In customer operations, regular estimation of future weekly resource requirements is a crucial step to ensure operations run smoothly and efficiently. Here are seven key functions this practice enables, contributing to maximising CX, commercial performance and employee engagement.
👥 Recruitment & Training Planning
From accurate weekly resource requirements, we can create and tweak recruitment and training plans. This ensures we have the optimum number of skilled colleagues ready to handle customer interactions, minimising service disruptions and maintaining high-quality support. Detailed planning here can enable the best possible start to the employee journey.
💰 Budget Submission
Resource modelling can be converted into revenue and cost projections, with all assumptions documented to form a budget submission. This facilitates informed financial planning, allowing discussion and challenge. Throughout the year, we can compare the latest estimates against the budget to monitor progress.
🔍 What-If Modelling
With an accurate resource model, we can analyse alternate scenarios, such as new technology implementations, product launches, or performance improvement opportunities. This helps estimate commercial benefits from various initiatives and help prioritise our efforts.
🌐 Outsourcing
Accurate resource needs enable us to develop effective outsourcing strategies, deciding when and how to leverage our service providers.
🖥️ Sizing Tech
Understanding resource requirements helps in planning IT infrastructure needs, such as telephony/workflow systems, CRM software, and other tools. This ensures our IT systems are robust and scalable to meet operational loads.
🏢 Facilities
Accurate resource planning informs decisions about physical space and facilities. Whether expanding existing offices or setting up new locations, we can ensure that our facilities meet the operational demands efficiently.
🛠️ Support Infrastructure
Regular resource estimates help plan necessary support infrastructure, including management oversight, HR support, and administrative functions – ensuring a robust and responsive environment.
Failing to regularly recalculate resource requirements and review plans can lead to significant issues, particularly in recruitment and training. This can result in poor CX, increased costs, and a negative employee experience. Incorporating these data-driven practices into our weekly routine not only enhances operational efficiency but also ensures exceptional customer experiences – consistently.
In another post I outline the key factors that influence operational resource requirement.
If you need help to calculate resource requirement, please contact me to start a conversation.
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At Atlantic Insight, our mission is to help Customer Operations achieve sustained improvements in operational effectiveness and customer engagement. We would be delighted to partner with you to improve performance. To start a conversation, please email us at hello@atlanticinsight.com, or call us on +44 (0) 161 438 2009
Philip Stubbs is Partner of Atlantic Insight, and has over 25 years’ experience of improving performance within operational areas within a wide range of industries.
