Frost & Sullivan defines workforce optimization (WFO) as a strategy to integrate disparate contact center workforce applications, monitor and analyze customer and agent interactions, and automate processes to optimize resources. WFO is an important segment of the contact center industry because it drives performance, agent engagement, and an improved customer experience (CX).
Improving employee experience (EX) is a critical part of a WFO strategy. This has been a longstanding effort within customer care because the contact center industry has traditionally had high employee turnover (agent churn). Efforts are well underway to address churn for multiple reasons, including the cost of replacing and training agents, the loss of more seasoned, knowledgeable agents (and that knowledge with them), and the direct impact that unhappy agents can have on customer interactions.
Inclusive to WFO are complementary functions under a smaller umbrella of workforce engagement management (WEM) that focus on recruitment, onboarding, evaluating, training, coaching, and motivating the workforce, which is critical in WFO strategies.
WEM is a broad category that embraces both mindsets and solution sets. The mindset springs from the realization that EX and CX are equally important and interdependent—all areas of the contact center impact WEM. This includes enhancements to self-service channels that deflect live agent interactions or reduce agent effort during more complex calls to improve agent engagement.
WFO improvements are rapidly accelerating, particularly through the infusion of AI technologies. For instance, myriad solution providers are marketing virtual agent assist bots that construct real-time transcriptions and perform analytics to guide agents during interactions and create post-call summaries. These same tools can also automatically pinpoint training and coaching opportunities in real time. Gamification, which was previously generally thought of as a nice-to-have feature, has grown in capabilities and popularity due to its demonstrable benefits inside and outside the contact center with a solid return on investment (ROI).
This insight details the trends and innovations that are impacting contact center WFO today, particularly through the use of AI technologies. It outlines growth opportunities that solution providers can attain by taking advantage of maturing technologies and enterprise market needs. It also lays out a sampling of solution provider use cases that are having an impact on WFO.
Author: Nancy Jamison
The Impact of the Top Three Strategic Imperatives on the Global Workforce Optimization (WFO) Marke
Geopolitical Chaos
Why
- The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital transformation journeys for businesses to maintain productivity and achieve their goals.
- The broad economic downturn also brought to the fore the importance of improving the employee experience (EX) to retain top talent amidst budget cuts and layoffs. More pressure was put on businesses to find innovative ways to improve both EX and efficiency and productivity.
Frost Perspective
- Employee listening and voice of the employee (VoE) analytics solutions have become crucial areas of investment as agent/supervisor retention surges in priority.
- Frost & Sullivan’s 2023 IT Decision Maker Survey shows that improving employee engagement and morale is a key digital transformation objective for 26% of businesses. About 23% of businesses plan to measure digital transformation success via employee retention rates.
Internal Challenges
Why
- Since remote/hybrid work is here to stay, businesses are challenged with ensuring employees have the optimum technology set up (such as network connectivity, communication, and collaboration tools and video) as lack thereof can severely impact EX.
- EX is now a top business priority because of the proven correlation between an engaged employee’s experience and a better customer experience (CX), forcing businesses to create strategic initiatives that focus on both.
Frost Perspective
- Many businesses have prioritized investments in technology that have boosted the adoption of new ways of working and improved employee engagement and morale.
- The infusion of artificial intelligence (AI) across the contact center landscape is a top strategy for facilitating improvement in both CX and EX. Bots and intelligent virtual assistants (IVA), along with machine learning (ML)-enabled forecasting and scheduling packages, and advanced analytics are just a small example of AI-enhanced solutions.
Transformative Mega Trends
Why
- A critical area of investment is next-generation WFO tools, which assist supervisors in managing a hybrid workforce and utilize AI to vastly improve agent capabilities.
- Long-simmering trends have surged in importance to support the revitalization of contact center operations, adoption of cloud, focus on security, and use of AI.
Frost Perspective
- Most solution providers have hefty investments in AI research and development (R&D) or strategic partnerships that offer AI-enhanced solutions.
- Top providers take a consultative approach to business transformation through the cloud and AI with smooth migration paths, hybrid options, and creative pricing and licensing packages, assisting customers in moving at the pace that makes sense for the business.
Strategic Objectives of This Study
Workforce optimization (WFO) is one of the core and most impactful areas of the contact center industry, with the broadest area of investment and innovation.
The primary goals of this research are:
- Uncover pockets of innovation by industry leaders driving change in WFO
- Monitor the status of WFO application adoption in contact center organizations
- Assess the current and future use of AI-enhanced WFO solutions
- Evaluate factors that drive investments in WFO solutions
- Gauge market and technology trends
Frost & Sullivan’s approach to achieving these goals are:
- Conduct an online customer survey of leaders involved in purchasing contact center solutions
- Have in-depth discussions with thought leaders in contact center organizations through Frost & Sullivan’s Customer Experience Client Council, Contact Center MindXchanges, Webinars, and Virtual Think Tanks
- Talk regularly with key contact center solution providers around the globe
Why is it Increasingly Difficult to Grow?
The Strategic Imperative 8™
The Impact of the Top Three Strategic Imperatives on the Global Workforce Optimization (WFO) Market
Strategic Objectives of This Study
Growth Opportunities Fuel the Growth Pipeline Engine™
The State of the Workforce Optimization Market—2024
The Workforce Optimization Market
Workforce Engagement Growth Environment
Customer Research Methodology and Respondent Profile
Top Goals: Why Organizational Objectives Contrast Contact Center Objectives
Employee Engagement Initiatives Can Reduce Attrition
NTT 2023 Global Customer Experience Report: WFO Key Findings
Employee Net Promotor Scores (eNPS) Are Significantly Higher when Engagement Initiatives and the Right Solutions are in Place
Analytics on Quality Monitoring and Performance Management Is a Top Investment for Employee Engagement
The Stages of an Employee Life Cycle
From Filling Agent Seats to Quality Hires: Insuring Best Fit and Reducing Churn through AI and Automation
Solutions Spotlight: Verint Intelligent Interviewing
Solutions Spotlight: Zenarate AI Coach Agent Development Platform
Solutions Spotlight: Zenarate AI Coach—Deeper Dive
Solutions Spotlight: Zoho Recruit
AI-Powered Employee Assistance
Solutions Spotlight: Cisco AI Assistant
Forecasting and Scheduling in the Age of Digital Transformation
Solutions Spotlight: NICE True to Interval (TTI) Analytics
Calabrio
CallMiner
Workforce Optimization Growth Drivers
Workforce Optimization Growth Restraints
Growth Opportunity 1: Achieving the Optimal Mix of Live and Virtual Assistance
Growth Opportunity 1: Achieving the Optimal Mix of Live and Virtual Assistance (continued)
Growth Opportunity 2: Using AI to Optimize the Agent Life Cycle
Growth Opportunity 2: Using AI to Optimize the Agent Life Cycle (continued)
List of Exhibits
Legal Disclaimer
List of Figures- Overall IT Decision Maker Survey Top Goals, Global, 2023–2024
- Contact Center IT Decision Maker Survey Top Goals, Global, 2022–2024
- Annual Rate of Agent Attrition by Number of Employee Engagement Initiatives in Organization, Global, 2023
- Employee Satisfaction (eNPS) by Number of Employee Engagement Initiatives in Organization, Global, 2022–2023
- Employee Satisfaction (eNPS) by Number of Solutions Used in Organization, Global, 2022–2023
- CX Solutions Investment Plans, Global, 2022–2024
- Workforce Optimization: Key Growth Drivers, Global, 2024–2028
- Workforce Optimization: Key Growth Restraints, Global, 2024–2028
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| Deliverable Type | Market Research |
|---|---|
| Author | Nancy Jamison |
| Industries | Information Technology |
| No Index | No |
| Is Prebook | No |
| Keyword 1 | Workforce Optimization Trends |
| Keyword 2 | Contact Center Forecast |
| Keyword 3 | Workforce Optimization Industry Insights |
| List of Charts and Figures | Overall IT Decision Maker Survey Top Goals, Global, 2023–2024~ Contact Center IT Decision Maker Survey Top Goals, Global, 2022–2024~ Annual Rate of Agent Attrition by Number of Employee Engagement Initiatives in Organization, Global, 2023~ Employee Satisfaction (eNPS) by Number of Employee Engagement Initiatives in Organization, Global, 2022–2023~ Employee Satisfaction (eNPS) by Number of Solutions Used in Organization, Global, 2022–2023~ CX Solutions Investment Plans, Global, 2022–2024~ Workforce Optimization: Key Growth Drivers, Global, 2024–2028~ Workforce Optimization: Key Growth Restraints, Global, 2024–2028~ |
| Podcast | No |
| WIP Number | K935-01-00-00-00 |
Advancements in Contact Center Workforce Optimization Global
Innovation Powered by AI Is Accelerating Contact Center Growth Opportunities
02-Feb-2024
Global
Market Research