Successfully changing how your company handles workforce management (WFM) isn’t something that happens overnight. The current processes have likely been in place for years, and while they may be good enough to keep the lights on, there is often room for improvement.

However, companies need to evaluate the trade off between time spent improving WFM processes and the lead time to implementing these changes. There’s also the factor of getting buy-in for changes from the executive level, which can be difficult if your company is suffering from too much failed change in the past.

You need provable change that can happen quickly and will work. With all of this said, here is brief guide on how to quickly implement a modern and simplified approach to workforce management to ensure the changes you make have both a short- and long-term impact.

Select WFM technology that is built for your industry – Definitions of WFM technology are not always as clear and can vary by industry. Some solutions may be focused on HR-related tasks, while others are centered around distribution center employees or contact center agents. Select the solution that solves your unique business needs, even if it’s not a household name.

Prioritize your “must have” and “nice to have” features – After finding the right WFM solution for your industry and securing more information, prioritize what features really matter. Are you looking for automation to save time and money, or is ease of use more important because you don’t currently have a tech-savvy staff? If you need to show some results immediately, focus right now on what matters next month, not next year.

Seek out a WFM solution with proven onboarding capabilities – In choosing a solution, an often-overlooked step is forgetting about how to get the technology up and running. Take a step back and make sure to ask about the WFM software onboarding process for each solution you’re evaluating. Get references if you want to. A fast and thorough onboarding can result in an immediate impact, whereas a slower and less attentive onboarding experience can really drag down the speed in which you get results.

Don’t fret too much about prep work with new technology – One of the major hurdles in selecting a new WFM technology for your business is the mental hurdle that making the change will be a lot of up-front prep work. With the right solution, this is often not a major concern. Communicate with the sales and onboarding team for your preferred WFM solution about the specific prep work and challenges you have. It’s their job to help customers get to where they need to be, and the process is a team effort between you and your solution provider.

Create a plan to roll out the WFM technology to your team – At last, the technology has been selected and you’ve been onboarded. All the technical work is done and now it’s time to actually use the system. But how do you go about getting the new solution rolled out to everyone? For this, leverage your customer success manager from the solution provider to assist with communication and training your team. Their expertise makes it so WFM becomes a collaborative process where agents are engaged and learning all about how the new technology will make their lives easier. The customer success manager is a product expert and will be able to answer any detailed questions your team may have.

We hope this information on workforce management implementation was valuable in planning for how you can improve your contact center team. Always remember that a great technology provider is more than just software! The onboarding and customer success solutions they provide are often just as important when it comes down to seeing the results you want sooner than later.