Be Curious and Embrace Learning
This mantra is valuable in any career, but it holds particular significance in the niche industry of workforce management. The learning curve in workforce management resembles the shape of a hockey stick: it starts slow but steepens as one progresses. Initially, new entrants often begin as real-time analysts, performing routine tasks like monitoring queues, alerting stakeholders when thresholds are met, and adjusting schedules for offline activities. As they gain experience, they move on to scheduling, where they align workforce schedules with business demands. Eventually, they may advance to roles in capacity planning and forecasting, where they develop long-term forecasts and capacity projections for the business. At this stage, one could be considered a well-rounded workforce management professional.
However, this is also where the paths diverge for workforce management professionals. One option is to continue along the established path, steadily growing within the workforce management domain. The other, more unconventional path offers the opportunity to exponentially increase one’s skill set and potentially become an expert in the field. While this path carries more risk, it can lead to greater rewards for those who aim to be the best in their field.
Exploring New Paths for Exponential Growth in Workforce Management
- Acquire Adjacent Skill Sets
Expanding your knowledge into areas like data analysis, data engineering, and programming can greatly enhance your workforce management capabilities. By mastering these adjacent skills, you reduce your reliance on other departments and can more efficiently execute tasks that drive operational efficiency—a core function of workforce management. - Understand Workforce Management Across Different Communication Channels
Workforce management principles vary across communication channels such as phone, chat, tickets, and retail. For instance, staffing a ticketing network to achieve an average speed of answer comparable to that of a phone channel is not only unnecessary but could also lead to inflated labor costs without delivering the intended client experience. Understanding these nuances is crucial to optimizing workforce strategies across different channels. - Gain Industry-Specific Knowledge
Workforce management goals differ by industry. In financial institutions, for example, controlling expenses is important, making operating leverage a key focus. In contrast, a high-growth industry like online sports betting might prioritize minimizing client friction—such as long wait times for high-value clients—over strict expense control. Understanding these differing objectives allows you to tailor workforce management practices to the specific needs of each industry. - Collaborate with Operational Stakeholders
While technical skills are essential in workforce management, the ability to work effectively with diverse operational stakeholders is equally important. Learning how to influence and navigate different personalities can help you achieve your WFM goals. More importantly, this experience fosters self-awareness, helping you identify the types of personalities and work environments that suit you best, guiding your future career choices. - Experiment with Workforce Management Team Structures
Having the opportunity to construct and re-construct WFM teams across different industries and companies reveals that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. The optimal structure of a WFM team should be dynamic and adaptable to the needs of the operations it supports.
While following the conventional path offers steady progress, those willing to take the road less traveled can unlock new levels of expertise and impact. By acquiring these less spoken WFM skillsets it could lead to greater career success.