WFM for Practitioners (August 2023) training course

Industry leaders agree that workforce management is an essential component of an efficient, productive team. But yet, WFM is not an understood function in the contact centre industry, and this equally applies to retail as well. So it’s time to learn!

The three-day August 2023 WFM for Practitioners course covers the critical WFM principles and applications that anyone working in the contact centre/retail environment needs to know, understand, and most importantly, put into action.

It has been designed to teach best practice theory, and has no dependency on owning or purchasing a particular brand of software for success – anyone can pick it up, regardless of your existing business processes.

Understanding and executing the fundamentals of Workforce Management will deliver measurable benefits to any contact centre or retail environment so enrol today and start driving efficiencies in your business!

Includes 6 core modules delivered over 3 days

MODULE 1: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

The course begins with an overview of the what and why of WFM. Workforce management is vital for getting the right staff in the right place at the right time, with the best possible tools in hand.

But the myriad of factors included within the broader WFM spectrum can be a puzzle to work out alone, especially in fast-paced operational environments.

We dive into the various components of WFM, and cover some of the common workforce planning tasks and team structures. In short, this module sets the scene for the entire three-day course.

MODULE 2: FORECASTING AND PLANNING

Solid forecasting and planning underpin all best-in-class efforts to ensure staff can cope with demand and a business does not creak at its seams.

Forecasting has numerous practical applications. It’ll help you compare historical patterns with “what-if” scenarios to estimate shrinkage, plan budgets and predict the number of contacts.

Accurate forecasting will also help paint a complete picture of upcoming staffing requirements.

We explore the formulas and techniques used to analyse contact arrival patterns in order to calculate workload and plan for the future.

MODULE 3: SCHEDULING

Forecasting is important, but without a schedule to implement these insights, businesses are still just hoping for the best. With thousands, if not millions of dollars on the line, getting your schedules right can make the difference between success and failure.

Effective scheduling helps ensure the right people are in the right place at the right time and can help reduce stress for the staff themselves.

This module looks at the various scheduling components and flexibility options that are often provided to staff working in contact centres, branches or retail environments.

MODULE 4: PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

After you’ve created schedules (i.e rosters), ideally you want to ensure staff adhere to them. Even in a small business environment with just a handful of staff, a lack of performance oversight could mean you’re missing service level targets when you don’t need to.

By monitoring performance, however, you can help find the staff who are out of adherence or underperforming and address these issues with targeted change.

In this module, we explore the processes required to manage and monitor your staff’s performance throughout the day.

MODULE 5: REAL-TIME MANAGEMENT

You have the plan. Now it’s time to monitor the day and take action if necessary. Real-time management helps to preserve and improve your service quality and customer experience at the intra-day level.

When things don’t go to plan, which levers should you pull to achieve your required outcome?

A clearly defined real-time management plan will help you determine the best actions to take when things don’t turn out the way you expect.

We explore rules and conditions that can be used to manage the changes and impacts on demand and staff at an intra-day level.

MODULE 6: COMMUNICATION

Do you think you’re an effective communicator? You may need to think again. According to a Wrike work management survey, 46 per cent of employees leave meetings not knowing what to do next.

Additionally, CareerBuilder found that a quarter of workers find emails are a time waster, and a similar number felt the same about meetings. Basically, you may think you’re communicating effectively, but your staff might not agree.

So this August 2023 WFM for Practitioners course concludes with a module on better communication with a focus on how to effectively communicate with peers and manage conflict.

Spaces are limited in this group due to small class sizes to maximise learning, so book early to avoid disappointment.