Running a call center is a constant balancing act—matching customer demand with agent availability, maintaining service quality, and keeping your team engaged. And when scheduling inefficiencies happen, or calls volumes spike, you can end up with frustrated customers and overworked agents. This is where call center workforce management best practices are key.
Workforce management (WFM) is the strategic process of optimizing efficiency by:
Forecasting demand
Scheduling staff
Tracking performance
It ensures the right agents are in place at the right time to handle customer interactions while maintaining service levels. More than just call center scheduling, WFM involves real-time monitoring, and data-driven decision making.
And with 93% of teams agreeing that customer expectations are on the rise, effective workforce management is more important than ever. That’s before we mention:
Remote and hybrid working
The impact of AI and automation
Stricter compliance requirements
We need to evolve our typical WFM strategies to keep up—and in this guide, we’ll show you how. Here are 10 best practices to help improve efficiency, manage fluctuating call volumes, keep agents engaged, and deliver a consistent customer experience.
A well-structured WFM team is the backbone of an efficient call center. Without a solid foundation, you’ll quickly run into scheduling inefficiencies, agent burnout, and customer dissatisfaction.
You can start improving your call center workforce management by setting clear processes for forecasting, scheduling, and performance monitoring. This also includes creating better policies for your agents around:
Shift bidding
Scheduling
Breaks
And, if you’re part of a larger organization, you might even consider creating a dedicated WFM team.
QA software can help you align your WFM strategy with real-time performance data, ensuring agents are hitting their marks while maintaining efficiency. Pairing it with your CRM and other tools can also give a better overview of what your agents are doing and, critically, where they can improve.
Accurate forecasting is key to balancing service levels and operational costs. To anticipate volumes and respond effectively, you should deploy predictive analytics and lean on historical data like:
Interaction volumes
Average handle time (AHT)
Seasonal trends and peaks
Using WFM software and other analytics tools (like your QA platform) can give you the insights you need to create both short and long-term forecasting models, and minimize under- or overstaffing.
It’s also important to keep track of seasonal spikes, planned marketing or sales campaigns, holidays, and other events that may impact staffing Through forecasting, you can optimize shift planning, reduce wait times, and prevent agent burnout.
Today’s customers expect seamless support across multiple channels, whether it’s phone, live chat, or social media. Training your agents to handle inquiries across every platform helps improve the customer experience and operational flexibility.
This means hiring (and training) agents to handle different channels and prevent bottlenecks. And, as an added bonus, this flexibility makes the scheduling process much easier. With a multi-skilled workforce, you can:
Reduce queue backlogs
Maximize agent productivity
Quickly adapt to changing customer demands.
Agents that are comfortable with omnichannel are more confident, engaged, and capable of delivering support in any situation.
Keeping a pulse on your team’s performance in real time is essential for maintaining (or improving!) service levels. Real-time adherence monitoring allows you to track whether agents are following assigned schedules, meeting service goals, and staying productive.
Start by outlining the KPIs you want to track. For example:
Logins
Breaks
Average handle time
Schedule adherence
Then, with the right WFM and QA software, you can spot deviations, provide immediate feedback, and adjust workloads as needed. If your tech stack supports it, you can even use those KPIs to create custom dashboards and track this information in real time.
KPIs give you a clear view of your call center’s efficiency and service quality, but you don’t need to track everything. Keeping a close eye on the metrics that matter gives you actionable insights into agent performance and the customer experience.
However, merely tracking KPIs isn’t enough—you need to analyze trends and take action to improve. Otherwise, you’re just monitoring for the sake of monitoring.
Some of the most important KPIs for workforce management in call centers include:
Service level
Abandonment rate
Average speed of answer (ASA)
Occupancy rate
Schedule adherence
First call rate
Customer satisfaction scores
A well-managed workforce starts with engaged and motivated employees. When agents feel valued, supported, and equipped with the right tools, they perform better and contribute to a more positive customer experience.
You can improve employee engagement in different ways, but the end goal is the same: make them enjoy showing up for work, and give them a chance to grow into their roles.
So work with your agents to find out what motivates them. Some examples include:
Gamification
Rewards and incentives
Flexible working options (hybrid/remote, shift bidding, self-scheduling, etc.)
One of the best ways you can improve your teams is through internal development. Offering training and development opportunities and encouraging promotion from within can help keep agents engaged and give them a chance to shine.
AI and automation are completely transforming call center workforce management by optimizing scheduling, forecasting, and real-time adjustments. AI-powered tools can analyze historical call volume data, predict peak times, and suggest the best staffing models, reducing inefficiencies and improving service levels.
You can implement chatbots and self-service tools to automate tasks, freeing your agents from tedious work and giving supervisors more time to focus on coaching, strategy, and more meaningful work.
Additionally, using AI-powered QA software can give you better compliance coverage by automatically analyzing and flagging possible lapses.
Compliance is a critical aspect of workforce management that directly impacts operations and financial stability. Labor laws, union agreements, data protection policies, and industry regulations set the framework for fair scheduling, overtime policies, and employee rights—and there can be hefty financial and reputational damage if you’re not careful.
Workplace management software with compliance tracking features helps streamline scheduling, supporting legal compliance. And don’t neglect training—you can give your team the tools and knowledge to catch potential lapses before they escalate, further ensuring compliance.
It’s also important to factor in governance around the use of AI in your call center as well—with new rules and regulations on the horizon, failure to safely and ethically implement artificial intelligence can become a costly misstep.
The shift to remote and hybrid work has completely changed how call centers (and many other businesses) operate, requiring more flexible WFM strategies. Traditional scheduling approaches may not account for the unique remote working challenges (like internet instability, distractions, and varying time zones), meaning businesses need to adapt quickly.
To maintain efficiency, take advantage of cloud-based WFM solutions that offer real-time monitoring, performance tracking, and virtual training capabilities. Beyond tech, try new engagement strategies to foster stronger connections within your team, encouraging collaboration in remote workspaces.
Call centers employ a diverse workforce, spanning multiple generations with different work styles and expectations. Managing a team that includes Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers means taking a flexible approach to scheduling, training, and communication.
While younger agents might prefer digital training modules and self-service learning, more experienced employees might benefit more from mentorship programs and structured coaching.
Tailoring your WFM strategy to accommodate different generation needs—whether it’s motivations, communication style, work methods, etc.—improves job satisfaction and retention across the board.
Improving your call center workforce management can make a significant difference to your call center. Building a sound foundation that’s backed by data and engaged, motivated agents helps you deliver a better customer experience and a more productive, efficient workforce.
It doesn’t stop there, though. If you want to continue to provide a great experience, you need to find out what works (and what doesn’t).
Use the data you collect alongside feedback from your team to iterate and improve your workforce management and create a culture of continuous improvement. Without it, you’ll end up stagnating, reducing employee morale, and impacting the customer experience.
Now that we’ve covered what makes up a great WFM foundation, why not take a look at how AI for call center workforce management can build an even stronger team?
