<strong>Workforce Management in the Digital Age</strong>

As the business process management (BPM) industry continues to evolve and grow, the importance of efficient workforce management (WFM) becomes increasingly essential for its success. In this interview, Mr. Vikas Wahee, Head of Solutions, BPM & ITES at Intellicus Technologies, shares his insights on the imperative factors for the BPM industry to invest in WFM platforms, the impact of WFM tools on medium and large enterprises, the influence of emerging technologies on WFM, and how businesses can run smoothly with the right WFM solutions. Read on to gain valuable insights from Mr. Wahee's vast experience in the industry.

Key considerations for the BPM industry to invest in top-notch WFM platforms

WFM is an integrated set of processes that are used to manage businesses in a structured and efficient way. Therefore, the WFM solutions today have to be capable of solving complex employee scheduling, workload forecasting, intelligently automating business planning processes to optimize operational productivity and meeting constantly changing demands. While all these features are beneficial to every business, it becomes imperative when it comes to the Business Process Management industry since they have to deal with complexities such as varying schedules and availability. I would say it would be unwise for any BPM irrespective of size and age not to make the best of WFM platforms available at their disposal because no matter the efficiency and expertise, manually, we still lack the processing power for making decisions based on innumerable data points. Also, we sometimes exhibit confirmatory bias. With WFM software, all laborious and error-prone tasks can be streamlined into a system that will reduce human error while saving time and thus, enhancing the efficiency of the organization.

The demand for workforce management is forecast to grow substantially over the next three years. WFM solutions enable managers to plan their workforce effectively and efficiently while equipping them better to meet the needs of their customers and their employees. Getting this right is complex, but with the right technology, WFM managers get real-time actionable insights on the business metrics. They also get predictive planning based on a mix of criteria that’s unique to the business. If a business has staff complexity and shift patterns, then WFM is a must for them.

The impact of WFM tools on medium and large enterprises

To operate a successful contact center, it is important to be mindful of numbers - whether they are the KPIs or the people required to achieve those KPIs. An important aspect of planning is to ensure that contact centers are extensively able to use the length and breadth of their data to get dependable predictions and, most importantly, the staff required to handle that volume. Contact centers today deal with the complexity of managing their changing customer demands and these demands impact the overall planning for the business. The right WFM tool is flexible enough to adapt to the flow of ever-changing demands and to intelligently automate the WFM planning process for the business.

With a dependable WFM solution in place, organizations can optimize their most valuable and most expensive resource: “the staff”.

The Impact of Emerging Technologies

With the use of technology in workplaces, organizations have been able to increase their productivity and enhance their performance at a rapid pace. Processes that were manual and time-consuming are now completed within minutes with digital tools, data access, and systems. Managers can use WFM tools for a whole flow of tasks which saves time and allow them to do more of what they are best at. In simpler words, an effective WFM solution is the manager’s best friend. Especially the real-time updates for their business and employees – whether it is about allocating the right skill set for the right task at the right time, allocating add-on shifts based on business demand, or optimizing the existing planning process with intelligent rules and AI/ML algorithms to enhance business performance and experience.

Streamlining Business Operations with the Right WFM Solution

Given today’s scenario, almost 40% to 50% of the business are already moving towards flexible work schedules and remote work. Considering this change, using WFM tools can help businesses maintain internal and external communication, assign tasks, keep up with scheduling, review performance metrics and more to help them stay on top of day-to-day business management.