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This series of articles addresses the four primary operational reasons why contact centers fail: Process, Agent Scheduling, Agent Utilization, and Center Management.  Unless centers consistently exhibit a mastery of these basic factors, excellence in performance will be unobtainable.  

 

Our previous articles discussed Call Center Process and Agent Scheduling.  However, to fully realize the benefits of process enhancement and effective agent scheduling that accurately incorporate the enhanced processes, proper agent utilization is critical.

 

 

Simply put, Agent Utilization is effective and efficient use of a Contact Center’s most important and costly resource: Agents.

 

Because agent pay and benefits typically account for over 70% of Contact Center costs, properly utilizing this resource yields the most significant effect on the departmental P&L, eclipsing all other line items combined.  In addition, your agents are the face of your organization and in many cases the only point of contact customers will have with your enterprise.  Customer satisfaction, company image, and customer turnover are greatly influenced by the agents’ interactions with the customer base.

 

Although Agent Utilization has many contributing factors, for this article we will focus on the most significant fundamentals:

 

• Queue diversity
• Scheduling
• Training
• Agent incentives
• Agent morale
 

 

As queue diversity applies to agent utilization the math is simple: The greater number of queues, the less optimal agent utilization will be.

 

Contact Centers operating with larger queues take advantage of economies of scale, which can reduce operating costs significantly.  Scheduling adequate agent coverage throughout the day and week in a smaller queue will require a greater percentage of unproductive time.  In addition, shrinkage allocations, management ratios, and agent performance all have a cumulative effect and may increase required staff as much as 35% compared to large queue staffing.

 

Generally, the factors defining the number of queues range from distinctive call types to the amount of training agents can retain, but because of these operating and cost factors, the number of queues should be kept to a functional minimum. 

 

 

Agent scheduling, as discussed in our previous article, is the process of efficiently pairing agents to the true call demand.  By accurately scheduling agents’ phone and off phone activities to first call arrivals, contact centers have an effective plan to operate at an optimal cost per call while still consistently achieving planned service levels.  However, to maintain desired agent performance the agent scheduling device must do more than simply apply algorithms to call forecasts.  The agent schedule needs to reflect some degree of “workforce reality”.  In other words, the schedules cannot be an unchecked mathematical model simply matching agents to expected call arrivals.  Factors such as static shift times, day of week continuity, reasonable break times, and agent log in duration need to be incorporated.  Without agent centric constructs the schedule will cause discontent which will ultimately lead to poor agent performance over time.

 

In addition, the schedule should be constructed for ease of management.  If the schedule is difficult to manage from a supervisors’ perspective, adherence will become a major issue affecting the service level as well as performance and, ultimately, staffing levels.

 

 

Training of the agents as well as the center management is essential for optimal performance and customer satisfaction.  Agent training typically consists of two major elements; technical training and soft skills training.  Technical training comprises the initial agent training on systems use, problem resolution, and center functionality.  Soft skills training addresses the call process and customer handling portion of the interaction.

 

The technical training focus is generally system defined, with some departures given the queue(s) requirements.  Again, queue diversification should be kept to a minimum based upon call functionality and agent training capacities.

 

Soft skills training should include generalized elements such as conflict resolution, professionalism, and listening skills.  In addition, the training should have queue specific elements such as call processand metrics awareness.  The call process, (discussed in a previous article), should include the process itself, sales, and call control.  By developing and training agents on an optimal call process your agents will handle calls in a consistent manner, close appropriate sales opportunities, and decrease the call duration, thus reducing costs.

 

Finally, metrics awareness training involves consistently teaching and sharing the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that the agents and the queue are rated upon.

 

 

Incentivizing agents can be a useful tool for short term and long term performance enhancement. Using incentives to increase performance in the short term usually involves contests based on specific agent or group KPIs.  By implementing a well-defined short term incentive on improving a metric that the agent can directly affect, such as Average Handle Time, positive results can be obtained.  It is important to note that proper monitoring of the incentive program is essential.  For example, in the case of incentivizing a decrease in Average Talk Time, it is imperative that the quality of the call is not compromised.

 

Long term incentive programs are generally based upon a commission program or long term performance comparison.  A commission program is usually structured by sales organization.  It is a cash incentive for achieving predetermined sales goals.  Long term performance comparison programs are similar to sales commission programs with the exception that they focus on combinations of KPIs.  Group incentive programs, generally pitting teams within queues, can also be very successful if implemented correctly.  Not only can increased performance be realized, but an esprit de corps can be achieved.

 

 

Exit interviews consistently indicate that agent morale is the primary factor driving staff attrition. Because agent turnover typically varies from 30 to 120% annually, the issue of morale must be addressed to minimize the cost and disruption of constant initial agent training, and to ensure proper service and service levels.  Not surprisingly, agent morale is largely the end product of the other factors discussed in this article.

 

Scheduling, when conducted without consideration of workforce reality, can have a significant negative effect upon agent morale.  The constant changing of shifts or using agent schedules that are not to some degree fixed (split shifts, non-consecutive days, varying start times) will lead to morale issues and should be minimized.  When these scheduling anomalies do occur, they must be addressed properly with the affected agents and remunerated when at all possible.

 

Training is also a major factor affecting agent morale.  A well-trained agent is more efficient and therefore more cost effective, but also operates with confidence and reduced stress.  Many companies discontinue agent training after the initial training is completed.  This may leave agents feeling somewhat abandoned and less than confident about their ability to assist customers.  Finally, without ongoing diversified training the agents may perceive a lack of a career path.

 

Although all of the above issues are important, the primary factor affecting morale in contact centers is management.  As previously mentioned, we will dedicate our next and final installment exclusively to contact center management.  Stay tuned!

 

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For more information about Agent Utilization or any of the topics discussed, please feel free to contact us.

 

Lawrence McKenzie is a partner at Q-Solutions Group, LLC and has consulted and implemented solutions in hundreds of contact centers worldwide.  Mr. McKenzie may be contacted at 866-960-1270 x701 or at Lawrence.McKenzie@Q-SolutionsGroup.com. For more information visit: Q-SolutionsGroup.com