Workforce Management (WFM)
Short definition
Workforce Management (WFM): Planning contact-centre staffing and shifts based on demand forecasts and operational constraints.
Meaning and how it works
Workforce planning combines forecast contact volume, average handling time and employee availability to build staffing schedules. Contact-centre routing and performance metrics need to be interpreted against service targets, staffing levels and the complexity of incoming requests.
Business applications
- Business scenario:
A planner increases evening staffing before an expected peak in customer enquiries.
What to check before implementation
Agree on metric definitions and reporting periods. A single number without quality, repeat-contact and workload context can lead to misleading conclusions.