Overcoming WFM Challenges in a Union Environment

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Overcoming WFM Challenges in a Union Environment

Speaker – Debra Phillips


Contents

• Background• Challenges• Impacts• Problems

– Scheduling Resources– Work with Vendor to Customize Solution

• Change Management– Annual Vacation Bid– Business as Usual

• A Few Lessons Learned• Summary Tips


Telecommunications Company

• Multiple CWA contracts with language intact from previous company’s agreements for region.– Bell Atlantic of West Virginia– NYNEX– GTE

• Union workers represent 35,000 plus workers total in Retail Division

- 15,000 workers in Contact Center/BackOffice to schedule


Workforce Management Challenges

• Union Contract– How Can We ?

• Optimize scheduling of resources to improve customer delivery of services across regions

• Optimize change management process for administrative resources

• Determine practices via contract or office precedent

• Company– How Can We ?

• Decrease operating costs for internal support – multiple systems, servers, support processes

• Limit service disruptions• Replace manual processes with automation


Workforce Management Results

• Culture– General acceptance of scheduling resources to meet customer

needs.– Preserve fairness in scheduling assignments by seniority and

agent preferences (NEW)– Provide automation of labor intensive /manual processes– Facilitate change management through training

• Business Results– Provide optimal schedules within union guidelines of seniority– Automate manual processes / reporting– Implement singular platform /WFM system as system of record

for adherence/conformance reporting and payroll integration


Scheduling Resources

• Detail of Scheduling Rules in Union Contract– Daily work rules

• Length of shift paid ( 7.0, 7.5, 8.0 hours)• Break and Lunch times (Lunch must be scheduled no earlier

than 3 hours and no later than 4.5 hours into shift)

– Weekly work rules• Specific shift start times, consistent start times, consistent

start times for work week• Rotation of weekends – seniority, list, alphabetical, fixed,

fairness• Determining days off



• Schedule Assignment for Agents– Seniority with extension

• Applied to each day• Applied to each day of work week

• Length of Time for Assignment– Monthly Schedule Bids– Weekly generation – Scheduling Horizon



• Question – How do we create agents schedules ?1. Flexible Weekly Rules with Start Time ranges

2. Flexible Weekly Rules with Limited Start Time ranges

3. Fixed Set of Schedules rotated (small work groups)

4. Fixed Schedule pattern set for Month Mon- Fri , rotating Saturday by seniority list

5. Fixed Schedule pattern set for Month Mon- Fri , rotating Saturday by alphabetical last name

6. Consistent Start Times Mon – Fri , Weekend by operating hours, Weekend rotation by fairness

7. Etc.

* Former Scheduling system was programmed to build schedules day at a time, assigned days to work first.



• Question – How do we assign agents to schedules ?1. Seniority

2. Seniority and Preferences • Early – Late• Late – Early• List order 8am – 9am – 10am

• Question – How do we reconcile perceived violations in agent assignments for new WFM system ? (because builds schedules differently from old system)1. We needed help from vendor to understand process

2. We needed help from vendor to offer solution for most complex scheduling assignment of resources


Work with Vendor to Customize Solution

• Weekly Rule Preferencing– Applies equal weighting for shift start time and day off patterns– Force member patterns for start time consistency Monday –

Friday– Agent Assignment of schedules by preference/seniority

• To Date – still work in progress– Monday – Friday agent assignments follow preferences by

seniority– Saturday / Weekend – perceived seniority violations– Meets minimum of current process ( manual assignment of lay

days and force Saturday Agents assignments)

• Continue to work with Vendor for next development. – Virtual Schedule Allocations


Change Management

• Details of Annual Vacation Bid Process in Contract– 2 to 3 month process with many rounds– Included more than Vacation benefit time– Process required many administrative resources to track to

completion– Union Representation involved at different points/ Region– Time off allotments based on percentage of staff – not liability

• Business as Usual Process– Cancel time already booked after January 1st

– Break weeks into days or hold in reserve– Includes all benefit time paid/unpaid – Awarded by seniority or first request


Change Management

• Annual Vacation Bid Process– Requested Word Document of Vacation Bid Process

• What has been communicated before? What has been agreed upon for timelines ? What is role of Union ?

– Developed Template to translate process into WFM system• How do we set up module in system ? What information do

we need from business ?– Template became basis for multiple discussions with business

owners/workforce managers

• Business as Usual Process– Added additional Benefit time to Vacation Rule for tracking,

subtraction of agent earnings, feeds payroll– Use of Wait List


A Few Lessons Learned

• Local offices to a region under one CBA , have not been following same payroll rounding rules per contract. – Verified with Regional Rep specifics, Union partnered with

Support/Business to correct practice.

• Small work group manually scheduling agents via spreadsheet – deployed on WFM system with intent to schedule breaks and lunches by seniority.– Confirmed only lunch was part of daily rules in contract. – WFM system allowed more lunch options with flexibility and

followed seniority assignment with lunch preferences.

• Automating Vacation Bid process – reduced administrative time from 3 months to 1 month. – Allowed Local offices to choose method of delivery after piloting

process and new module. ( obtained buy-in)


Summary Tips

• Determine Contract vs. Precedent– Is it in the contract ?– Have we always done it that way ?– Is it documented ?

• What is the process ?• Is there an agreed upon timeline ?

• Look to Union as a Partner• Communicate• Ask Help from Vendor , they are your partner too !


Speaker Bio

• Debra Phillips, CIBER Consultant / Verizon– Background in Sales, Customer Service, Outsourcing Contact

Centers – Telecom/Cable, Healthcare, Retail, Catalog, Government

Industries– Extensive experience in strategic and operational functions of

Workforce Management in the Contact Center environment, covering scheduling, forecasting, budgeting, and intraday management process design, implementation, and operations. Design and operational experience in multi-contact type and multi-skilled agent environments.

• Email – [email protected]

Overcoming WFM Challenges in a Union Environment

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