WFM SOLUTIONS ARE EVOLVING... AND IN MANY CASES THEY ARE NOW DELIVERING FUNCTIONALITIES ENTERPRISES HAVE LONG REQUESTED.
AI-DRIVEN INNOVATION
The application of AI across WFM platforms is fueling many enhancements in these necessary, albeit often complex solutions.
The processing power of the cloud enables AI to make previously impossible capabilities a reality. It enhances forecasting for both synchronous and asynchronous interaction types, improving accuracy by giving WFM administrators the flexibility to select the appropriate algorithm for each run.
AI is revamping many aspects of forecasting, scheduling, agent self-service, vacation / time-off management, longterm capacity planning, and even how and when agents receive alerts.
Newly released scheduling modules allow employees to self-select their work hours( instead of fixed shifts), pick their lunch and break times( which may vary by day), make changes when needed( without involving their supervisors or WFM administrators), and a lot more.
HYPER-PERSONALIZING THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE
Enabled by AI, the market is moving toward hyper-personalizing experiences for employees as well as customers, since what motivates one person may be completely different from what drives another. Some individuals want to select their working hours, others prefer to be assigned fixed shifts so they don’ t have to decide, and part of the workforce would like a combination of both approaches.
This level of hyper-personalization wasn’ t an option in the past but is now a necessity, as managing their own schedule is one of the most important criteria for multiple generations of employees. But it goes beyond setting work hours, allowing employees to request and schedule their training, coaching, and quality sessions as well.
Robust WFM solutions give agents transparency and visibility into their performance. For example, the solutions enable them to see comparisons relative to their peers( where allowed) and provide them with the ability to insert exceptions when they are out of adherence.
This level of autonomy over scheduling and insights into performance are positioning contact centers to become employers of choice: which was unheard of as recently as a couple of years ago.
WORK RULES AND UNIONS
WFM needs vary greatly by country and within each company. In the past, organizations often felt they had no choice but to modify their scheduling methodology to align with the capabilities of their WFM solutions.
While this was never an optimal approach for enterprises, with today’ s work rules, regulations, and union requirements, the level of complexity means it is no longer feasible for many businesses to work around a WFM application’ s limitations.
During the past couple of years, WFM vendors have vastly improved their solutions’ flexibility to enable users to apply specific work rules and parameters. This is an important change that helps companies better manage complicated workforce and regulatory environments across their businesses and borders.
In some cases, though, this means the vendors, system integrator partners, and companies’ IT staff must find compromises between true department optimization and compliance and employee needs, which can increase projected staffing requirements. However, these changes may be offset by significantly improved forecasts which reduce agent head counts.
NEW AND EXPANDED CAPABILITIES
WFM solutions are evolving beyond their traditional comfort zones, and in many cases they are now delivering functionalities enterprises have long requested.
During the past 12- 18 months, WFM vendors have dedicated a large percentage of their R & D efforts to developing features and enhancements that end-users have requested. Sometimes this is adding capabilities available in a different WFM application, or it’ s to increase the platform’ s flexibility and usefulness.
WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT
WFM SOLUTIONS ARE EVOLVING... AND IN MANY CASES THEY ARE NOW DELIVERING FUNCTIONALITIES ENTERPRISES HAVE LONG REQUESTED.
The top innovations organizations are interested in include:
• Additional agent scheduling options.
• Improved handling and staffing for omnichannel contact centers.
• Enhanced management of business process outsourcers( BPOs).
• Additional integrations with different application segments.
• Expanded back-office capabilities.
• Updated reporting and analytics.
AI is an important enabler for many of these items, as are enhancements to the underlying technology supporting the platform and how users interact with these solutions.
WHAT’ S NEXT FOR WFM?
Many areas of WFM solutions still need to be updated and expanded, even after the substantial investments made during the past couple of years.
We expect WFM vendors to continue to enhance their platforms during the next couple of years as demand for these improvements is large and growing.
Interest in new or updated WFM solutions is coming from newcomers( firsttime WFM users) that appreciate the need to migrate from spreadsheets to packaged applications as their operating environments increase in complexity.
There are also a significant number of contact centers using five to 10-plus year-old WFM solutions that are finally considering a change because the new capabilities make it worth the investment and disruption.
SEPTEMBER 2025 17