Managing overstaffing and understaffing
To adjust staffing to help you meet your service goals Goals in WFM that allow determining how quickly work should be handled, including service level, Average Speed to Answer (ASA), and deadline goals., use Overtime (OT) and Voluntary Time Off (VTO) in your scheduling plans.
OT extensions can be added before or after a shift Work period in WFM that has a definite length. to extend employee work time. VTO events can be added at the beginning or end of an employee shift to reduce employee work time.
Handing understaffing: schedule Overtime (OT)
To handle understaffing, extend the time employees work. Add an OT extension Overtime (OT) extension in WFM, which can be added before or after a shift to extend employee work time. to the work pattern Set of shifts in WFM (usually a weekly set of shifts) that are assigned to employees. A work pattern typically includes one or more shifts and possible days off for one week. assigned to employees.
When scheduling OT, the scheduling engine assigns OT extensions before or after existing schedules of employees. You can specify a minimum and a maximum duration of gaps or breaks between the regular shift and the overtime. You can also add shift events, such as breaks, to OT extensions.
Handling overstaffing: schedule Voluntary Time Off (VTO)
To handle overstaffing, ask employees to take time off voluntarily. Define a VTO event Voluntary Time Off (VTO) event in WFM, which can be added at the beginning or end of a shift to reduce employee work time. to the work pattern assigned to employees.
Voluntary time off is typically used in call center environments that are overstaffed. Call centers reduce overhead by giving employees the option to leave early without pay. This same practice could be applicable to high volume processing operation units, for which employees are paid hourly.
When scheduling VTO, the scheduling engine assigns VTO events on top of existing schedules of employees. They are assigned at the beginning or end of scheduled shifts. You can specify a minimum and a maximum duration of VTO events.
Scheduling OT and VTO
OT extensions and VTO events must be linked to a work pattern for the scheduling engine to be able to schedule them. You can also manually add OT extensions or VTO events to the schedule.
For each employee, you can set OT and VTO limits. Managers can specify the minimum and maximum number of hours of overtime or voluntary time off assigned to an employee every day and every week.
Optionally, you can set employee preferences for OT and VTO. For example, an employee prefers to work overtime after their regular shift, but not before it. Another employee prefers to have VTO at the end of their shift, but not at the beginning. Provided they have the relevant privilege Permissions associated with each role that define the features of the application a user is able to view and the functionality in the application the user can access., employees can enter their own OT and VTO preferences through the WFO portal Home page or main UI access point for all WFO applications..
After you set up OT and VTO, you can generate a schedule, which assigns OT and VTO to employees.