Workforce management (WFM)
Add workforce management software features to RingCentral RingCX and build a holistic platform that strengthens internal processes, helps teams focus, and supports improved performance across your contact center.
Written by Andy Watson
Senior Manager, Product Marketing
Reviewed by John Finch
VP, Product Marketing, AI Customer Experience
Updated: 28 March 2025
Workforce management or WFM is vital to the smooth running of any contact center. It’s how you ensure you have the right agents, in the right places, at the right times to deliver the exceptional customer experience that modern consumers demand.
Managing workforce related operations manually simply isn’t viable, making a workforce management platform or workforce management features integrated into your contact center solution a necessity. Fortunately, with RingCentral RingCX, you can add WFM features that work seamlessly with the other functions of the omnichannel contact center platform.
As well as having the right tools for efficient WFM, fully understanding the workforce management process, what it entails, and how it can help your business is also vital. That’s why you’ll want to read on.
Managing workforce related operations manually simply isn’t viable, making a workforce management platform or workforce management features integrated into your contact center solution a necessity. Fortunately, with RingCentral RingCX, you can add WFM features that work seamlessly with the other functions of the omnichannel contact center platform.
As well as having the right tools for efficient WFM, fully understanding the workforce management process, what it entails, and how it can help your business is also vital. That’s why you’ll want to read on.
What is workforce management? WFM meaning in a nutshell
Workforce management refers to a set of internal processes necessary to create and retain an optimally efficient workforce. It covers all the functions and activities a productive workforce needs, including but not limited to:
- Human resource management (HRM)
- Talent management
- Field service management
- Labor management
- Leave management
- Workforce planning
- Workforce analytics
Workforce management responsibilities
Workforce management roles and responsibilities will differ from one organization to the next. Typically, a workforce manager oversees a company's productivity at the individual, departmental, and organizational levels. As such, they make sure that an efficient workforce management system is in place.
Call center workforce management
While WFM can apply to different businesses and organizations, call or contact center workforce management is perhaps the most common application.
Workforce management in call centers and contact centers aims to assign the right number of agents with the right skill sets at the right time. You want the best possible fit between the amount of work required and the number of workers scheduled. This approach ensures that your business can consistently deliver excellent customer service.
Workforce management in call centers and contact centers aims to assign the right number of agents with the right skill sets at the right time. You want the best possible fit between the amount of work required and the number of workers scheduled. This approach ensures that your business can consistently deliver excellent customer service.
Key functions of workforce management software
Contact center workforce management software helps you to keep agents happy, engaged, and best placed to deliver seamless customer experiences. More specifically, the best workforce management software helps you with:
Forecasting involves predicting your future workload so you can determine your labor requirements. To make an accurate forecast, you have to consider demand signals like historical data, weather, special events, and equipment failure. For example, during a promo, a company might experience a surge in inbound call volumes.
With an accurate forecast of future call demands, you can define the shifts and hours that would be known as the agents’ official work schedule. Your software for workforce management should have scheduling features that consider each agent’s skills, contracted work rules, and calendar items to help you optimize schedules based on customer interaction patterns.
Assign the right number of agents to appropriate shifts to meet operational needs. With our previous example of a promo, the company may respond to an increase in inbound call volume by scheduling more agents with specific product knowledge to handle inbound interactions. That will ensure the right numbers of staff to manage the elevated workload throughout the promo period.
A contact center is a fast-paced environment, and anything can happen at any time. Your goal is to anticipate changes (for example, due to absenteeism, sudden spikes in call volume, and so on) and to be able to re-forecast targets to ensure service levels are being met and agents are doing their assigned tasks. The right workforce management system software should help here, too.
Training your workers is key to the success of your contact center. However, it may get complicated if you have to take them away from their tasks, specifically when there’s a spike in inbound calls. You need your agents at their desk helping your customers.
So when is the right time to train your agents without negatively impacting your contact center performance? A workforce management program will help you find the optimum time for training and other meetings with your agents.
Goals of a workforce management program
Broadly, businesses introduce workforce management programs to seek to make their contact centers as efficient as possible. It’s about building a sleeker workforce and getting ahead of the competition.
Of course, every organization has different individual properties. That’s why workforce management should always begin with clear planning. What inefficiencies exist in the day-to-day operations of your business? How can contact center staff be reallocated to address these issues?
Clearly defined objectives enable successful workforce management.
Why is workforce management important? Notable benefits of workforce management solutions
The importance of workforce management becomes clear when you consider the fact that it enables effective forecasting, scheduling, and staffing, as well as making adjustments in real time. Just as critical is having access to the right WFM software and WFM tools to automate your processes. With those solutions, you’ll see benefits in all the following areas:
WFM software helps you more accurately track the time agents are working, how long they’re idle, time spent on calls, and more. That’s vital for ensuring efficiency and productivity, and is particularly beneficial if you’re managing a remote workforce who you can’t physically monitor.
We’ve already mentioned this, but let’s be a bit more specific—a happy workforce is crucial. A happy workforce is a productive workforce, making it the most significant business advantage.
As a workforce manager, you need engaged employees who put in nothing less than their best effort to accomplish their assigned tasks. Automated WFM systems give your employee engagement efforts a big push by helping you properly schedule agents.
Make your staff even happier by giving them more flexibility with their shifts while maintaining the efficiency of your contact center. This is something they’ll surely appreciate.
Understaffing stops you from efficiently responding to customer interactions, while overstaffing makes for idle time and underutilized agents. None of these will happen with proper scheduling. Instead, you’ll be able to maximize your employees’ individual contributions, and balance productivity and payroll costs.
Fact: Employees don’t come cheap. It doesn’t take a human capital management expert to know that the total sum of employees’ salaries, including overtime and indirect compensation, makes up a huge chunk of a company’s operational costs. That makes WFM crucial to reducing expenses.
Here are a few other areas where you can minimize costs with WFM.
- Administrative costs: Submit payroll in minutes without having to fix timesheet inaccuracies or work on error-prone clerical tasks
- Unplanned overtime: Eliminate unnecessary overtime hours by planning for the correct number of agents
- Time theft: Reduce fraudulent hours with an online time clock (RingCentral integrates well with different WFM solutions, time clocks included)
- Labor law violations: Quality workforce management systems provide oversight and complete employee records to guarantee compliance
- Wage and hour miscalculations: A workforce management solution avoids errors in time and pay calculations and ensures pay rules are correctly implemented
With access to more insights, context, and workforce management tools, the workforce manager will be able to make informed decisions. They’ll also be less likely to make incorrect judgments (think about functional requirements like staffing).
They’ll respond to fluctuating project demand levels without sacrificing quality, reallocate human resources when necessary, and enforce ways to improve customer satisfaction or promote corporate social responsibility.
Incomplete spreadsheets, agent turnover, filing discrepancies—there was a time when issues like these made it hard for businesses to optimize their workforce management processes. That’s mainly because they were doing manual paperwork or using disconnected systems to record and analyze operational data.
With industry-leading workforce management solutions like the one offered by RingCentral, you can easily track and analyze data. Your managers will be able to compare your actual contact center performance against your budget and, when necessary, make process adjustments.
These days, businesses often have remote employees—something old WFM systems may not be able to effectively handle. Go for a workforce management solution that has the flexibility to accommodate a global workforce.
Challenges of a traditional workforce management system
Traditional workforce management systems, with many processes having to be done manually, present some challenges to modern employers. These barriers will become more significant as your organization grows. These challenges are also some of the biggest arguments for investing in a workforce management solution:
Represented employees
Employees represented by a union often receive higher wages and other benefits. Meeting these requirements can be difficult. Different rules apply to staff based on different factors, such as seniority, pay entitlements, and tenure at your organization.
Staying on top of these different requirements manually can be a challenge. There’s a risk that staff will not receive their entitlement, which can lead to further issues. Workforce management software can help you navigate these complexities. You can automate payment and other benefits to make sure staff receive the correct amounts.
Time tracking
Without an integrated system, time tracking can be an error-prone process. Some time-tracking solutions lack data quality, and thus provide inaccurate time tracking information. This creates a variety of problems.
If employee hours are recorded incorrectly, they risk not being paid for their work. This leads to discontent and frustration within your workforce. What’s more, errors can be costly and time-consuming to correct.
A workforce management system provides visibility and accuracy. Collecting data at the source, such as via a mobile app, ensures high-quality data.
Compliance with labor laws
Legal compliance is a top priority for all organizations. However, keeping up-to-date with changing labor laws can be challenging. This is especially true if you operate contact centers in multiple jurisdictions with differing legislation.
Within the United States, each state has distinct legal frameworks for employers. What applies in state A, may not apply in state B. You’ll need to be mindful of the law in each state in which you operate. Any breaches of law can be costly both monetarily and reputationally.
Effective workforce management solutions cut out the legwork and help you to operate in a compliant way.
Maintaining smooth communication
In a large-scale organization, with many departments, teams, and employees communication can quickly become a challenge. This is largely because there is no centralized method of communication. Employees switch between email, text messaging, and conferencing apps.
Due to this, there’s a risk that communication between contact center teams might become siloed. This could damage the quality of your customer service.
Workforce management solutions create a centralized space for communication. This connects all employees throughout an organization. Information can be exchanged easily, and everyone is kept in the loop.
How to choose the right workforce management tools
The easiest way to solve the challenge of workforce management is with the right software. But finding the best solution for your needs will take some preparation. Make sure you follow the steps listed below when choosing your WFM tools:
Always plan
Before choosing software, carry out a thorough assessment of your existing workforce management processes. List all your current workforce management procedures.
Next, think about your current weaknesses. In which areas of workforce management are you underperforming? It's a good idea to contact stakeholders and team leaders to better understand inefficiencies.
To manage your effectiveness, it's useful to measure the performance of processes against key performance indicators. A contact center might measure the following areas:
- Agent utilization - Measures the amount of time agents spend dealing with customers compared to time spent idle. Efficient workforce management should ensure effective agent utilization.
- Customer satisfaction (CSAT) – Looks at how happy customers are with your service. With your workforce firing on all cylinders, CSAT should be high.
Finally, compile a list of all the improvements you want to make. This will help you understand the different features you need from any workforce management tool. Compare potential solutions against this list as you consider them.
Consider core functions
While we can’t talk about the specific needs of your business, we can talk about important core functions for workplace management software. Consider whether a solution contains the following essential features:
- Innovative features – Modern workforce management solutions are equipped with artificial intelligence. This enables them to predict future workloads so you can more effectively manage your workforce.
- Time tracking capabilities – A solution should enable you to easily track time, anticipate absenteeism, and make sure that employees are accurately paid.
- Intraday management options – In the hectic contact center environment, you need to be prepared for any eventuality, such as staff illness or sudden spikes in call volumes. If a disruption does happen, software should support you to create new performance targets.
- Support with compliance – Compliance is a big part of workplace management. Software should help you track compliance, and let you know when you’re falling short.
- Help with budgeting – A contact center must balance staffing needs with profit. Software should be able to create demand forecasts to help your business deploy agents in a cost-efficient way.
Opt for comprehensive support
Switching to new software can be a learning curve for you and your team. While the right solution should be user-friendly, you’ll naturally get stuck from time to time. Equally, although the right solution should make these instances minimal, any downtime can be frustrating.
During such times, it's essential that you have easy access to outstanding customer services. Prioritize solutions that offer around-the-clock support, and choose providers that offer maximum convenience. So as well as phone support, make sure there’s also live chat or social media messaging.
Lastly, consider how many people use a platform. The best workforce management solutions have a community of users. Has a provider created space so its wider community can ask questions?
During such times, it's essential that you have easy access to outstanding customer services. Prioritize solutions that offer around-the-clock support, and choose providers that offer maximum convenience. So as well as phone support, make sure there’s also live chat or social media messaging.
Lastly, consider how many people use a platform. The best workforce management solutions have a community of users. Has a provider created space so its wider community can ask questions?
Improve your workforce management process with RingCentral today
Workforce management FAQs
WFM stands for workforce management. It’s a very commonly used shorthand that you’re likely to come across whenever you read around the topic. Some similar but distinct terms include WEM and WFO, they stand for workforce engagement management and workforce optimization, respectively.
Workforce management apps provide a complete overview of all employee processes. This can involve a variety of tasks, from time tracking to automating a variety of manual processes.
Workforce management tools also provide unique insights into your employee base. This includes detailed workplace analytics and reports. The best modern tools are built using artificial intelligence. This means that they can provide predictive analytics and project future workforce trends.
Modern workforce management solutions are cloud-based. This means there is no hassle of installing and maintaining physical infrastructure. Cloud-based solutions run entirely on an internet connection.
Workforce management tools also provide unique insights into your employee base. This includes detailed workplace analytics and reports. The best modern tools are built using artificial intelligence. This means that they can provide predictive analytics and project future workforce trends.
Modern workforce management solutions are cloud-based. This means there is no hassle of installing and maintaining physical infrastructure. Cloud-based solutions run entirely on an internet connection.
Workforce management facilitates smooth and efficient day-to-day business operations. Workforce management software can support these functions in many different ways.
For example, thanks to increased oversight, employers can deploy their workforce more efficiently.
Another major workforce management software function is time tracking. Tools can track employee activity to a high degree of accuracy. This ensures that staff are paid correctly for the hours they work. Tracking can also be used to monitor agent efficiency.
For example, thanks to increased oversight, employers can deploy their workforce more efficiently.
Another major workforce management software function is time tracking. Tools can track employee activity to a high degree of accuracy. This ensures that staff are paid correctly for the hours they work. Tracking can also be used to monitor agent efficiency.
For call or contact centers, specifically, workforce management is often about ensuring appropriate staffing levels.
Contact centers also deploy workforce management software for its predictive analytics features (a tool can forecast periods of high staff sick leave or customer demand). With the right software, it’s easier to prepare for sudden changes in activity.
Lastly, a contact center might use management software to track compliance. Tools can monitor business processes and provide alerts for potential infringements of legislation. This helps to minimize the risk of fines and reputational damage from a failure to comply.
Contact centers also deploy workforce management software for its predictive analytics features (a tool can forecast periods of high staff sick leave or customer demand). With the right software, it’s easier to prepare for sudden changes in activity.
Lastly, a contact center might use management software to track compliance. Tools can monitor business processes and provide alerts for potential infringements of legislation. This helps to minimize the risk of fines and reputational damage from a failure to comply.
As modern technology continues to change the workplace, approaches to workforce management must evolve. One of the most obvious areas of change relates to regulation. New data laws are continually being introduced as legislation catches up to technological advancement.
This means contact centers will likely attract more attention regarding how they collect, manage, and maintain workforce data. Without clear oversight, the task of workforce management will become even more difficult.
Alongside a more regulated workforce, managing increasingly dispersed employees will also likely become a challenge. With so many employees working off-site, management can be difficult. There’s a greater risk of teams becoming siloed, as information becomes harder to exchange. It can, however, also provide an opportunity for contact centers as you can gain access to worldwide talent and build a global team.
Lastly, we’re likely to see the continuing rise of artificial intelligence. Contact centers are already embracing AI, and with machine learning-powered chatbots, we can relieve pressure on agents. As the technology develops we’ll see improved call scoring, greater customer insights, and more use of virtual agents.
To transition to an AI-powered future, employers need the correct infrastructure. Outdated legacy systems will quickly become cumbersome and inefficient.
The best way to prepare for all these changes is to invest in workforce management solutions. It’s the answer to clear oversight and communication, tracking compliance, and embracing AI.
This means contact centers will likely attract more attention regarding how they collect, manage, and maintain workforce data. Without clear oversight, the task of workforce management will become even more difficult.
Alongside a more regulated workforce, managing increasingly dispersed employees will also likely become a challenge. With so many employees working off-site, management can be difficult. There’s a greater risk of teams becoming siloed, as information becomes harder to exchange. It can, however, also provide an opportunity for contact centers as you can gain access to worldwide talent and build a global team.
Lastly, we’re likely to see the continuing rise of artificial intelligence. Contact centers are already embracing AI, and with machine learning-powered chatbots, we can relieve pressure on agents. As the technology develops we’ll see improved call scoring, greater customer insights, and more use of virtual agents.
To transition to an AI-powered future, employers need the correct infrastructure. Outdated legacy systems will quickly become cumbersome and inefficient.
The best way to prepare for all these changes is to invest in workforce management solutions. It’s the answer to clear oversight and communication, tracking compliance, and embracing AI.