1. Significant Shrinkage! Root Causes and Management Strategies

2. Jeff Bretana Biography
Business Operations Analyst III/Navy Federal Credit Union
10 Years Workforce Management Experience
6 Years Experience with Staff Planning/Annual Financial Planning
2013 Finalist for SWPP’s Workforce Planning Professional of the Year
Member of SWPP’s Board of Advisors
BS in Management from The Florida State University

3. Navy Federal Credit Union
Founded in 1933 with 7 members
Nearly 6 million members at close of 4th quarter 2015
Over $73.3 billion in assets at close of 4th quarter 2015
Eligibility includes Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, and DoD in addition to Navy and Marine Corps
Ranked on Fortune’s list of “100 Best Companies To Work” in 2015 and five of the past eight years
Approximately 3000 Contact Center agents across 4 locations
Multiple skills with majority of volume operating 24/7/365
Multiple channels with inbound/outbound calls, s, and chat
Visit for more details

4. What impact did shrinkage have on our exercise?
The Power of One
What impact did shrinkage have on our exercise?

5. What is Shrinkage?

6. Shrinkage According to “Seinfeld”

7. Shrinkage According to Dictionary.com
How can we draw parallels between the mainstream definition of shrinkage and the contact center definition of shrinkage?

8. Shrinkage in the Contact Center
Contact center shrinkage is the loss of time to activities that are not considered “productive” (i.e. phone, chat, , other work queues). It can be broken down into two categories:
Planned Shrinkage
Time loss to activities known and accounted for before the schedule process begins.
Example: There are 10 agents who will begin a full week of training the week of August 7.
Unplanned Shrinkage
Time loss to activities neither known nor quantified until after the schedule process has completed or the actual day occurs.
Example: There were 5 agents who called out sick today between

9. Planned Shrinkage
Time lost to non productive activities known before schedules are created. The difference between what you could schedule and what you actually can schedule.
Activities typically considered Planned Shrinkage:
Breaks
Meals
Planned leave
Training
Required non demand work
Root Causes
Legal requirements
Maintaining a proper work/life balance
Required training
Required administrative work
Contact Center initiatives

10. Unplanned Shrinkage
Time lost to non productive activities not realized until after schedules are created. The difference between what you schedule and what you actually get.
Activities typically considered Planned Shrinkage:
Unscheduled absences
Late arrivals and early departures
Unplanned breaks
Unplanned training
Various non adherence activities
Root Causes
Illnesses
Unplanned life events
Agent burnout
Poor planning
Ignorance

11. Calculating and Applying Shrinkage
Calculation
Total Unplanned Shrinkage Hours / Total Hours Scheduled
Application
Staff Required / (1 – Shrinkage Rate)
The Dangers of Misapplication
Example: Base requirements of 100 FTEs and a 25% shrinkage rate
Common Misapplication: * 1.25 = 125
Correct Application: / = 133 (rounded down)
A misapplication of the shrinkage rate would have short staffed you by 8 FTEs (6%)

12. Forecasting Shrinkage

13. Tips for Forecasting Shrinkage
Shrinkage can drastically vary based on time of year, day of week, and time of day – measure each level
Track all historical data
Don’t cover up reality with schedule adjustments
Impact of tenure on shrinkage
Low tenure = higher aux usage
High tenure = higher planned/unplanned leave usage
Calibrate your shrinkage inputs
Monthly at least; weekly if possible
Consider shrinkage forecasting as part of the overall forecast process
Shrinkage is as powerful a drive of requirements as volume and AHT but often overlooked
Shrinkage has identifiable trends similar to volume and handle time patterns; it can be forecasted

14. Forecasting Shrinkage By Day
Shrinkage patterns can vary significantly throughout the week
Understand each day’s pattern and the potential drivers of this pattern

15. Forecasting Shrinkage By Interval
Shrinkage is rarely flat when viewed on the interval level
Distinct patterns can be observed and forecasted throughout the day

16. Forecasting Shrinkage By Skill Type
Shrinkage is rarely “one size fits all”
Combined rate was 22%; only two groups closely matched this

17. Importance of Forecasting Shrinkage
Higher requirements = greater impact of shrinkage variance

18. Importance of Forecasting Shrinkage
Lower requirements = greater volatility in shrinkage variance

19. Managing Shrinkage

20. Tips for Managing Your Shrinkage
Report It
Report current shrinkage levels and trends to allow Operations to influence and control
Staff to ensure a balanced workload
Agent burnout will lead to high turnover, absenteeism, and reduced adherence
Provide additional shift and break options
Agents may be less likely to contribute to shrinkage when they are working shifts/breaks that suit them
Set realistic expectations
Setting the bar too high will eventually create diminishing and even reduced returns
Inform agents how much time they can actually “shrink” and still meet expectations
Educate, Educate, Educate
Many agents do not realize the impact of shrinkage
Demonstrate how much off phone time agents are paid for

21. Managing Shrinkage Through Education
On the phones all day?
Show agents the reality!

22. Managing Shrinkage Through Alternative Shift Options
Popular Shift Options
4x10
4x9 1x4
Various other compressed work weeks (12 hours, slants, etc)
Observed Benefits
What Agents Told Us:
Could meet the needs in their personal life better
Felt they were less likely to “call out” with an unscheduled absence
What Was Measured:
Moderate reduction in unplanned leave usage after implementation
Better ability to staff up or down to demand

23. Managing Shrinkage Through Alternative Break Options
Popular “New” Break Options
30 minute meal with three 10 minute breaks
60 minute meal with two 15 minute breaks (work 30 extra minutes/day)
Two 15 minute breaks and no meal (work 30 fewer minutes/day)
One 30 minute meal with no break (work 30 fewer minutes/day)
Observed Benefits
What Agents Told Us:
Additional break helps avoid long periods of time on phone
Reduced need to take unscheduled time off phone
Easier to stay in adherence with fewer break events
What Was Measured:
Better adherence due to decreased use of personal time
Higher productivity due to lower agent fatigue

24. Strategizing Shrinkage

25. Developing a Shrinkage Strategy
Plan as much shrinkage as you can
Training, coaching, other administrative activities known in advance
Unplanned shrinkage through accurate forecasting and trend analysis
Preparation translates into more predictable performance
Understand shrinkage is going to happen
Training, coaching, other administrative activities may be mandatory
Incorporate all known shrinkage into your staffing requirements when requesting additional FTEs
Provide “what if” scenarios if you believe shrinkage could happen but has not yet been approved
Be sure to forecast new shrinkage as soon as it is known
Strategize planned shrinkage – make it work for you!
Identify your workload’s peaks and valleys throughout the year
Schedule your non productive time around this
Offer additional time off during slow parts of the year – it will help when you are unable to approve leave during the peak
Provide Operations a “road map” for planned shrinkage

26. Strategizing Shrinkage
Build a planned shrinkage “road map”
Allow more Planned Shrinkage during non peak months
Training, Off Phone Administrative Work, Leave
Reduce Planned Shrinkage during peak months

27. Questions?

28. Keep in Touch! Jeff Bretana Navy Federal Credit Union
Office: (850)
Work Cell: (850)