How to Improve Schedule Adherence in a Call Center

No matter how much work goes into scheduling and staffing a call center, if the employees are not at their assigned posts at the right time, overall performance will suffer. The key to better service levels is often to improve schedule adherence. Here's how to do it.

Things You'll Need

• Detailed time off the phone reporting
• Performance guidelines for employees
• Staffing forecast

Instructions

1. Impress upon call center managers, supervisors and staff the importance of schedule adherence. Some employees may not realize the vital role they play in the overall operation.

2. Remind trainers and managers the importance of ending training sessions and meetings on time.

3. Introduce a system to capture data on the time that associates are logged on to their phones. Which hours, not just how many hours, they are available for calls is important.

4. Implement a goal for the employees to track the number of hours they are logged onto the phone. Remember, having them at their seats but in a mode that blocks incoming calls is counterproductive. Watch what happens to other stats if you start emphasizing this one.

5. Watch for employees logging in during their breaks, before their shift starts or after their shift ends. They may feel that meeting their time this way is just as good as during the shift. If everyone did this, however, your staffing and call volume forecasts would not match.

6. Instruct your managers and supervisors to continually monitor adherence and service. If service levels decline, have the managers immediately make sure everyone at their assigned posts.

7. Reward employees for proper schedule adherence. Everyone likes to know that their hard work is appreciated.

Tips & Warnings

• Check your staffing and scheduling to make sure you have enough people to cover your call volume. If you do not have enough people, schedule adherence cannot solve the problem.

• Employees logging in over breaks, early or late, can lead to burnout and overtime issues.

• Do not forget that changing the schedule at one site can throw off another site that is unprepared for the increased volume. The schedule needs to be adhered to over the call center as a whole not just by location.