle the next customer. Employee Satisfaction. The most obvious measure of employee satisfaction is direct scores and comments from the staff themselves. Senior Management The final stakeholder group is upper management who typically is keeping an eye on the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the operation. Some of the important measures of efficiency and utilization include the following: Staff Occupancy. While also listed as an employee concern, it is also a good measure that provides senior management with a view of how well the personnel are being utilized. Page 30

31 Cost Impacts. Impacts on costs driven by understaffing are discussed. These nine metrics are viewed as the top measures of success for a call center operation, providing a balanced view of customer, staff, and management concerns. In this report, the various degrees of understaffing will be examined with a look at how these primary stakeholder concerns are impacted by staffing decisions made by ICBC management. It is the goal of this report to help the Commission understand how recent staffing decisions have impacted the business, the employees, and the policyholders served by ICBC. Results of Analysis Step 1: Forecast Workload Numbers are provided below that show the overall workload increases during the study period. Workload is calculated by multiplying the number of calls (NCO) by the average handle time (AHT). The first table shows month-by-month comparisons of the number of calls offered (NCO) and the second table shows AHT patterns. Note the steady increases in both from 2012 to 2013 to (Note: Data supplied only complete through October 2014) Exhibit 16A: Number of Calls Offered Number of Calls Offered Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total Calls Page 31

32 Exhibit 16B: Number of Calls Offered Number of Calls Offered 100,000 95,000 90,000 85,000 80,000 75,000 70,000 65,000 60,000 55,000 50,000 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec The table and graph above show the gradual increase in the number of calls offered to the center. There is a gradual, steady increase in these calls, indicating an upward trend in business in general. The numbers below show the corresponding numbers for the average handle time (AHT) of calls. Exhibit 17A: Average Handle Time Average Handle Time Month Jan ,095 Feb ,219 Mar ,160 Apr ,152 May 979 1,008 1,404 Jun 916 1,030 1,456 Jul 956 1,041 1,396 Aug 932 1,030 1,348 Sep 923 1,047 1,269 Oct 866 1,041 1,164 Nov 853 1,100 Dec 894 1,157 Grand Total 910 1,008 1,274 Page 32

33 Exhibit 17B: Average Handle Time Average Handle Time 1,500 1,400 1,300 1,200 1,100 1, Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec As seen above, call handle times have increased substantially over time. While there have been some decreases in the AHT in recent months, the numbers are still well above 2012 levels and remain above 2013 levels as well. Call Workload These two components of call volume and handle time are multiplied together as the base calculation of staff workload. The following table and graph show the calculation of staff workload (NCO x AHT) by month. Workload is expressed as hours of work. Exhibit 18A: Call Workload Table Call Workload Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Workload Page 33

34 Exhibit 18B: Call Workload Graph 42,000 Call Workload 37,000 32,000 27,000 22,000 17, ,000 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec In addition to the steady increase in workload over time, there are several notable changes in the data outlined above. The Claims Hierarchy project rolled out in April 2013 and there is a corresponding significant jump in workload beginning in May The next sizable jump in workload occurs November 2013 with the rollout of ClaimCenter. While an increase in calls does occur steadily over time, the major change in workload is due to the increased time required to handle calls. Step 2: Calculate Staffing Requirements This increase in workload would indicate a corresponding increase in staffing levels. The following tables show the actual numbers with the progression from actual workload to required staff workload and the resulting FTE requirements. As explained in the prior section related to staffing requirements, there is a progression here from actual workload hours (seen in Exhibit 18) which is a calculation of NCO multiplied by AHT to a required workload hours that incorporates several factors related to staffing. These Required Workload numbers below are comprised of a base of Actual Workload with an adjustment for simple, unproductive time. This unproductive time for most of these months accounts for the 90% schedule adherence expectation and the fact that there is 10% unproductive time. (Note: In an analysis of this data, it appears this unproductive time is a bit higher in 2012 than in 2013 and 2014). The adjustment also incorporates the Erlang C random call adjustment inherent in the WFM software to arrive at the number of hours for staffing to meet service goals. Page 34

35 Exhibit 19A: Monthly Staff Hours and FTE Requirements 2012 Actual Workload Hours Required Workload Hours Actual Required FTE Actual Scheduled FTE FTE Variance 2012 Jan 16,137 19, Feb 14,430 17, Mar 15,288 18, Apr 15,930 19, May 17,867 21, June 15,900 19, July 18,538 22, Aug 18,475 22, Sep 16,791 20, Oct 17,763 21, Nov 16,738 20, Dec 17,467 21, Total , , Exhibit 19B: Monthly Staff Hours and FTE Requirements Actual Workload Hours Required Workload Hours Actual Required FTE Actual Scheduled FTE FTE Variance Jan 17,327 20, Feb 13,014 15, Mar 14,907 18, Apr 18,743 22, May 21,065 24, June 20,708 24, July 23,441 27, Aug 21,256 25, Sep 21,119 24, Oct 21,597 24, Nov 23,857 26, Dec 25,159 27, Total , , Page 35

36 Exhibit 19C: Monthly Staff Hours and FTE Requirements 2014 Actual Workload Hours Required Workload Hours Actual Required FTE Actual Scheduled FTE FTE Variance 2014 Jan 23,762 26, Feb 24,042 26, Mar 23,231 25, Apr 23,360 25, May 33,307 36, June 34,637 37, July 36,410 39, Aug 31,526 34, Sep 28,841 31, Oct 24,916 27, Nov Dec Total , , Step 3: Evaluate Staffing Scenarios A review of the tables above show the required versus scheduled hours and the required versus scheduled FTE. These numbers are summarized by year in the tables below. Exhibit 20A: Annual Staffing Requirements Versus Actual Scheduled Hours Workload Hours Actual Required Hours Actual Scheduled Hours Variance , , ,011-11, , , ,749-40, , , ,474-79,017 Exhibit 20B: Annual Staffing Requirements Versus Actual Scheduled Hours Forecast FTE Actual Required FTE Actual Scheduled FTE Variance The final table here shows the FTE counts will full shrinkage incorporated into the numbers. This final shrinkage number accounts for all the time needed per person for not just phone work, but all non-productive activities such as breaks, meetings, trainings, offphone work, etc. Page 36

37 Exhibit 20C: Annual Staffing Requirements Versus Scheduled Hours (with Full Shrinkage) Forecast FTE Actual Required FTE Actual Scheduled FTE Variance There has been a serious staff shortage year over year, as ICBC has not staffed up appropriately to respond to increasing workload. The service implications of this staffing shortage are evident from the actual speed-of-answer numbers shown below, along with the resulting call abandons and call abandon rates. Step 4: Evaluate Stakeholder Impact There are three primary call center stakeholder groups: customers, employees, and senior management. The following section provides a review of the staffing scenario from these three perspectives: Customer Impact Employee Impact Management Impact Service Level Agent Occupancy Staff Occupancy Abandon Calls Employee Satisfaction Operating Costs Access Availability First Call Resolution Customer Satisfaction Customer - Service Levels The fewer the staff in place, the longer the wait time for callers. It is obvious from the numbers below that staffing levels dropped to unacceptable levels throughout 2013 and 2014 as evidenced by the declining service levels. While the stated goal of ICBC is to answer 80% of calls in 100 seconds, service levels declined and remained well below the 80% mark throughout the period in question from early 2013 to the end of the study period in late Page 37

38 Exhibit 21A: Actual Service Levels Service Level Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Grand Total Exhibit 21B: Graph of Service Level Service Levels for All Hours Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Another way to look at the service level numbers is to look at what percent of the intervals of the day where service level is actually being achieved. Reviews of the sample data show that service level goals are not being met for most periods of the day. Page 38

39 Exhibit 22: Percent of Intervals Meeting 80/100 Service Level Goal Intervals Meeting SL Goal Jan 55% 63% 35% Feb 62% 73% 37% Mar 55% 64% 48% Apr 35% 54% 39% May 47% 36% 13% Jun 64% 25% 7% Jul 42% 25% 5% Aug 46% 38% 9% Sep 49% 52% 20% Oct 56% 48% 38% Nov 63% 24% Dec 44% 23% Grand Total 51% 44% 25% According to the Society of Workforce Planning Professionals (SWPP), most call centers perform much better than ICBC in this category. In a 2009 survey, 33% of call centers say they meet speed of answer goals in 80-90% of the half-hours of the day. Another 31% say they meet the goal in 70-80% of the half-hours. Eleven percent say they meet the speed of answer goal in over 90% of the half-hours of the day. In other words, 75% of call centers meet service goals in more than 70% of the intervals for the day. ICBC met the service level goal in only half the intervals in 2012, and the successive years of 2013 and 2014 got progressively worse. Abandoned Calls As service levels decline and customers wait longer and longer in queue, many callers become frustrated with the wait time and abandon calls. The table below shows the increase in the number of abandoned calls and the corresponding abandoned call percentage rate during recent years. Page 39

40 Exhibit 22A: Monthly Call Abandons Call Abandons Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total Abandons Note the marked increase in call abandons starting in May 2013 when the Claims Hierarchy project began with higher handle times and workload without corresponding increase in staff. Another jump happened in November 2013 with the rollout of ClaimCenter with again not enough staff to cover the increased workload. Service levels were low with substantially increased wait times, causing callers to find the wait time unacceptable and abandon their calls. Exhibit 22B: Graph of Monthly Call Abandons ,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 Call Abandons Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Page 40

41 The numbers here represent a startling number of callers giving up and leaving the queue, especially given that ICBC customers have no other alternative place to have their claims questions answered. These abandon numbers are shown as a percentage abandon rates the in tables and graphs below. Exhibit 23A: Call Abandon Rates Call Abandon Rate Month Jan 6% 12% Feb 2% 18% Mar 4% 7% Apr 8% 6% 9% May 7% 15% 27% June 4% 17% 35% July 10% 17% 39% Aug 9% 11% 34% Sep 10% 9% 22% Oct 6% 8% 11% Nov 4% 19% Dec 12% 21% Average Abandon Rate 6% 12% 22% Exhibit 23B: Call Abandon Rates % 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Call Abandon Rates Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Page 41

42 These call abandon numbers and percentages are alarmingly high and are well above industry averages. Most centers shoot for abandon rates of 2-5% or certainly in single digits. Abandon rates this high certainly send a message that customers do not tolerate the excessive wait times delivered in 2013 and Access Availability In addition to the high level of call abandons outlined above, there are also many other callers that attempted to reach the call center but never made it into the center at all. Exhibit 24 Deflected Calls (April October 2014) Month Deflected Calls April ,254 May ,343 Jun ,517 Jul ,970 Aug ,530 Sep ,479 Oct Nov ,049 Grand Total 81,844 When not enough telephone trunks are in place to bring calls into the center, the caller simply receives a busy signal. There was an extremely high level of busy signals and deflected calls at ICBC, as evidenced by the following numbers. This is a very high number of calls to be rejected at the front door of the call center, receiving a busy signal and being forced to retry the call at a later time. There was indeed a reduction in deflections in August of 2014 that coincides with additional telephone trunks being added in the form of another T1 facility, but as the most recent November data indicates, there are still many customers being denied access to the center, even to get in and wait in the queue. First Call Resolution When confronted with questions about understaffing in the call center, ICBC responded multiple times that Even though fewer calls were handled in 100 seconds, the customer Page 42

43 service score related to FCR remained high, which indicates improvements to process have been well received. It is important to understand that FCR and service level are both important elements of service. Callers do indeed care about FCR, but just because this is generally the most important driver of customer satisfaction does not mean callers do not care about the length of delay while waiting on a Claims rep. Ideally, one does not have to be sacrificed to achieve the other. There are many ways to measure FCR, including customer surveys, staff designation, quality call reviews, and/or tracking of calls to monitor for subsequent calls and resolution steps. ICBC uses a customer survey methodology by SQM to query callers after the fact about their satisfaction with the resolution of calls. While it is good that ICBC measures FCR and views this as a primary driver of customer satisfaction, it should be noted that there is actually only a very small percent of customers who are providing feedback related to call resolution. First, it is unclear how a decision is made about which customers to survey in the first place. But the primary problem is the percent of customers actually represented by this FCR survey data. Only about one percent of callers are providing feedback about their view of FCR. The following table shows the results of FCR sampling and the number of people participating in the survey process. Exhibit 25: FCR Survey Sampling Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr Average Number Calls Offered 78,086 78,291 78,127 71,008 72,085 73,024 75,103 Number of Dials 14,786 15,095 17,114 24,874 17,381 17,466 17,786 Customers Reached 2,589 2,683 2,838 4,315 3,857 3,600 3,313 Customers Responding , Percent of NCO <1% <1% <1% 1.5% 1.3% 1.1% 1.1% The percent of customers that indicated that their call was completed in one contact averages 80%, as shown in the table below. However, survey results also showed that it took on average 1.35 contacts for resolution. Page 43

44 Exhibit 26: FCR Survey Results Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr Weighted Average Customers Reached 2,589 2,683 2,838 4,315 3,857 3,600 Customers Responding , Indication of FCR % Calls Needed for Res It should also be noted that many call centers find that there is an eventual negative impact on FCR when staffing levels are too low. If staffing numbers are too low and there is an unreasonably high workload for staff, they may feel rushed on a call in order to get to the calls waiting. There is also a level of burnout that comes with chronic understaffing which can contribute to a lower level of quality on the call. Customer Satisfaction There are many drivers of customer satisfaction, including call resolution and speed of answer as two main factors. It is important to regularly survey customers to assess how the organization is meeting their needs in various areas. ICBC performs regular customer satisfaction surveys. The results of the survey are shown below for recent years. Exhibit 27: Customer Satisfaction Survey Results Claims Service Satisfaction Customer Approval Index Despite efforts by ICBC to focus on the quality of the call, the customer approval index hovers around 60% for each of the last three years. Employee - Staff Occupancy Staff occupancy (often referred to as agent occupancy) is one of the most important metrics in the call center. It is a measure from the employees perspective to show whether or not there is a reasonable level of work distributed to the staff. It is simply a measure of how busy the staff are processing work (active on call or in after-call work) compared to sitting idle waiting on the next call to arrive. While it is desirable for this agent occupancy number to be high (since they are after all being paid to do the work), it Page 44

45 is important that it is not too high or the staff will be overworked with not enough breather in between calls. The desirable range of staff occupancy for most call centers is 85% - 90% and most centers staff so that occupancy will not exceed 95% even during the busiest times of day. Exhibit 28 below shows the actual staffing, service, and occupancy for a sample day (October 27, 2014). ACTUAL FORECAST ACTUAL FORECAST ACTUAL FORECAST REQ SCHED ACD STAFF Time NCO NCO AHT AHT STAFF STAFF STAFF VARIANCE SL% OCC % 7: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : When looking at any sample day with poor service levels, there is an accompanying high occupancy rate. When understaffing occurs and there are insufficient staff, there will almost always be calls waiting. Therefore, when a rep is finished with a call, there is an extremely high likelihood that there will be another call arriving right away. Given that there were actually many fewer staff in place than required for nearly every half-hour period of the day, occupancy levels were frequently over 100%. In other words, there were more hours of work to do than staff hours in place to handle the on-demand work. This means that when an agent was finished with a call, there was almost always Page 45

46 another call waiting, so there was no recovery time not even a few seconds in between calls. When occupancy levels are consistently above 90%, it creates a difficult and taxing work environment. When occupancy levels reach 100% as they did on the sample day outlined here, the workload burden is oppressive. The frontline staff are faced with call after call with little to no breather to recover and prepare for the next call. When this high occupancy is sustained over more than a few half-hours (as it is here), performance starts to suffer. High occupancy rates almost always lead to higher handle times, decreased schedule adherence, and a decline in call quality. While ICBC does have a policy where employees are provided with a stretch break every hour in which a regular break is not scheduled, it is unclear from the data provided whether or not these are actually used. Since schedule adherence is a big factor on the frontline reps performance scorecard, taking unscheduled breaks would put them out of adherence and they may choose not to take these breaks in order to meet other goals. (Note: It is difficult to review use of these stretch breaks since there is not a specific code associated with logging out for this activity.) It is important to also point out that if indeed the breaks were taken, that would remove even more staff from the call-handling picture, making the occupancy even higher than noted in the table and more of a burden to those left on the phones. Employee Satisfaction There are many factors that contribute to Employee Satisfaction and work environment is certainly one of those. The high occupancy caused by understaffing can lead to a dayto-day job stress and overall job dissatisfaction. This high occupancy rate has been in place for a very long time at ICBC and is likely a factor contributing to decreasing scores in Employee Satisfaction surveys. Employee Engagement scores have declined from 54% in 2012 to 33% and 34% in 2013 and While the data is not specific as to what the causes of dissatisfaction are, the oppressive workload generated by the understaffing these last two years is likely to have contributed to the decline. In the 2013 Strategy and Diversity Section of the Survey, the lowest Agree score was on the item, I believe that the work planned and underway to support ICBC s 2014 strategy will improve our employee experience with a score of only 32%. Page 46

47 When employee engagement scores are analyzed by division, the Claims area has the lowest satisfaction score as evidenced by the following results (ICBC Response 1, page 628). Division 2013 Score 2012 Score Change ICBC Overall Transformation Claims Corporate Services Communications and Mktg Driver Licensing Finance Human Resources Information Services Insurance ICBC decided to switch vendors doing the Employee Engagement Survey in 2014 since they felt the scores did not reflect what the management team saw as positive changes in the workplace and they were therefore disappointed with 2013 scores. The 2014 survey by Harris/Decima called the Employee Opinion Survey (EOS) was completed in September 2014, with results to be published and available at the end of November Management Concerns From a workforce management perspective, the management team generally looks at call center operations with an eye to both customer and employee satisfaction, but also with a duty to see that the center operates in a financially responsible way. Throughout their responses to Information Requests during this query process, ICBC has pointed out their concern for running the center with an eye to keeping productivity high and costs down. Below are some of ICBC s responses: Ex. B-13 BCUC.60.1 Service level is a quantity measure, while both Customer Satisfaction and First Call Resolution are service quality measures. While service level (wait time) is one potential factor that contributes to overall satisfaction, many other factors also affect customer satisfaction. Customer feedback has indicated that the quality of the call, not service level (wait time), is more of a contributing factor to customer satisfaction. Page 47

48 Throughout the implementation of the new claims management system, ICBC remains focused on maintaining quality customer service. Please see the response to information request RR BCUC.78.4 for more information regarding the claims management system implementation, and RR BCUC for information regarding recent significant improvements to service level wait times. Ex. B-13 BCUC.78.3 Even though fewer calls were handled within 100 seconds in 2013, the customer service score related to the first call resolution remained high, which indicates improvements to process have been well received. Ex. B-13 BCUC.78.7 Attachment A p. 5 ICBC needs to balance increasing staffing and related costs to address increasing call answer times, taking into consideration transitional impacts as well as the impacts on customer satisfaction. ICBC continually seeks to minimize the impact of operating expenses on the rate indication by maintaining or reducing costs where possible while ensuring that ICBC maintains the necessary staffing and tools to service customers and to manage claims costs effectively. Throughout this organizational change, ICBC has maintained or increased staffing levels at First Notice of Loss (FNOL) as required. Ex. B-13 COPE p. 2 These changes may adversely affect the New Claims Initiation performance measure but improve the customer experience. Even though fewer calls were handled within 100 seconds in 2013, the customer satisfaction and experience score remains high. ICBC does not staff to meet the 80% of calls answered in 100 seconds service goal. As discussed in the Application, Chapter 10, while First Call Initiation is a useful metric regarding wait time, ICBC needs to balance increased staffing numbers (to maintain 80% of calls answered in 100 seconds) with providing quality service. Ex. B-13 COPE.10.0 ICBC needs to balance increasing staffing levels to address longer call answer times with the cost of doing so, taking into account anticipated transitional impacts and improvements, thus ensuring that ICBC maintains the necessary staffing and tools to service customers and to manage claims costs effectively. Please see the response to information request RR COPE for information on how staffing requirements are integrated in the budgeting process. As ICBC manages through the current transitional period, identifying potential efficiencies and systems improvements, staffing levels will continue to be reviewed to ensure ICBC is delivering quality service to customers. Page 48

49 Ex. B-13 COPE.10.1 p. 2 ICBC needs to balance increasing staffing levels to address longer call answer time with the cost of doing so, taking into account anticipated transitional impacts and improvements, thus ensuring that ICBC maintains the necessary staffing and tools to service customers and to manage claims costs effectively. ICBC will continue to monitor staffing levels as appropriate through the ongoing stabilization period. These comments reflect ICBC s approach to resolution and quality issues and primary concern for cost containment, with a move away from staffing to speed-of-answer goals. While a focus on cost is indeed important, cost concerns have to be balanced with customer and employee satisfaction, almost all of which are impacted by the company s decisions about how to staff its call centers. This report has already discussed the importance of occupancy as a useful metric to evaluate employee workload. This is the primary measure that call centers use to determine whether or not the staff in the center are being utilized in a productive way. As stated earlier in the report, it is desirable for occupancy to be high so personnel resources are utilized in an efficient manner. However, if occupancy rates go too high, the workload becomes more than what the staff can handle in a reasonable manner. Cost containment is a primary goal for any business and ICBC has indicated that staffing was not implemented as needed to maintain service level goals due to cost concerns. However, by not staffing up to needed levels, customer interactions have been impacted in a big way as evidenced by the low service levels and high call abandon rates. And while personnel costs were lower by not adding many FTE, there were additional direct costs needed to support the additional workload, such as telecom costs and the more indirect costs of higher handle times, decreased schedule adherence. The lower Customer Satisfaction scores and Employee Engagement scores were likely impacted by these staffing decisions. Another cost consideration is how lessened service and lack of access to process claims effectively might impact the Legal Representation Rate, a cost driver which is escalating sharply jumping from 40% in 2011 to 45% in 2012, 48% in 2013, and finally to 50% in ICBC and the Commission should consider the likelihood that deteriorating access to the Claims Centre in the first place, or being put on hold for long periods of time to have their problem addressed, is a contributing factor to this alarming trend. Page 49

50 Conclusion and Recommendation ICBC has failed to staff its contact center appropriately to respond to the changes in contact volume and handle times brought about by normal business growth and internal process and technology changes. Despite what appears to be a solid forecasting and planning process that results in a reasonable staffing and schedule requirement, ICBC has elected not to staff to required FTE levels. The result of this understaffed situation is a service level way below the stated goal and a high level of abandoned and deflected calls. ICBC customers are not being well served when their calls are either deflected due to insufficient resources or they are forced to wait for long periods to have their calls answered. The understaffing situation is hard on the employees as well. Too few staff in place translates into very high levels of occupancy hour after hour. This creates an unreasonable work environment and can impact many aspects of performance in a negative way. While in the short run, the decision not to add staff can be viewed as a cost-saving measure for the corporation, understaffing has many direct and indirect costs. Longer wait times create more telephone usage time which is a direct cost to the company, especially when many calls are abandoning and returning only to tie up phone lines multiple times. High occupancy rates can cause staff to have higher handle times in the short term and can contribute to decreased schedule adherence and absenteeism in the long term if not corrected. And finally, the impact of poor service on customer satisfaction can have longterm impacts and costs, not to mention the possible cost of increased legal representation rate for those bringing claims to court. It is recommended that ICBC re-examine its staffing levels and add requisite staff to correspond to current and planned workloads. With the appropriate number of staff in place, ICBC will see a return to desired service levels, a reduction in abandoned calls and deflections, and a more reasonable workload for its staff. The forecasting and planning process in place appears to be a sound one. With the upheaval and learning curve of the transformation project mostly over, it is recommended that ICBC create a solid forecast for 2015 and 2016 and move to immediately staff up to fill the current personnel gaps in order to accomplish stated service goals from a customer perspective and reasonable occupancy goals from an employee view. Page 50

51 Penny Reynolds Qualifications Document Page 51

52 Call Center Areas of Expertise Penny Reynolds Call Center Consultant 815 Vaughan Road Clarksville, TN Workforce Planning and Management Call Center Leadership Skill Development Frontline Service and Sales Skill Development Quality Assurance Program Development, Monitoring, and Coaching Call Center Operational Audits Career History Independent Call Center Consultant (April 2013 to Current) Provide a wide range of consulting services to the contact center industry, including expert witness testimony; operational audits and reviews, and customized instructional design for call center training programs Co-Founder and Principal, The Call Center School (March 2001 April 2013) (Sold company to Injixo Inc. in 2011; retired from company after successful transition April 2013) Developed and delivered a wide range of standard and customized training programs to over 1000 corporate clients. Published books and self-paced e-learning training programs and provided specialized consulting services. Co-Founder/Board of Advisors, Society of Workforce Planning Professionals (SWPP) (June 2002 Current) Founded association for workforce planning professionals, now providing networking services, conferences, and publications to over 3000 members. Developed CWPP industry certification program for workforce professionals. Co-Founder/Board of Advisors, Quality Assurance and Training Connection (QATC) (January 2005 Current) Founded association for call center trainers and quality assurance specialists, now providing networking opportunities, conferences, and publications to over 1500 members. Senior Consultant/Director of Marketing, TCS Management Group ( ) Provided wide range of call center and telecommunications consulting services to Fortune 1000 clients for this software/consulting company (now a part of Aspect). Developed new division of company called Call Center University to provide software training and general call center education. Page 52

53 Education Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN Honors Graduate Industry Designations and Awards Call Center Magazine Call Center Pioneer Award 1996 CIAC Certified Call Center Consultant (first in industry) 2002 Certified Workforce Planning Professional (CWPP Designation) 2004 International Customer Service Association (ICSA), Industry Board Member Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals (SOCAP), Past President, Industry Advisor Call Center Magazine s Leadership Council Editorial Advisor for CRM Advocate, Customer Support Management magazines Publications Books: Call Center Staffing: The Complete, Practical Guide to Workforce Management Call Center Supervision: The Complete Guide to Managing Frontline Staff The Power of One Power Phrasing: Words and Phrases for Positive Communications Business School Essentials for Call Center Leaders (co-authored with Maggie Klenke) University of Phoenix Call Center Management Program Textbooks: (published 2003, co-authored with Maggie Klenke) Call Center Management: Overview and Applications Call Center Operations Management I Call Center Operations Management II Strategies for Managing Call Center Personnel Page 53

54 Leveraging Customer Relationships Articles and Publications Defining Performance Standards for Monitoring & Coaching, The Connection, March 2014 Managing Daily Staffing and Service, Contact Center Pipeline, December 2013 Scheduling Principles and Problems, Contact Center Pipeline, November 2013 Evaluating Staff and Service Tradeoffs, Contact Center Pipeline, October 2013 Forecasting Fundamentals, Contact Center Pipeline, August 2013 How Do Your Call Center Supervisors Measure Up? The Connection, July 2013 A Practical Guide to Seasonal Staffing, Contact Center Pipeline, June 2013 Pros and Cons of the Virtual Call Center Classroom, The Connection, June 2013 Contact Center Math: Managing by the Numbers, Multichannel Merchant, May 2013 The Schedule Swap: Twenty Ideas for Schedule Optimization, On Target, December 2012 The Overtime Lie, Contact Center Pipeline, June 2012 Calculating Support Center Requirements, Support Industry, May 2012 Top Contact Center Key Performance Indicators, Contact Center Pipeline, February 2012 Four Things to Reconsider About WFM This Year Call Centre Helper, January 2012 The Top Twenty Contact Center Metrics, Operations and Fulfillment, January 2012 Three Steps for Attacking Adherence Problems Contact Center Pipeline, January 2011 Measuring and Rewarding for Telephone Selling, Operations and Fulfillment, April 2011 Unraveling the Mysteries of Service Level Discrepancies, On Target, October 2010 Reducing Call Center Staff May Cost You Money, Operations and Fulfillment, June 2010 How to Build a Call Center Forecasting Model, CRM, April 2010 Calculating Trunks for the Call Center, On Target, March 2010 Page 54

55 Articles and Publications continued Targeted Training and Coaching for Telephone Reps, Connections, March 2010 Quantifying the Impact of Call Center Schedule Adherence, Call Center Times, Feb 2010 Grammar Goofs: A Checklist for Monitoring Calls and s The Connection, Dec 2009 Outsourcing Seasonal Call Volume in Contact Centers, Call Center Times, September 2009 Teaching Agents and Supervisors About WFM, On Target, September 2009 Utilizing Call Center Shared Staffing Arrangements, Ops and Fulfillment, August 2009 Exploring Call Center Turnover Numbers, On Target, December 2008 Staffing for Outbound Calling, On Target, October 2008 Contact Center Retention: A Supervisor s Job, Operations and Fulfillment, August 2008 How to Choose a Workforce Management System, On Target, July 2008 Ten Considerations for a Quality Monitoring Policy, The Connection, June 2008 Yearning for E-Learning: Pros and Cons of Virtual Call Center Learning, CIS, June 2008 Are Your Call Center Supervisors Up to the Task? The Connection, April 2008 The Power of One in Call Center Staffing, On Target, April 2008 Labor Disputes Reach the Contact Center Customer Relationship Management, April 2008 Call Center Customer Surveys Step-by-Step, Operations and Fulfillment, February 2008 Ready, Set, Close: Preparing Reps for Telephone Sales, CIS, November 2007 Building and Managing Call Center Teams, CIS, July 2007 Seven Tips for Smoother Service, Operations and Fulfillment, April 2007 Taming the Schedule Exception Monster, On Target, March 2007 Benefits and Perils of Team Scheduling, CIS, December 2006 The Art and Science of Predicting Call Workload, Connections, October 2006 Page 55

56 Articles and Publications continued Identifying Gaps in Your Agent Training Program, The Connection, May 2006 Understanding Agent Occupancy and Utilization, On Target, March 2006 Evaluating Critical Staffing Tradeoffs, Connections, June 2005 Automating WFM: Acquisition and Implementation, Connections, December 2004 The Economics of Looking for a New Call Center Home, CIS, November 2004 Contingency Planning by the Numbers, CIS, October 2004 Problems Keeping WFM Planners Up at Night, On Target, September 2004 Defining External Performance Metrics for Your Center, CIS, August 2004 Adherence Monitoring: Big Brother or Better Bottom Line, On Target, June 2004 The Basics of Calculating Call Center Staff, CIS, May 2004 A Study of Agent Occupancy in Today s Contact Center, CIS, March 2004 Are Remote Agents in Your Staffing Future? Connections, January 2004 Meeting Workforce Challenges of the 21 st Century, Call Center Insider, October 2003 Cutting Call Center Costs, Not Service, Operations and Fulfillment, September 2003 Call Center Staffing Mathematics Getting the Numbers Right, Connections, March 2003 From Call Center Agent to Net Rep: Preparing for the Multi-Channel Contact Center, CIS, November 2002 Staffing Solutions to Improve Call Center Profitability, Connections, July 2002 Page 56

57 Seminars and Training Programs (Development and Delivery ) Served as the primary developer and delivered all the following programs: Frontline Courses The Power of One: The Difference One Agent Can Make Vocal Makeover: Techniques for a Winning Voice First Class Phone Manners: The Absolute Musts of Telephone Best Practices Power Phrasing: Winning Word choices for Effective Communications Tyrant Turnaround: Going from Difficult to Delighted Callers World of Call Centers: An Operational Overview Essentials: Frontline Guide for Writing Effective s Selling Through Service: Increasing Revenues with Customer-Focused Selling Anatomy of a Sales Call: Four Steps to Successful Selling Call Center Leadership Courses Call Center Supervision: Essential Skills and Competencies Setting the Standards: Defining Performance Goals and Objectives Don t Know, Can t, Won t Model: Diagnosing and Treating Performance Problems Performance Coaching: Techniques for Shaping Employee Performance Call Coaching: Basics for Improving Call Quality Motivation Marvels: 100 Ways to Improve Motivation and Morale Finders Keepers: Proven Strategies for Call Center Staff Retention Employee Life Cycle: A Supervisory Look at HR and Legal Issues Call Center Time Management: Budgeting a Supervisory Day Introduction to Workforce Management: Understanding Staffing and Scheduling Key Performance Indicators: Managing by the Numbers Sales Coaching for Supervisors: Techniques for Maximizing Sales Quality Assurance Courses Building a Quality Monitoring Form Part I and II Defining Call Standards: What a Call Should Sound Like Calibration Corner: Best Practices in Calibration and Scoring Basics of Call Coaching: Techniques for Shaping Call Behaviors Making the Most of QM: Optimizing Monitoring/Recording Technology Satisfaction Guaranteed: Performing a Call Center Satisfaction Audit Page 57

58 Workforce Management Courses Data Collection and Analysis: Getting Off to the Right Start Forecasting Fundamentals: Proven Practices for Predicting Call Workload Calculating Call Center Staff: The Math of Call Center Staffing Tradeoffs Scheduling Principles and Problems: Solutions to Scheduling Challenges Managing Daily Service Levels: An Intra-Day Guide to Managing Staff and Service Introduction to Workforce Management: An Overview of the WFM Process Attendance and Adherence: Getting and Keeping Bodies in Seats Advanced Forecasting Techniques: Fine-Tuning Workload Predictions WFM Design Dilemmas: Optimizing Staffing in Evolving Contact Center Scenarios Skill-Based Routing Design: Balancing Customer, Agent, and Center Needs Skill-Based Routing WFM Challenges: Forecasting and Scheduling for SBR Scenarios Operations and Business Management Courses Making the Match: Recruiting and Hiring Call Center Staff Introduction to Call Center Technology: A Beginner s Guide Telecommuting That Works: Strategies for Utilizing Remote Agents A Winning Vision: Essentials of Strategic Planning for Call Center Leaders Dollars and Sense: Basics of Finance for Today s Call Center Professional Making the Case: Business Case Development and Project Management Business Process Improvement: Six Sigma and Beyond Analytics and Reporting: Developing a Contact Center Reporting Plan Oversaw the development and delivery of all the above programs in formats to support classroom, instructor-led web delivery, and self-paced e-learning programs. Content included PowerPoint delivery slides, student workbook materials, course assessments, and detailed instructor guides. Page 58

59 Conference Presentations 2014 Quality Assurance and Training Annual Conference, Nashville TN (September 2014) Reward and Recognition Programs That Work Happy Employees Mean Happy Customers Performing an Employee Survey Society of Workforce Planning Professionals Conference, Nashville, TN (March 2014) Forecasting Fundamentals Keys to Accurate Workload Predictions The Math of Call Center Staffing Understanding the Numbers Attacking Call Center Schedule Adherence 2013 APPA National Conference, Portland OR (November 2013) Ten Strategies for Improving Call Center Performance Quality Assurance and Training Annual Conference, Nashville, TN (September 2013) Quality Monitoring for and Text Chat Call Center Network Group Executive Summit, Dallas, TX (August 2013) Management Questions for Auditing Your Contact Center Help Desk International/Social Media Association, Nashville TN (July 2013) Blending the Call Center and Social Media Northeast Call Center Management Forum, Boston, MA (June 2013) Ten Strategies for Improving Call Center Performance National Catalog Operations Forum, Columbus, OH (April 2013) Ready, Set, Sell - Preparing Service Reps for Upselling Society of Workforce Planning Professionals Conference, Nashville, TN (April 2013) The Math of Call Center Staffing Scheduling Principles and Problems Teaching Agents and Supervisors About Workforce Management Call Center Association Annual Conference, San Diego, CA (March 2013) Finding and Keeping Call Center Performers 2012 The Workforce Management Virtual Conference (November 2012) Today s Measures of WFM Success Call Center Network Group Optimize Conference, Tampa, FL (October 2012) Strategies to Improve Call Center Workforce Productivity Page 59

60 International Association of Hotel Reservation Executives, Orlando FL (August 2012) Ten Building Blocks of Telephone Selling Success Verint Annual Users Conference, New Orleans, LA (June 2012) The Power of One Story Call Center Association Annual Conference, Orlando, FL (April 2012) Schedule Optimization and Adherence Strategies for the Call Center Society of Workforce Planning Professionals Conference, Nashville, TN (March 2012) Forecasting Fundamentals The Math of Call Center Staffing Strategies for Attendance and Adherence 2011 Quality Assurance and Training Conference, Nashville, TN (October 2011) Fundamentals of Call Center Coaching Twenty Terrific Training Techniques PlanMen Annual Workforce Conference, Brussels, Belgium (September 2011) Creating a Workforce Management Strategic Plan Annual Call Center Exposition, New Orleans LA (June 2011) Advanced Workforce Management Design Principles VP Executive Summit, Dallas, TX (May 2011) Ten Ways to Improve Workforce Productivity Call Center Network Group Optimize Conference, Charlotte, NC (April 2011) Making the Most of Your Call Center Workforce Society of Workforce Planning Professionals Conference, Nashville, TN (March 2011) Measures of WFM Success Automating WFM: Keys to Acquisition and Implementation Managing Daily Staffing and Service Call Center Association Conference, Orlando, FL (March 2011) Call Center Workforce Design Dilemmas Conference Presentations Available Upon Request Page 60

61 Partial Client List Abra Glass Affinion Group Atmos Energy Bank of America BlueCross/BlueShield NC BrightHouse Networks Comcast Cox Communications Electric Power Board Epcor Hilton Hotels Holland America Hospital Corporation of America ISN J. Jill Kohl s Lenovo Loreal Mercedes Benz USA Nissan Rogers Cable/FIDO ScottTrade Suddenlink Communications Suntrust Bank USAA Verizon Wireless Visiting Nurse Services NY Vistaprint Page 61