How to Build a Workforce Management Plan

Contact center leaders know the familiar cycle all too well: scrambling to fill unexpected scheduling gaps, watching service levels drop during surprise volume spikes, and dealing with frustrated agents who feel their work-life balance takes a backseat to operational demands.

Effective workforce management isn’t just about having enough people on the clock; it’s about having the right people with the right skills at precisely the right moments. The difference between good and great workforce management can mean millions in saved costs, dramatically improved customer satisfaction, and perhaps most importantly, happier agents who stick around.

This article breaks down the practical steps to create a workforce management plan that actually works in today’s complex contact center environment. We’ve gathered insights from organizations that transformed their approach to scheduling and staffing, and distilled their experiences into a roadmap you can follow right now.

• A workforce management plan ensures the right agents are scheduled at the right times, aligning staffing with service goals and cost efficiency.
• Strategic WFM improves customer satisfaction, lowers attrition, and reduces costs, especially when combined with self-service tools and agent flexibility.
• Building a WFM plan requires accurate forecasting, skills-based scheduling, real-time adjustments, and continuous performance measurement.
• Implementing WFM software led to major gains for companies like GE Appliances and Wix, including reduced admin time, better adherence, and improved agent satisfaction.
• Common WFM challenges like inaccurate forecasting and agent dissatisfaction can be solved with AI-powered tools and self-scheduling options.
• Calabrio’s WFM solution combines accurate forecasting, agent empowerment tools, and intelligent automation to drive measurable results in your contact center.

A workforce management plan is a strategic framework that aligns staffing needs with business goals. It ensures that the right number of employees with the right skills are in the right place at the right time.

For contact centers, this means having enough agents to handle customer interactions while optimizing costs and maintaining service levels. An effective WFM plan supports both short-term operational goals and long-term strategic objectives.

Strategic workforce management transforms how contact centers operate by creating harmony between business needs, customer expectations, and agent well-being. When implemented correctly, a comprehensive WFM strategy significantly reduces operational costs through precise staffing that matches actual demand patterns. This eliminates expensive overstaffing while preventing the service degradation that comes with understaffing.

Customer satisfaction naturally improves as wait times decrease and first-contact resolution rates climb. With properly scheduled staff handling interactions, customers spend less time waiting and more time getting their issues resolved by the right agent with the right skills.

For agents, strategic workforce management means more than just efficient scheduling. It creates an environment where burnout decreases and engagement rises. By implementing flexible scheduling options and self-service tools, agents gain more control over their work-life balance. This directly addresses one of the industry’s biggest challenges, like high attrition rates that plague many contact centers.

From a business intelligence perspective, proper workforce management dramatically improves forecasting accuracy. This ripples through the organization, enabling better budget planning, more strategic hiring decisions, and smarter resource allocation across departments.

Contact centers that implement effective workforce management strategies typically see concrete results. 15-25% improvements in schedule adherence, 10-20% reductions in overtime costs, and significant gains in both customer and agent satisfaction metrics.

Real Results: GE Appliances’ WFM Transformation

GE Appliances faced challenges with agent retention and scheduling efficiency in their customer service operations. After implementing Calabrio’s WFM solution, they achieved significant improvements:

• Enhanced schedule adherence by 11%
• Reduced administrative work by over 40 hours weekly
• Improved agent satisfaction through self-service scheduling options
• Decreased attrition rates by giving agents more control and flexibility

“The self-service capabilities have been a game-changer for both our agents and management team,” notes their Contact Center Operations Manager. “We’re seeing happier agents and better coverage, all while spending less time on administrative scheduling tasks.”

Looking to build your own workforce management plan? Here are five steps that will set you up for success.

Step 1: Analyze Your Current Workforce

The foundation of any effective workforce management plan starts with a comprehensive understanding of your existing staffing situation. This analysis should go beyond simple headcount to reveal the true state of your contact center operations.

Begin by gathering detailed data on your current staffing levels across all departments and skill groups. Document how agents are currently distributed across channels, shifts, and specialties. This mapping exercise often reveals imbalances you might not otherwise notice.

Next, collect performance metrics for individual agents and teams. Look at key indicators such as:

• Average handle time
• First-contact resolution rates
• Quality scores
• Customer satisfaction ratings
• Sales conversion rates (if applicable)

Schedule adherence data provides critical insights into how well your current workforce follows established schedules. Low adherence often signals underlying issues with scheduling practices or agent engagement that need addressing in your WFM plan.

Don’t overlook absenteeism and turnover patterns. High rates in specific departments or shifts may indicate workload problems, leadership issues, or scheduling conflicts that your WFM plan should address. Many contact centers discover that certain shifts consistently experience higher absenteeism, pointing to potential quality of life concerns for those time slots.

Finally, analyze peak and slow periods across different timeframes:

• Daily patterns (identify busiest hours)
• Weekly patterns (busiest days)
• Monthly and seasonal fluctuations
• Special events that impact volume

Pro tip: When evaluating your current workforce, don’t just look at numbers. Assess qualitative factors like team morale, leadership strength, and cross-training opportunities. These human elements often explain the “why” behind performance metrics.

Step 2: Forecast Demand and Workload

Accurate forecasting forms the backbone of any successful WFM plan. Poor forecasting leads to either costly overstaffing or service-damaging understaffing. Modern contact centers need sophisticated forecasting that accounts for multiple variables and channels.

Start by gathering comprehensive historical contact data across all customer interaction channels: calls, chat, email, social media, and any other touchpoints specific to your business. This multi-channel approach is essential as customer preferences continue to diversify.

Identify seasonal patterns and special events that impact volume. Most businesses experience predictable fluctuations throughout the year. A retail contact center might see volume double during holiday seasons, while a healthcare provider might experience surges during open enrollment periods.

Your forecast must account for growth projections and new business initiatives. Are you launching new products? Expanding into new markets? These strategic decisions directly impact staffing needs, often in ways that historical data alone can’t predict.

Don’t forget to factor in external influences like marketing campaigns, product launches, or system changes. A single television commercial can trigger a 300% increase in contact volume within minutes of airing. Your WFM plan needs to anticipate these spikes.

Our WFM software uses AI-powered forecasting to analyze these complex patterns and predict future contact volumes with significantly greater accuracy than traditional spreadsheet-based methods. Plus, intelligent machine learning algorithms continuously improve as they process more data, making forecasts progressively more accurate over time.

Case Study: Wix’s Scheduling Transformation

Wix, a global leader in website creation serving over 282 million users worldwide, struggled with complex, time-consuming manual scheduling that took up to four days per market for two-week schedules. After partnering with Calabrio and implementing our leading workforce management solutions, they achieved remarkable results:

• Cut scheduling time by 40% – from days to hours
• Improved schedule accuracy by 10%
• Increased adherence by 15% (expected to reach 90%)
• Decreased shrinkage by 10%
• Boosted CSAT scores by 3%

“Our focus has changed from piecing together schedules to continuous improvement,” explains Daniela G., Workforce Optimization Manager at Wix. “Understanding the value that transparency brings is vital. Now we can see how to improve efficiency as well as increase job satisfaction for our agents.”

Want to drive similar results in your contact center? Book a demo with Calabrio today to discuss your specific workforce challenges.

Step 3: Develop Staffing Plans and Schedules

Once you understand your demand patterns, it’s time to create staffing plans that align agent availability with anticipated contact volume. This critical step transforms forecasts into actionable schedules that balance operational needs with agent preferences.

Effective scheduling must accommodate both business requirements and agent work-life balance. Modern contact centers recognize that inflexible scheduling is a primary driver of agent attrition. At the same time, schedules must ensure service levels remain consistently high.

Include buffer time for unexpected demand spikes in your scheduling strategy. The most precise forecasts still can’t predict every variable. Building in 5-10% flexibility allows your operation to absorb unexpected volume increases without service degradation.

Schedule the right skill sets during the right periods. Not all agents have identical capabilities, and customer needs vary throughout the day. Complex technical issues might peak during business hours, while general inquiries dominate evenings. Your schedule should reflect these patterns by matching agent skills to anticipated contact types.

Balance full-time and part-time resources strategically. Part-time staff can provide valuable coverage during peak periods without the expense of full-time agents during slower times. Many contact centers find that a mix of 70% full-time and 30% part-time staff offers optimal flexibility.

Don’t forget to allocate time for essential non-call activities like breaks, training, coaching, and team meetings. Agents need this time to recharge and develop, but it must be scheduled strategically to minimize impact on service levels.

Our scheduling tools incorporate agent preferences through self-service scheduling options while maintaining required service levels. The My Time app allows agents to view schedules, request time off, swap shifts with colleagues, and bid on preferred shifts—all within parameters set by management.

Step 4: Implement Real-Time Management

Even the most meticulously crafted workforce management plan requires real-time adjustments. Contact volumes fluctuate, agents call in sick, and unexpected events occur. Successful contact centers establish robust real-time management systems to handle these inevitable variations.

Implement continuous monitoring of schedule adherence to track whether agents are following their assigned schedules. This isn’t about micromanagement; it’s about understanding where the day’s reality diverges from the plan so you can make informed adjustments.

Track real-time service levels and wait times across all channels. These metrics serve as early warning signals, allowing you to intervene before small issues become major service failures. Set thresholds that trigger supervisor notifications when metrics are approached concerning levels.

Develop systematic processes for making intraday adjustments when volume differs from the forecast.

This might include:

• Offering voluntary time off during unexpectedly slow periods
• Requesting overtime during volume spikes
• Shifting agents between channels based on real-time demand
• Temporarily adjusting handle time expectations when queues grow

Meanwhile, ensure you can provide agents with consistent, timely feedback on performance. Agents who can see their metrics in relation to team goals and service level targets can self-correct before supervisor intervention becomes necessary.

Our real-time adherence monitoring enables supervisors to identify issues as they happen, not after the fact. The system provides visual alerts when agents are out of adherence, allowing for immediate coaching opportunities rather than retroactive discussions.

Step 5: Measure, Analyze, and Improve

Workforce management is never a “set it and forget it” process. It requires continuous evaluation and refinement based on actual results. Establish a systematic approach to measuring performance and identifying opportunities for improvement.

Create a regular cadence for comparing forecast accuracy against actual volume. Track both overall accuracy and patterns in the variances. Are you consistently underestimating Monday morning volume? Do forecasts for certain channels show greater variance than others? These patterns provide valuable insights for refining your forecasting methodology.

• Evaluate Schedule Effectiveness and Adherence Regularly: Look beyond simple adherence percentages to understand the root causes of non-adherence. Are agents missing adherence during specific parts of the day? Are certain activities consistently taking longer than scheduled? This detailed analysis reveals actionable improvements.
• Assess Agent Performance and Satisfaction: The most successful WFM plans balance operational efficiency with agent well-being. Regular surveys and communication can reveal opportunities to improve scheduling practices in ways that benefit both the business and agents.
• Identify Bottlenecks or Inefficiencies in Your Processes: Are handoffs between departments causing delays? Do certain transaction types take longer than necessary? Your WFM strategy should address these operational friction points.
• Update Your WFM Strategy: Based on your findings, create a cycle of continuous improvement. The most sophisticated contact centers treat their WFM plan as a living document that evolves alongside changing business needs and customer expectations.

Calabrio Insights  provides intuitive, AI-powered business intelligence tools that unify your contact center data streams and make it easier to identify critical trends and opportunities for improvement. With the ability to view connected data from multiple sources, including WFM, quality management, performance management, sentiment analysis and more, you can make decisions based on a comprehensive view of contact center performance.

Even the most brilliantly designed workforce management plan requires thoughtful implementation to deliver results. We’ve seen many contact centers struggle not because their strategy was flawed, but because their implementation approach failed to address organizational realities. Here’s how to ensure your WFM plan succeeds:

Secure Stakeholder Buy-in

The multi-stakeholder nature of contact center operations means your WFM implementation needs support from across the organization. Share your WFM strategy with leadership, supervisors, and agents, but customize your message for each audience:

Executives

For executives, emphasize the financial impact of improved workforce management. Prepare specific projections showing cost savings from optimized staffing, reduced overtime, and lower attrition rates. Connect these savings directly to organizational KPIs and strategic initiatives to gain C-suite support.

Supervisors and Team Leads

Supervisors and team leaders should highlight how the new WFM approach will make their jobs easier and more effective. Show them how better forecasting and scheduling tools reduce administrative burdens while providing clearer performance standards. Emphasize how they’ll spend less time firefighting and more time coaching and developing their teams.

Agents

For agents, perhaps your most critical stakeholders, focus on what matters most to them: schedule flexibility, work-life balance, and career development. Be transparent about how the new WFM approach will impact their day-to-day experience, and emphasize the benefits like self-scheduling options and more equitable distribution of desirable shifts.

Invest in the Right Tools

As contact centers grow, manual workforce management processes become increasingly unmanageable. Spreadsheets and basic scheduling tools break down when handling complex, multi-channel environments with hundreds of agents across different skill sets and time zones.

Invest in a comprehensive WFM solution from a trusted provider like Calabrio, which will serve as a hands-on partner rather than a hands-off platform. Look for a system that integrates:

• AI-powered forecasting that accounts for historical patterns, seasonal variations, and business growth
• Flexible scheduling that balances business needs with agent preferences
• Real-time adherence monitoring that identifies issues as they happen
• Comprehensive performance analytics that connect workforce metrics to business outcomes
• Agent self-service options that improve satisfaction while reducing administrative work
• Integration capabilities that eliminate data silos across your contact center

Train Your Team

Technology alone won’t transform your workforce management. Your team needs comprehensive training to maximize the value of your WFM plan and supporting tools.

Provide role-specific training on:

• Fundamental WFM principles and best practices for all team members
• System-specific training on effectively using your WFM software
• Metric interpretation and the relationship between different performance indicators
• Data-driven decision-making processes for supervisors and managers
• Self-service features and schedule management for agents

Consider creating a WFM champion program where selected team members receive advanced training and serve as internal resources for their colleagues. These champions can provide day-to-day support and help drive adoption throughout the organization.

Start Small and Scale

Rather than implementing your entire WFM plan simultaneously across the organization, begin with a focused pilot program. Select a department or team that’s representative of your broader contact center but small enough to manage closely during the pilot phase.

Use this pilot to:

• Test your forecasting methodology against actual results
• Refine scheduling approaches based on real-world feedback
• Identify training gaps that need addressing
• Document specific benefits to share with other departments
• Build success stories to drive broader adoption

Once you’ve refined your approach based on pilot learnings, create a phased implementation plan for rolling out across the organization. This measured approach reduces risk and increases the likelihood of sustainable success.

Even the best-planned WFM implementations encounter challenges. Here’s how to address the most common obstacles we see in contact centers:

Challenge: Inaccurate Forecasting

Inaccurate forecasting creates a cascade of problems: understaffing leads to poor service and agent burnout, while overstaffing wastes valuable resources. Many contact centers struggle with forecast accuracy, especially as they grow more complex and multi-channel.

Solution: Implement AI-powered forecasting tools that analyze multiple data sources and identify patterns humans might miss.

Calabrio’s WFM solution uses advanced machine learning to continuously improve forecast accuracy by learning from historical patterns across all channels. The system automatically identifies correlations between seemingly unrelated events and contact patterns, creating increasingly precise predictions over time.

Challenge: Agent Resistance to Schedules

Schedule dissatisfaction consistently ranks among the top reasons agents leave contact centers. Traditional top-down scheduling approaches often create friction between business needs and agent preferences, leading to resistance, adherence issues, and ultimately, attrition.

Solution: Implement self-scheduling options that give agents control within defined business parameters. Calabrio’s My Time app transforms the agent experience by allowing them to:

• Swap shifts with colleagues without supervisor intervention
• Request time off through a simple mobile interface
• Bid on preferred schedules based on performance and seniority
• View their schedule and adherence metrics anywhere, anytime

This balance of structure and flexibility maintains service levels while dramatically improving agent satisfaction.

Challenge: Balancing Service Levels and Costs

Finding the optimal balance between staffing costs and service quality presents an ongoing challenge for contact centers. Overstaff and you waste money; understaff and customer experience suffers.

Solution: Utilize scenario planning tools that model the impact of different staffing configurations before implementation. Calabrio’s planning tools enable “what-if” analysis that shows the precise impact of staffing changes on both service metrics and costs.

Challenge: Data Silos Across Systems

Many contact centers struggle with disconnected systems that prevent a unified view of operations. When WFM data lives separately from quality management, voice analytics, and CRM systems, making holistic decisions becomes nearly impossible.

Solution: Implement an integrated platform that connects your contact center systems. Calabrio ONE provides a unified environment where workforce management seamlessly connects with quality management, analytics, and customer data.

An effective workforce management plan creates harmony between your business goals, customer expectations, and agent well-being. By following our five-step approach, analyzing your workforce, forecasting demand, developing intelligent schedules, implementing real-time management, and continuously improving, you’ll build a WFM strategy that drives sustainable operational excellence.

At Calabrio, we pride ourselves on being more than just a technology provider. We’re your hands-on partner in workforce management success. Our comprehensive WFM solution delivers:

• AI-powered forecasting that continuously learns and improves
• Flexible scheduling that balances business needs with agent preferences
• Real-time adherence tools that identify issues when they can still be addressed
• Agent-friendly self-service options that improve satisfaction and retention
• Unified analytics that connect workforce metrics to business outcomes

But technology alone isn’t enough. Our approach combines innovative software with deep contact center expertise, implementation support, and ongoing optimization guidance. We don’t just deploy our solution and walk away. We ensure you achieve the outcomes that matter to your business.

Ready to transform your workforce management approach? Contact Calabrio today for a personalized consultation and demonstration of our industry-leading WFM capabilities.