Why Service Level & Occupancy?
Dan Smitley is a 20 year workforce management industry expert and knows the difference between focusing on both service level and occupancy can make versus just one of the two KPIs.
It provides a baseline for both the customer experience and the agent experience. Without one, you can’t have the other.
Key takeaways from Dan Smitley
1. Service level is the most common KPI in the workforce management world, but occupancy is what allows companies to make better business decisions.
With service level, it comes down to – did our people get to the customer fast enough. Where companies struggle is maintaining a balance between service level and occupancy.
Occupancy is the percentage of time agents are staying busy and productive.
Service level equals customer experience. Occupancy equals business and agent experience. If you only focus on one, you’re missing half of the equation.
2. Why 100% occupancy doesn’t work…
You need to align with your company values, but if you push agents to have little to no breathing room during the day – your attrition rates will skyrocket.
The time it takes to ramp new agents, knowledge share, and get them to cross-sell/promote will greatly outweigh the cost of 70% occupancy vs. 90% occupancy.
3. Workforce managers need to slow down.
You will forecast better, your service level will improve, and agents will perform better. Slow down and understand the inefficiencies first before you make changes.
And get involved. Don’t just present spreadsheets and forecasts to your leadership. Expect to be at the table and provide valuable business insights.
