Workforce Engagement Management (WEM) is an approach used to optimize and engage employees who work in customer-facing roles like the ones in contact centers. As an extension of traditional Workforce Management (WFM), WEM focuses on enhancing both the employee experience and operational efficiency by having a more engaged workforce. In action, WEM uses tools and strategies to improve productivity and job satisfaction. Here’s what that looks like.
Key Features of Workforce Engagement Management
Here’s a list of key features of Work Engagement Management. Remember, the goal is to have a more engaged workforce, while a tool can make it easier to achieve that, it does not guarantee it.
- Workforce Optimization: The goal is to have just the right amount of agents to deal with customers at any given time. Additionally, this efficiency should not come at the cost of agent experience. WEM tools use AI-powered forecasting, scheduling, and resource allocation to help managers strike this balance. This reduces any inefficiencies, while at the same time minimizes agent burnout. There’s always just the right amount of agents available at any given time.
- Quality Management: WEM also includes monitoring agent performance across voice, email, and chat to help supervisors see the strengths and pitfalls of each agent. Using a tool, managers can provide targeted feedback to each agent and also allocate training time, to improve agent performance.
- Performance Management: WEM tools have interactive dashboards and analytics for managers to monitor performance and engage employees. A WEM tool helps managers assess the effectiveness of an individual and the team as a whole. This is helpful as managers can now feedback and training on an individual and organizational level. They can also schedule shift timings to ensure peak productivity levels.
- Interaction Recording: WEM tools also a synchronized recording of each call with the agent’s screen. This gives a complete view of each customer interaction. This can help managers dial in the agent experience to ensure that what they need is accessible to them easily on-screen.
- Knowledge Management: On the agent side, WEM tools enable them to quickly find accurate and relevant info that matches the customer query. This helps them resolve issues faster and with confidence.
- Gamification: WEM tools help gamify the customer service job role. To motivate agents, these tools provide features like points, badges, and leaderboards. These promote healthy competition among agents which improves motivation, performance, and satisfaction.
- Real-Time Feedback: A WEM makes it possible for agents to have an instant feedback loop that enables agents to adapt and improve their performance in real time. An AI provides them insight into customer interaction, which they can then use for self-improvement.
Benefits of Workforce Engagement Management
- Improved Agent Productivity: Automated workflows and real-time insights make it easier for agents to work more efficiently. Access to information is quick, feedback is real-time. This means solutions are provided faster, thereby reducing handle times and increasing resolution rates.
- Improved Employee Satisfaction: Flexible agent schedules, personalized coaching, and recognition through gamification make the work environment more supportive and engaging. Increasing engagement reduces burnout and turnover. In the long term, this reduces recruitment costs.
- Enhanced Customer Experience: An engaged workforce with improved capabilities (knowledge, feedback, and training) is better at aiding customers. This makes resolutions quicker and easier to achieve. This improves customer experience.
- Cost Saving: Better efficiency, lower handle times, and higher first-call resolution rates mean lower operational costs across the board. Reduced turnover means lower costs of recruitment, training, and onboarding.
Challenges of Implementing WEM
Administering workforce engagement management is not a simple switch. It comes with its own set of challenges that you as a manager/owner should be aware of.
- Integration Issues: Most WEM tools are cloud-based solutions. Getting them to work with legacy systems can be a challenge. This change may invite additional investment into upgrading your tech stack.
- Employee Pushback: A WEM is effectively added monitoring. This can be perceived as micromanagement or a power struggle between employees and management. Its up to the leadership to ensure that this change is seen as a net positive, where the goal is to get better as a team; and not penalize underperformers.
- Cost Considerations: A WEM shows its benefits in the long term. Early on the upfront investment can seem like a lot, but the long-term cost savings can make the investment worth it. Smaller organizations don’t need a dedicated tool for monitoring, a WEM may be a bit overkill in those cases.
