HOW MANY OF YOUR FRIENDS CAN SAY THEY HAVE A JOB THAT BOOSTS BRAIN POWER , INCREASES MORALE , AND HELPS OTHERS BY SOLVING PUZZLES AND MEETING CHALLENGES ?
WE HAVE LIMITED CONTROL OVER RESOURCES .
The impressive title implies responsibility not just for managing a workforce but also for controlling the results produced by that workforce , including service goals . Yet we ’ re not given full control of hiring , firing , or salaries .
3 . WE ’ RE NOT GETTING MANAGER-LEVEL PAYCHECKS .
We seldom earn management-scale pay grades . You are more likely to find us in the analyst and operations range , which makes sense , because we are there to help and support , not to control .
7 . THE ACRONYM BELONGS TO A LARGER CLUB .
Contact centers do not corner the market on the WFM acronym : Wi-Fi Module , Wave Form Monitor , Whole Foods Market , or Works For Me ( chat lingo ). And for whatever reason , the internet assigned WFM to also mean “ working from home ” at some point and it just stuck ( for another inexplicable trend , see “ pwned ”).
8 . IT DOESN ’ T EXACTLY ROLL OFF THE TONGUE .
Saying the acronym [ duhb-uhl-yoo-ef-em ] as a substitute for Workforce Management doesn ’ t save time . It ’ s shorter to write , but they ’ re both five syllables long .
9 . THE WFM ACRONYM ISN ’ T EVEN TECHNICALLY CORRECT .
It ’ s Workforce Management , not Work Force Management . THAT NAME CONCEALS HOW MUCH FUN THIS JOB IS .
4 . THE TERM IS PROBLEMATIC FOR JOB HUNTERS .
Using “ workforce management ” as the keyword search produces irrelevant results , finding matches in benefits , payroll , or human resources . ( Pro tip : add a software name [ e . g ., NICE , Verint , Genesys ] to help narrow it down .)
5 . WFM ISN ’ T EASILY DEFINED .
Even WFM software vendors and industry experts have a hard time being consistent with this nomenclature . Conference organizers like to merge WFM content into operations or generic technology . It ’ s also found hiding in Workforce Optimization ( WFO ), which seems like it would be a better choice , except WFO is a blanket phrase that includes a whole slew of other contact center disciplines like call routing , CX , quality , etc . Workforce Managers are not the misfits of the contact center - we are the unicorns !
6 . PLANNING IS REALLY WHAT THIS JOB IS ALL ABOUT .
It ’ s instantly misunderstood because of that word “ manage ,” when these are not traditional manager positions . Vicki Herrell got it right when she named her organization SWPP ( Society of Workforce Planning Professionals ): because planning is the core value of this job .
Workforce Management sounds like it would be hard , menial , and dull work , but in reality , generating a multi-layered forecast can be as satisfying as finishing a hexadecimal Sudoku . And building a complex scheduling solution that literally makes agents happier is an amazing feeling .
HOW MANY OF YOUR FRIENDS CAN SAY THEY HAVE A JOB THAT BOOSTS BRAIN POWER , INCREASES MORALE , AND HELPS OTHERS BY SOLVING PUZZLES AND MEETING CHALLENGES ?
How many of your friends can say they have a job that boosts brain power , increases morale , and helps others by solving puzzles and meeting challenges ? It truly deserves a name that reflects all the wonderful qualities of WFM .
Tiffany LaReau is a Certified Workforce Manager at Human Numbers , a consulting firm that provides contracted forecasting and scheduling services .
SEPTEMBER 2024 19