If you’ve been around call and contact centers for long enough you’ll know that new methods and ideologies come and go, but what they have in common is the initial promise of a better outcome for either the customer, staff, company or all. But why do some not last the length of time, if they even get fully implemented at all?
There are many reasons, but one of the most common is they are not underpinned by good Resource Planning. This can be because they were misinterpreted leaving an impression that they were standalone solutions, even as far as no more Resource Planning would be required, a golden egg if you like.
However, when presented with such a situation you should always ask yourself what else needs to be right to see the benefits suggested?
So why single out Resource Planning as a critical element to success? Put simply, people deliver benefit and new incentives, technology and methodology aid them to do so. The basic planning cycle is not new, but it’s worth reminding ourselves what it entails and how it support what I have said:
Demand Forecasting
Predicting how many customer contacts are expected using both historical trends and knowledge of expected change, also understanding the reasons for contact.
Capacity & Budget planning
Calculating the staff resources required to meet the forecast demand split by demand type matched to staff skills and allowing for staff unavailability through absence and no demand activities. Also tracking staff costs against available budget to identify both shortfalls and excesses in finance and staff availability to deliver satisfactory customer service/experience.
Scheduling
Deployment of staff resources to meet customer demand across a range of weeks, ensuring the needs of the staff are balanced against the needs of the customer.
Realtime Management
Assessing the actual demand arrival and staff availability against that planned and making changes when necessary to ensure the optimal staff experience and customer experience.
Business Intelligence
Assessment of the past performance, acting as a measure for the success of the planning, staff deployment and management, feeding intelligence back in to all stages of the planning cycle to facilitate improvement as well as efficiency and customer/staff satisfaction.
I am not pretending any of this is new, in fact it’s bread and butter as far as I am concerned, but too often I have found that it’s true value is not recognised within businesses. There are many reasons why this is often the case, the most common being:
· Poor relationships between those who undertake the the planning stages
· Underdeveloped processes and lack of confidence in what is being shared
· Over reliance on the numbers telling the whole story
· Hierarchy overriding the whole planning process
· Reliance on automation and assuming it does not require planning at all
When done thoroughly and used correctly Resource Planning underpins other incentives to improve efficiency, staff & customer experience and cost control, the evidence lies within the cycle itself.
At Select Planning we do not shy away from our roots, Adrian and I know how to make other things happen through resource planning. If you're not sure where to start a convenient and cost effective way is with our Modular Planning Review.
So before you embark upon your next journey of change check back to make sure you have the underpinnings to make it as successful as possible, because if you don’t your efforts will may last the length of time, if they even get fully implemented at all!