2024 Workforce Management for the Enterprise in the Digital Era

Artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and the need for new capabilities to address asynchronous and digital interactions are driving a welcome transformation of these solutions. The enhancements are valuable because they improve contact center performance, lay the groundwork for a new generation of workforce management (WFM) solutions born in the cloud with AI at their core, and focus on employee empowerment to reduce agent attrition.

Contact center digitalization, AI, the cloud, and adoption outside of contact centers drives reinvention and growth of the WFM market

The pace of innovation in the WFM market, driven by AI and automation, is rapid and picking up momentum as this IT sector's size and opportunity grows. AI is key to modifying and enhancing WFM solutions to enable them to properly address the needs of advanced contact centers and other operating environments that handle voice and digital synchronous and asynchronous interactions. AI-based forecasting algorithms and simulations leverage a variety of AI technologies and proprietary models developed by the WFM vendors to provide more accurate forecasts. Enabled by the processing power of the cloud, next-gen WFM solutions can make real-time suggestions and changes in forecasts and schedules previously bogged down in administrative oversight, reducing overhead costs while improving the customer and employee experience (CX/EX).

Workforce management solutions remain essential contact center productivity tools, but today they are equally important for boosting employee engagement. WFM solutions have changed significantly in the past few years, transitioning from applications intended to structure and control agent schedules into systems that empower employees with greater levels of flexibility delivered via self-service. At the same time, management has new capabilities, including salary arbitrage and gamification points, to motivate agents to accept hard-to-fill hours. Agent empowerment is a growing area of focus for WFM vendors who are delivering employee self-service capabilities via enhanced mobile apps which include flexible shifts/shift swap options, and new ways to bid for hours and time-off.

Comprehensive and insightful coverage of this rapidly changing sector

“The 2024 Workforce Management for the Enterprise in the Digital Era” report provides an insightful analysis of the contemporary WFM market, competitive landscape, product suites, and the business, market, and technology trends and challenges confronting contact centers in light of complex omnichannel operating environments, rising CX requirements, workforce expectations, and market innovation that is being driven by AI. The Report analyzes WFM market activity and provides five-year market projections. The Report is designed to help contact centers, back offices and branches, IT, and enterprise leaders and managers in small, mid-size, and large companies select the right solution, technology, functionality, and partner to meet their organization's current and future WFM needs. “The 2024 Workforce Management for the Enterprise in the Digital Era” report features four WFM vendors: Alvaria, Calabrio, NICE, and Verint. Assembled is covered at a higher level.

REPORT INCLUDES:

• WFM suite functional components, including core and optional modules offered in the four featured WFM suites
• Market, business, and technology trends and challenges that are driving product innovation and influencing enterprise investments
• WFM vendor innovation, including a review of recently introduced features and functionality and what is planned for the next 12 - 18 months
• Exploration of how AI is being utilized to improve the accuracy, flexibility, and usability of next-gen WFM solutions, and how it is a key enabler of delivering an improved CX and EX
• Examination of how WFM solutions are being enhanced to meet the complexities of omnichannel and multi-skill forecasting and scheduling given increasing workforce requirements and the need for solutions that address the functional requirements of departments beyond contact centers
• Explanation of how real-time adaptive intraday management dynamically automates the response to real-time variances to optimize agent resources based on demand
• Discussion of the WFM modules that improve agent engagement, empowerment, and retention, including self-service and gamification
• How strategic long-term planning, hiring management, and workspace allocation are instrumental in projecting and optimizing staffing, budgetary, and capacity requirements
• Review of back-office and branch WFM capabilities
• WFM market activity analysis, adoption rates, and five-year market growth projections
• Assessment of the WFM competitive landscape
• Vendor pricing for a 250-seat cloud-based voice and digital channel WFM implementation for core forecasting and scheduling plus incremental costs (if applicable) for intraday management, real-time adherence, agent self-service, vacation/time-off management, eLearning/meeting management, long-term strategic planning, hiring management, workspace allocation, gamification, mobility, back-office, and branch WFM
• Detailed company reports analyzing the products, functionality, and future product development plans of the vendors covered in this report
• WFM Vendor Directory