This document discusses overcoming workforce management challenges in a unionized environment at a telecommunications company. It describes scheduling resources according to complex union rules regarding seniority and shift assignments. It also discusses automating the annual vacation bidding process, which previously took 3 months, to reduce it to 1 month. The document provides tips for determining what is specified in union contracts versus past practices, communicating changes, and partnering with both the union and software vendor for solutions.

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www.ciber.com
Overcoming WFM Challenges
in a Union Environment
Speaker – Debra Phillips

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Contents
• Background
• Challenges
• Impacts
• Problems
– Scheduling Resources
– Work with Vendor to Customize Solution
• Change Management
– Annual Vacation Bid
– Business as Usual
• A Few Lessons Learned
• Summary Tips

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Telecommunications Company
• Multiple CWA contracts with language intact from
previous company’s agreements for region.
– Bell Atlantic of West Virginia
– NYNEX
– GTE
• Union workers represent 35,000 plus workers total in
Retail Division
- 15,000 workers in Contact Center/BackOffice to
schedule

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Workforce Management Challenges
• Union Contract
– How Can We ?
• Optimize scheduling of resources to improve customer
delivery of services across regions
• Optimize change management process for administrative
resources
• Determine practices via contract or office precedent
• Company
– How Can We ?
• Decrease operating costs for internal support – multiple
systems, servers, support processes
• Limit service disruptions
• Replace manual processes with automation

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Workforce Management Results
• Culture
– General acceptance of scheduling resources to meet customer
needs.
– Preserve fairness in scheduling assignments by seniority and
agent preferences (NEW)
– Provide automation of labor intensive /manual processes
– Facilitate change management through training
• Business Results
– Provide optimal schedules within union guidelines of seniority
– Automate manual processes / reporting
– Implement singular platform /WFM system as system of record
for adherence/conformance reporting and payroll integration

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Scheduling Resources
• Detail of Scheduling Rules in Union Contract
– Daily work rules
• Length of shift paid ( 7.0, 7.5, 8.0 hours)
• Break and Lunch times (Lunch must be scheduled no earlier
than 3 hours and no later than 4.5 hours into shift)
– Weekly work rules
• Specific shift start times, consistent start times, consistent
start times for work week
• Rotation of weekends – seniority, list, alphabetical, fixed,
fairness
• Determining days off

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Scheduling Resources
• Schedule Assignment for Agents
– Seniority with extension
• Applied to each day
• Applied to each day of work week
• Length of Time for Assignment
– Monthly Schedule Bids
– Weekly generation
– Scheduling Horizon

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Scheduling Resources
• Question – How do we create agents schedules ?
1. Flexible Weekly Rules with Start Time ranges
2. Flexible Weekly Rules with Limited Start Time ranges
3. Fixed Set of Schedules rotated (small work groups)
4. Fixed Schedule pattern set for Month Mon- Fri , rotating
Saturday by seniority list
5. Fixed Schedule pattern set for Month Mon- Fri , rotating
Saturday by alphabetical last name
6. Consistent Start Times Mon – Fri , Weekend by operating
hours, Weekend rotation by fairness
7. Etc.
* Former Scheduling system was programmed to build
schedules day at a time, assigned days to work first.

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Scheduling Resources
• Question – How do we assign agents to schedules ?
1. Seniority
2. Seniority and Preferences
• Early – Late
• Late – Early
• List order 8am – 9am – 10am
• Question – How do we reconcile perceived violations in
agent assignments for new WFM system ? (because builds
schedules differently from old system)
1. We needed help from vendor to understand process
2. We needed help from vendor to offer solution for most complex
scheduling assignment of resources

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Work with Vendor to Customize Solution
• Weekly Rule Preferencing
– Applies equal weighting for shift start time and day off patterns
– Force member patterns for start time consistency Monday –
Friday
– Agent Assignment of schedules by preference/seniority
• To Date – still work in progress
– Monday – Friday agent assignments follow preferences by
seniority
– Saturday / Weekend – perceived seniority violations
– Meets minimum of current process ( manual assignment of lay
days and force Saturday Agents assignments)
• Continue to work with Vendor for next development.
– Virtual Schedule Allocations

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Change Management
• Details of Annual Vacation Bid Process in Contract
– 2 to 3 month process with many rounds
– Included more than Vacation benefit time
– Process required many administrative resources to track to
completion
– Union Representation involved at different points/ Region
– Time off allotments based on percentage of staff – not liability
• Business as Usual Process
– Cancel time already booked after January 1st
– Break weeks into days or hold in reserve
– Includes all benefit time paid/unpaid
– Awarded by seniority or first request

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Change Management
• Annual Vacation Bid Process
– Requested Word Document of Vacation Bid Process
• What has been communicated before? What has been
agreed upon for timelines ? What is role of Union ?
– Developed Template to translate process into WFM system
• How do we set up module in system ? What information do
we need from business ?
– Template became basis for multiple discussions with business
owners/workforce managers
• Business as Usual Process
– Added additional Benefit time to Vacation Rule for tracking,
subtraction of agent earnings, feeds payroll
– Use of Wait List

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A Few Lessons Learned
• Local offices to a region under one CBA , have not been
following same payroll rounding rules per contract.
– Verified with Regional Rep specifics, Union partnered with
Support/Business to correct practice.
• Small work group manually scheduling agents via spreadsheet
– deployed on WFM system with intent to schedule breaks
and lunches by seniority.
– Confirmed only lunch was part of daily rules in contract.
– WFM system allowed more lunch options with flexibility and
followed seniority assignment with lunch preferences.
• Automating Vacation Bid process – reduced administrative
time from 3 months to 1 month.
– Allowed Local offices to choose method of delivery after piloting
process and new module. ( obtained buy-in)

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Summary Tips
• Determine Contract vs. Precedent
– Is it in the contract ?
– Have we always done it that way ?
– Is it documented ?
• What is the process ?
• Is there an agreed upon timeline ?
• Look to Union as a Partner
• Communicate
• Ask Help from Vendor , they are your partner too !

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Speaker Bio
• Debra Phillips, CIBER Consultant / Verizon
– Background in Sales, Customer Service, Outsourcing Contact
Centers
– Telecom/Cable, Healthcare, Retail, Catalog, Government
Industries
– Extensive experience in strategic and operational functions of
Workforce Management in the Contact Center environment,
covering scheduling, forecasting, budgeting, and intraday
management process design, implementation, and operations.
Design and operational experience in multi-contact type and
multi-skilled agent environments.
• Email – debra.phillips@verizon.com