Why talk about a ‘boring’ subject like Workforce Management in the era of automation?
AI may automate tasks, but it doesn’t automate accountability. As organizations redesign customer journeys around automation, workforce management becomes one of the most important drivers of operational performance.
Why Workforce Management Matters in an AI-Driven Economy
Many organizations are discovering a new reality: AI does not eliminate workforce complexity. It changes it. As routine work becomes automated, customer interactions become more nuanced, employee expectations continue to rise, and workforce planning becomes increasingly strategic. Success depends not just on deploying technology, but on designing an operating model where people and AI work together to deliver better outcomes.
Another aspect critical for the success of business these days is employee engagement. It is believed that employee engagement is a top concern affecting the end-user customer experience and, if you think about the movement from a low skilled to a higher skilled workforce, then it will be more important than ever to engage and retain employees.
The third aspect is the demographic of the workforce. Just as the consumer profile is changing around the world, with everyone running to tailor their services to meet the changing expectations of Millennials, Gen Y, and Gen Z, so too a change will be required to meet the employee expectations of that same generation in the future.
Now, if you put just these three things together, you can understand the complexity of managing the workforce of the future. A better WFM methodology is required that is not only designed for better workload assessment and management, but centered to meet business needs by meeting employee expectations and aligning operational decisions with customer outcomes, employee engagement, and business performance.
Why Workforce Management Must Evolve Beyond Scheduling
If you think that having a couple of analysts equipped with workforce management tools like NICE, Verint, Aspect, Genesys, or something else is going to be enough, then you are mistaken. Too many organizations treat workforce planning as a technology problem. They invest in forecasting tools, scheduling platforms, and automation, yet overlook the operating model required to make those investments meaningful.
Put bluntly, WFM is not going to be as simple as it used to be. With a mix of traditional channels and digital channels managed by higher skilled staff, WFM will focus on more complex tasks for end-to-end case management, which will in turn create complexity in understanding the overall staffing needs. This, in turn, will require creative thinking and an evolution of the WFM function and its role completely.
A critical requirement will be to have WFM as a part of one’s overall Customer Experience strategy, as it will be an essential ingredient in your plan to service your customer as you combine multiple channels and complex skills.
How Employee Experience Drives Customer Experience
It won’t come as a surprise to anyone that the staff roster is one of the biggest dissatisfiers in employee engagement surveys in the industry around the world. Schedule flexibility has become a workforce expectation, not a workforce perk. Employees increasingly expect the same personalization and self-service capabilities they receive as consumers.
While a few in the industry are trying to slowly move towards gig economy staffing models, the reality is that it will take some time to adapt across programs. In the meantime, WFM teams must make that dissatisfaction a priority to improve upon for the existing staff.
While WFM teams must continue to focus on the science of calculating the demand, they also need to be more creative in the art of balancing the business demand against staff requirements. I believe those who will be able to do that will retain the highest motivated and most fulfilled workforce, thereby driving a better customer experience.
Building Workforce Strategies for the AI-Enabled Workforce
Today’s workforce wants to be better engaged. While they want to have a sense of a purpose that is aligned to the company’s mission, they want to drive it with a sense of ownership as well. Staff today want to be allowed to make work choices, instead of being told what to do, and the expectation is rising that this be enabled through technology. It seems fair that if we provide customers with self-service options, then why not the employees?
While investment in tools is an easier step for many, building and enabling a Smarter WFM function for the next generation of the workforce will be the key. Employee experience is going to be everything; the role of the WFM function to drive it will be more important than ever, especially as they govern every task of their frontline staff.
The Role of Workforce Management in Intelligent Transformation
In summary, just as the future of CX will require a balance of technology and a highly skilled workforce for the problems technology may not be able to solve, managing those will require new age workforce management tools, as well as a highly skilled WFM team. As businesses are investing in AI/BOTs, they must also ensure the following to succeed:
- Have a clear channel strategy based on customer expectations with the right unassisted and assisted channels
- Invest in right technology that helps drive the right channel strategy, providing a seamless experience
- Invest in the right WFM Tools and WFM function (or WFM As A Service partner) to help drive the key objectives of Employee and Customer Experience
Organizations investing heavily in AI often focus on technology readiness while underestimating workforce readiness. The reality is that customer experience transformation requires both. The winners will not be those with the most automation. They will be those that successfully orchestrate people, processes, and AI to deliver consistently better outcomes.
