WFM: 5 Things Every Real-Time Analyst Should Know

Real-time analysts are the gatekeepers of the operation. The analyst's mission is to monitor compliance with the shift schedule and the main indicators. From this mission, some elementary functions emerge, including activities such as raising alerts, generating and updating periodic reports, and executing actions to control the results of the levels agreed with the client at the interval and day levels.

Despite being the most “basic” level of”Career Path” of Workforce Management (WFM), this role is, in my humble opinion, one of the most important and complex. Real-time analysts (RTA for their acronym in English) they are aware of every event that occurs during the day, they are present before the operation begins activities and after the end of the day; and before operations agents and supervisors they are the first point of contact with the Workforce team.

For this reason, I share with you the five most important things that a real-time analyst should know to be excellent at their job.

The 5 Things a Real-Time Analyst Should Know

1) Management of the KPIs with which the operation is measured

Los KPIs -acronym for Key Performance Indicator, in Spanish Key Performance Indicator-, are standard ways of measuring the productivity and effectiveness of a project. Contact centers handle different indicators depending on the type of campaign being managed, the type of bill and other factors. Among the most worked KPIs in Workforce can be found Service Level, Abandonment Level, Occupancy Rate, Bill Compliance and Number of Waiting Interactions, among others.

The measurement of the indicators, as well as their objectives, vary from one customer to another. It is vital that analysts know the formulas and variables that make up the calculation, as well as actions that may affect the indicator's results in a positive or negative way, to keep the result in the goal. Knowledge of calculations and of the way in which one metric impacts another allows the analyst explain the key causes of non-compliance with key indicators. This knowledge also allows you to suggest options for readjusting the course of the execution plan.

One of the most important functions, apart from keeping the reports that allow the monitoring of KPIs up to date, is the Daily log feed. The log is a summary of the results of the indicators and the main reasons for compliance or non-compliance; and they are especially helpful in daily monitoring with customers and with the operations team.

2) Financial impact of real-time decisions

As in any company, decisions taken at different hierarchical levels are guided by reasons of profitability and economic sustainability. Contact centers are no exception, and Real-time control has a huge impact on the profitability of a customer/account/campaign.

The results of service indicators can lead to invoice penalties, and in very extreme cases, to loss of customers. Controlling the indicators at the interval level — which is the job of the RTA — is equivalent to controlling the results at the day level; and days with target indicators translate into monthly compliance.

But it's not just service level indicators that cause loss of profitability. The inadequate or excessive use of unpaid (or unproductive) ancillaries greatly impacts the economic sustainability of an account. Fixed personnel costs, since they represent a large part of the total operating costs of a contact center, must be controlled, and any inproductivity must be corrected without delay.

The analyst is not only a counselor, but he is The human face of the WFM. Customers (i.e., contact center accounts or campaigns) don't just have corporate news (such as the volume of interactions or the creation of a new campaign). The real-time analyst knows about family situations, final seasons of studies, personal situations, etc. Every suggestion regarding these developments has pros and cons, and it is the task of each analyst to consider each option in the best possible way so that operation leaders can make better business decisions.

3) How to execute a shift schedule

Generally, the team of real-time analysts is not directly responsible for generating agents' shift meshes. However, The RTAs are responsible for ensuring that the agents' real connection is faithful to the programming. They are also responsible for making/requesting immediate changes to adapt to unforeseen events in the volume of interactions. Many times, The analyst must also “educate” operations and agents on the best processes and times to include activities in the schedules, or at what times it is advisable to establish breaks and spaces for corporate culture without affecting coverage.

From the programming and its execution, it is generated valuable information that powers other internal WFM processes, and other areas of the contact center. Analyzing indicators such as absenteeism or staffing compliance (comparing how many agents are required from the plan, how many were programmed and how many are actually connected per interval), percentage of productive assistants, percentage of non-productive assistants, disconnections, movement of agents to support other services in real time; can be decisive for compliance with service level agreements, and, consequently, compliance with the estimated bill.

4) Escalation Matrix

Surely those of us who have been in the position of RTA have found ourselves in a situation that leads us to ask ourselves questions such as the following: What to do if absenteeism is higher than expected? What to do if the TMO stays above the goal for several consecutive intervals? Who do I ask for support? When and by what means should I request support to restore an indicator within the threshold?

These and other scenarios must be embodied in writing in a “scaling matrix”, which is like the bible of the RTA. This matrix must be the result of identifying possible risk situations in the operation, how they affect the indicators, what to do and who to alert. Generally, the matrix has been defined by WFM leadership and contact center operations.

5) See beyond the obvious

Finally, the last thing that every real-time analyst should keep in mind is Anticipate the following intervals. Knowledge of the indicators and the scaling matrix is essential, but it will be ineffective if it is not complemented by analysis of the current situation and the forecast of what will happen in the immediate future (the closing of the current interval, the next few hours). It is also important to communicate these impacts to the team responsible for short and medium term planning to mitigate potential impacts in the coming days, weeks, or at the end of the month.

To illustrate, I'll put up a real-life scenario: an unscheduled shutdown of all agents' computers. The moment everything turns to chaos, agents lost all the interactions they were in, and service levels start to fall. In less than 15 minutes, the technology team solves the problem and little by little all the agents are reconnecting.

The RTA has had 15 minutes to prepare for the following intervals that should compensate for the drop in service levels. The first action to take is to reschedule all non-productive activities for the following intervals, and ensure that all agents, and staff if necessary, are connected.

If an RTA does not have this vision, nor with the tools needed to ensure follow-up, this case could represent not just one, but several missed intervals of the day.

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