How Can You Fix the Problem?

A strategic approach to improving agent adherence is crucial for call centers struggling with the challenges of rising costs, lower revenues, and frustrated customers. Here are five strategies to help boost agent adherence:

Determine your current adherence level
First, determine your adherence level and how much time and money you are losing. There is a simple formula that you can use to find out the percentage of schedule adherence: [phone time + other work related activity time] / ([shift time] - [lunch/dinner] - [break] + [exception time] + [overtime]) = schedule adherence. You may need to modify some of these parameters based on the unique requirements of your call center. Once you know the level of adherence you can calculate the amount of lost time and excess costs.
Identify reasons for out-of-adherence
Identify and analyze the reasons why employees are not sticking to their schedules. There are different methods you can use to identify the reasons for your center: Review adherence reports to identify “weak” agents and to determine the times of day when adherence levels are at their lowest, observe agent behavior, discuss adherence issues with your team, ask individual employees what makes it difficult to adhere to their schedules, etc. Some of the common reasons for out-of-adherence problems include:
Agents showing up late for their shifts
Taking an extended break
Logging out 10-15 minutes before their shift ends
Frequently remaining absent
An extremely rigid schedule
Educate about the business impact of adherence
Agents might not know about the business impact of being out-of-adherence. Have regular meetings so agents can get a better understanding of the importance of adhering to their schedules, and how their actions directly impact the success of the call center. You can use an example report from your call center to illustrate the impact of out-of-adherence on service levels, costs, ASA, and other metrics. You can also demonstrate how the adherence behavior of a few agents has a measurable impact on overall team performance. Make these meetings part of an "adherence" team-building effort to keep agents working towards a common goal.
Regular adherence monitoring and reviews
Adherence monitoring and reporting should be a key part of staff meetings. Remember that you can only manage what you measure. Involve your agents during the process when goals are set so that you can get their input as well. Before you implement a schedule, discuss it with your team and review the schedule. There should be no miscommunication from either side regarding a schedule or else it will have a reverse effect. Define each and every point clearly.
Set realistic goals and offer rewards
Adherence goals should be realistic and achievable. You need to give agents a decent grace period. For example: an agent who is supposed to log in at 3:00 might log in at 3:02. Taking strong action against this is impractical and will negatively impact employee morale. Establish different thresholds for various activities like breaks, lunch/dinner, login time, etc., and reward agents who stick to their schedules (95% within adherence). Bonuses boost morale, increase responsibility towards the organization, and motivate other agents to perform at a higher level.

These are just a few strategies to consider. You need to monitor and work with your agents closely to find out which factors are significantly contributing to your call center's out-ofadherence problem. Regularly monitoring agent adherence is one of the most effective ways to see how your center is performing so you can take the necessary actions to improve performance.

There are many activities that are important for adherence monitoring. This data collation is critical for making an agent schedule that works. Here is a simple checklist:

Real-time monitoring is necessary to make intra-day changes and to ensure whether your agents are sticking to the schedule. Real-time dashboards make it easier for everyone to stay on track.
Provide easy examples while you are explaining threshold limits. Set a certain figure as an alert. For instance, schedule adherence between 90-94% can be considered as an alert, meaning that the employee should immediately begin working on improving schedule adherence.
Different call centers have unique needs, so the configuration and definition of call and non-call activities will vary accordingly. Make your expectations clear and add all call and non-call related activities into your scheduling and adherence model.
Factors like call wrap-up, special after-work, outbound preparation, and other required activities that impact service levels and performance need to be monitored.
A large call center will likely have numerous channels, so the schedule should be made to reflect the capability of supporting multiple channels.