All industries have some form of key performance indicators (KPIs) they evaluate and measure. The workforce management (WFM) industry is no different, and even though many of the KPIs are focused on agent performance, it’s also important to keep an eye on the performance of the entire team.

Here are the 10 most common contact center KPI metrics in the workforce management industry:

1) WFM analyst efficiency – Before we dive into the agent-oriented indicators, setting up your WFM analyst with the right technology to do their job is essential. Is it taking them hours to create a forecast and generate schedules or minutes? Yes, the latter is possible, and the right workforce management software solution can be a huge asset to the overall efficiency of a WFM analyst.

2) Forecasting accuracy – When a WFM analyst feels empowered by the right technology, the accuracy of each forecast often improves. Keeping an eye on how forecasts are performing is vital to success in the WFM industry and it’s the foundation of the entire plan to build more accurate schedules. You also want to leverage legacy data via your WFM software to learn from the past so you can better predict the future.

3) Shrinkage – Simply put, shrinkage is measuring anything that takes an agent away from their ability to directly assist customers. It could be training, meetings, or shifting agents to help another team. Shrinkage can vary greatly depending on how much ongoing training or off-phone work needs to be done, and it’s up to leadership to manage and monitor these fluctuations in shrinkage.

4) Utilization – This workforce management KPI metric can be directly linked with shrinkage. It is related to the number of hours each day an agent is available to log in and handle customer interactions. Companies may track utilization to better understand the impact shrinkage is having on their team.

5) Agent schedule adherence – How exactly does an agent spend their workday? When they log in, agents often have a set schedule with specific windows for lunch and breaks. Adherence, which can be monitored in real-time with WFM software, helps your team keep an eye on how agents are working in relation to the time they are scheduled. Adherence helps to ensure all shrinking is properly captured too.

Want to learn more about adherence and how it can impact your business?   Click here to learn all about the CommunityWFM Enterprise solution, featuring our industry leading adherence solution!

6) Service Levels – Controlled by internal or external factors, service levels are benchmark averages to hit when working with customers. For example, having a live agent answer a call within five minutes may be a service level. These are predetermined goals more or less for a contact center to strive towards.

7) Average handle time (AHT) – Another KPI to measure is AHT, or the average time from start to finish it takes for a customer interaction. This is an important metric on the WFM side because if AHT spikes it can be an indicator that agents are handling interactions they may not be qualified to work on.

8) Contact abandonment rate – When AHT rises or your staffing levels are not sufficient, your contact abandonment rate can rise. This is the percentage of contacts that a team receives who terminate the conversation before speaking to an agent. It’s a key WFM call center metric to monitor because having a customer call in and hang up before speaking to anyone is a terrible experience that decreases customer satisfaction.

9) Absenteeism rate – Another reason why AHT can fluctuate is if the absenteeism rate for agents increases beyond normal levels. If there aren’t agents in seats to take calls, AHT will naturally increase. WFM software can help in a major way to find the right replacement agents quickly when an agent calls in sick to lower this rate.

10) Agent churn – If an agent is absent all the time, there’s a higher likelihood that they will churn and leave the company. Agent churn is worth keeping an eye on because, depending on your industry, training an agent to the point where they can speak to a customer may not be easy. A high churn rate is expensive, costing contact centers thousands of dollars per lost employee.

There may be other metrics to measure but tracking some of these workforce management contact center KPIs can positively impact the bottom line of your business.