Staffing Metrics That Matter: A Deep Dive into Occupancy, Shrinkage & More
When running a successful contact center, understanding and implementing critical BPO or call center metrics is key. A deeper insight into metrics like occupancy rate and shrinkage can offer a clear picture of your business performance, assisting you in making informed decisions. This guide provides an overview of vital staffing metrics every call center or BPO manager should know.
Understanding Occupancy
Occupancy rate indicates the amount of time an agent spends taking calls or managing call-related tasks against the logged-in time. A high occupancy rate signifies optimal service levels, reflected in the decreased idle time and increased agent productivity. However, overworking your agents may have the opposite effect, stressing them, lowering motivation, and impacting customer service quality negatively. Therefore, maintaining a balance is crucial.
The Shrinkage Metric
Shrinkage in the contact center industry defines the difference between the number of agents required and the actual number of agents available to handle calls. Factors contributing to shrinkage include training sessions, meeting times, and agent absenteeism. This metric offers insights into how much time your agents spend on non-call related activities, allowing you to optimize your scheduling processes and improve your workforce’s efficiency overall.
Other Important Metrics
While occupancy and shrinkage play a crucial role, other call center metrics like service level, call resolution rate, average handling time (AHT), and customer satisfaction score (CSAT) also form the core of the performance monitoring matrix.
Service level mensures the percentage of calls answered within a geographical standard, impacting client satisfaction and retention. On the other hand, the call resolution rate signifies the ability of an agent to resolve a customer query or issue in the first interaction, directly influencing the customer experience.
Two other metrics, AHT and CSAT, help assess agent performance and customer satisfaction. High AHT may indicate that agents need additional training, while a low CSAT score may warn of potential customer dissatisfaction and retention problems.
Monitoring, understanding, and responding to these metrics can ensure that your business strategies are working effectively and that your contact center or BPO service is optimized.
An effective workforce management tool such as a Staffing Calculator can efficiently streamline your operation and optimise staffing metrics by accurately scheduling agents based on forecasting customer volume and gauging actual staffing requirements.
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