WFM Glossary

From WFM Labs

This WFM Glossary provides definitions for key terms used in workforce management, contact center operations, and related disciplines. Terms link to their full wiki pages where available.

A

Abandonment Rate
The percentage of contacts where the customer disconnects before being answered by an agent. Abandonment correlates inversely with service level.
Absenteeism
Unplanned absence from scheduled work. A component of unplanned shrinkage.
ACD (Automatic Call Distributor)
The telephony system that routes incoming contacts to available agents. ACDs capture the interval-level data that feeds WFM forecasting and real-time monitoring.
Adherence
A measure of whether an agent is performing the scheduled activity at the scheduled time. Expressed as a percentage of time in the correct state.
After-Call Work (ACW)
Activities completed by an agent immediately after a contact ends, including notes, disposition coding, and follow-up scheduling. A component of AHT.
Agent
An employee who handles customer interactions in a contact center.
AHT (Average Handle Time)
The mean duration of a customer interaction: talk time + hold time + after-call work. A critical input to Erlang C staffing calculations.
ARIMA
AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average. A statistical forecasting method that models temporal autocorrelation in time series data.
ASA (Average Speed of Answer)
The average time a caller waits in queue before being connected to an agent. Derivable from the Erlang C model.
Attrition
The rate at which employees leave the organization (voluntary or involuntary). A key input to workforce planning and capacity planning.

B

Base Staff
The number of agents required to be in a ready state to meet a service level target, as calculated by Erlang C (before adding shrinkage).
Blended Agent
An agent handling contacts across multiple channels (e.g., voice and chat) or both inbound and outbound. See Multi-Channel and Blended Operations.
BPO (Business Process Outsourcing)
Contracting contact center operations to a third-party provider. Introduces contractual and governance complexity to WFM.

C

Capacity Planning
The process of translating long-range demand forecasts into hiring plans, budget allocations, and resource strategies.
Coaching
Structured feedback and development interactions between supervisors and agents. A component of planned shrinkage.
Concurrency
The number of contacts an agent handles simultaneously (primarily relevant to chat). Affects how AHT and occupancy are measured.
Conformance
A measure of whether an agent worked the total number of scheduled hours, regardless of timing. Distinct from adherence.
Contact Center
A centralized operation managing customer interactions across multiple communication channels.
CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score)
A survey-based metric measuring customer satisfaction with a specific interaction or overall experience.

D

Demand Calculation
The mathematical process of converting forecast volume and AHT into staffing requirements (Erlangs of offered load).
Discrete-Event Simulation
A modeling technique that simulates individual events (calls, arrivals, service completions) to predict system behavior. An alternative to Erlang C for complex environments.

E

Employee Scheduling
The process of assigning workers to shifts, tasks, and time slots to meet operational demand.
Erlang
A unit of telecommunications traffic. One Erlang represents one hour of continuous server utilization. Named after A.K. Erlang.
Erlang C
A queueing theory formula that calculates the probability of waiting in queue, used to determine staffing requirements for a service level target.
ETS (Exponential Smoothing)
A family of time-series forecasting methods that apply exponentially decreasing weights to older observations.

F

FCR (First Contact Resolution)
The percentage of contacts resolved during the initial interaction without requiring a follow-up.
Forecast Accuracy
The degree to which predicted values match actual values. Common metrics: MAPE, WAPE, MASE, bias.
Forecasting
Predicting future workload (volume and AHT) to drive staffing and scheduling decisions.
FTE (Full-Time Equivalent)
A standardized measure of workforce capacity. One FTE = the hours of a full-time employee (typically 40 hours/week).

G

Grade of Service
In telecommunications, the probability that a call is blocked (Erlang B) or delayed (Erlang C). In WFM, often used interchangeably with Service Level.

H

Handle Time
The total time an agent spends on a single contact. See AHT.
Hierarchical Forecasting
Forecasting at multiple levels of aggregation (e.g., queue, site, enterprise) and reconciling the forecasts for consistency.
Hold Time
Time during which a customer is placed on hold while the agent researches or consults. A component of AHT.

I

Idle Time
Time an agent spends in a ready state waiting for the next contact. The inverse of occupancy.
Intelligent Automation
The application of AI, RPA, and advanced analytics to automate workforce management and operational processes.
Interval
The time granularity used for WFM planning, typically 15 or 30 minutes. Volume, AHT, staffing, and service level are all calculated at the interval level.
IVR (Interactive Voice Response)
An automated telephony system that routes callers through menus before connecting to an agent. IVR containment rate affects contact volume.

K

Knowledge Management
The systems and practices for capturing, organizing, and delivering information to agents and customers.

L

Long-Run Workforce Sizing
Strategic workforce planning at the 1-3 year horizon. Distinct from operational capacity planning.

M

MAPE (Mean Absolute Percentage Error)
A forecast accuracy metric expressing average error as a percentage of actual values.
Multi-Channel and Blended Operations
Managing workforce across voice, chat, email, social, and other channels simultaneously.
Multi-Objective Optimization
Simultaneously optimizing multiple competing objectives (cost, CX, EX) rather than a single target.

N

Net Staffing
The difference between scheduled staff and required staff per interval. Positive = overstaffed; negative = understaffed.
NPS (Net Promoter Score)
A customer loyalty metric based on likelihood to recommend. Used as a strategic outcome measure.

O

Occupancy
The percentage of available time agents spend handling contacts. Calculated as handle time divided by available time.
Offered Load
The total workload presented to a system, measured in Erlangs. Calculated as arrival rate multiplied by average handle time.
Overtime
Hours worked beyond the standard schedule. An intraday lever for managing understaffing.

P

Performance Management
The systematic process of measuring, evaluating, and improving individual and team performance.
Pooling Theory
The mathematical principle showing that larger agent pools achieve higher efficiency (lower occupancy at the same service level) due to statistical smoothing.
Probabilistic Forecasting
Forecasting methods that produce prediction intervals or distributions rather than point estimates.
Probabilistic Scheduling
Scheduling approaches that account for uncertainty in both demand and attendance.

Q

Quality Management
The evaluation of agent interactions against quality standards. Includes monitoring, scoring, calibration, and feedback.
Queue
A waiting line of contacts awaiting agent availability. Queue behavior is modeled by Erlang C and queueing theory.

R

Real-Time Management
Monitoring and adjusting operations within the current day based on actual conditions versus the plan.
ROC (Resource Optimization Center)
The operational hub for real-time WFM decision-making.
Rostering
Assigning specific employees to generated shifts based on skills, preferences, and constraints.

S

Schedule Generation
The optimization process of creating shift assignments that cover demand at minimum cost.
Service Level
The percentage of contacts answered within a target time threshold (e.g., 80% in 20 seconds).
Shift Design
Defining available shift types (start times, durations, breaks) that form the schedule catalog.
Shrinkage
The percentage of paid time agents are not available for contact handling (breaks, training, absence, etc.).
Skill-Based Routing
Routing contacts to agents based on skill proficiency rather than simple availability.
SLA (Service Level Agreement)
A contractual commitment for service delivery, often expressed as a service level target.

T

Talk Time
The duration of active conversation between agent and customer. A component of AHT.
Time and Attendance
Systems tracking when employees work, break, and are absent. Feeds adherence, shrinkage, and payroll.
Traffic Intensity
Workload measured in Erlangs. The ratio of arrival rate to service rate.

V

Variance Harvesting
An operating principle where the gap between plan and actual is treated as an opportunity for productive action rather than a failure.
VTO (Voluntary Time Off)
Offering agents the option to leave early during overstaffed periods. An intraday lever for reducing labor cost.

W

WAPE (Weighted Absolute Percentage Error)
A forecast accuracy metric that weights errors by the magnitude of actual values, reducing sensitivity to small-denominator intervals.
WFM Labs Maturity Model™
A five-level framework assessing organizational maturity in workforce management practices.
Workforce Management
The institutional process of aligning labor supply with demand through forecasting, scheduling, real-time management, and performance optimization.
Workforce Optimization
A strategy integrating WFM, quality, analytics, and engagement into a unified approach to workforce effectiveness.
Workforce Planning
Strategic analysis and planning of workforce supply and demand at the 1-5 year horizon.

See Also

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