CUSTOMER PROFILE
A leading supplier of telecommunications and IT in the Netherlands, KPN is committed to creating secure, reliable, and future-proof networks and services to connect people and devices anytime, anywhere. As part of this, the company invests in advanced solutions, from fiber optics to intelligent automation and modernized mobile networks like 5G, to meet its goals for sustainability, innovation, and digital transformation. To digitize its workforce management capabilities, KPN turned to NiCE Workforce Management (WFM) and NiCE Employee Engagement Manager (EEM).
01 THE BEFORE
A war for talent amid increasing digitization
KPN’s private customers and business users expect continuous connectivity, whether they’re using WhatsApp, Spotify, conversational chatbots, or work documents. With digitalization occurring at a breakneck speed, KPN’s users were shifting their energies away from conventional channels and embracing a diverse array of digital mediums. As talent deficits and evolving multi-generational workforce expectations set the stage for an intense local talent war, KPN was struggling to compete with its toughest opponent—the Dutch government—and its promise of higher salaries and lavish benefit packages.
To drive a competitive edge and prepare the company for future growth and innovation, the company needed a future-proof workforce management solution capable of optimizing its workforce, automating the intraday management process, and empowering agents with flexible work schedules with the ability to seamlessly request time off via a mobile app.
02 DESIRE TO CHANGE
A desire for modernized WFM and greater flexibility for employees
To meet these goals, KPN began migrating to NiCE WFM with its incumbent Cloud system and later to EEM, but the company struggled to fully implement and operationalize the WFM solution’s AI- enabled capabilities due to incompatible platform configurations and a lack of internal expertise on how to integrate them properly. With widespread data discrepancies during the migration, agents began to lose trust in the system, and supervisors turned to manual WFM processes to schedule and forecast.
These challenges were compounded by the telecommunications leader’s rigid security and compliance requirements and its transition from single-skilled to multi-skilled agents, which prompted several infrastructure and operational changes.
“Due to the mismatch in configuration, everything from capacity planning to scheduling and interest was impacted,” said Evert van der Zee, senior capacity manager at KPN.
03 THE SOLUTION
Customized workshops drive operational alignment and agent con dence
KPN turned to the NiCE Value Realization Services (VRS) to help it configure the solutions, provide counsel on operations and governance, and prepare its people and systems for change. To chart the best path forward, VRS assembled a multidisciplinary team of key stakeholders (including KPN’s WFM department, the routing and configuration leads on the incumbent team, the program manager of omnichannel enablement, and senior leaders) to define the company’s go-forward priorities, mission, and drive innovation. “By engaging leaders from across the business, VRS helped ensure proper prioritization and resource allocation, ultimately enabling our digital-first strategy through the omni-channel enablement program,” van der Zee said.
From there, VRS led a series of workshops, trainings, focus groups, and in-depth assessments with agents and quality teams to help them understand how the NiCE WFM and EEM solutions work, how to leverage the AI forecasting functionality to improve data accuracy, and how WFM and EEM would benefit their day-to-day work, productivity, and performance. Ultimately, these sessions (conducted in English and Dutch) were designed to extract candid feedback on how agents were feeling about the NiCE solutions and what functionalities they missed, loved, or needed more of. Ultimately, equipped with this intelligence, agents’ confidence and trust in the system increased exponentially.
“With the help of NiCE, we’re closing the gap. The solution ensures there’s not a lot of over or under capacity from an efficiency perspective. It’s a huge step forward in WFM team satisfaction because they’re now enabled to use the system in the right way. It’s beneficial for agent activities, and it boosts their confidence,” says Robert Buist, manager WFM change team, KPN
04 THE RESULTS
AI-powered functionality improves data accuracy, capacity planning, and agent satisfaction
In partnership with VRS, KPN quickly realized a variety of benefits using WFM and EEM, including:
- Activating an automated “call me later” feature that proactively suggested timeslots that were aligned with staffing availability. This allowed customers to request call backs at their convenience and preferred cadence in a way that was efficient and scalable.
- Equipping agents and WFM teams with tools and training needed to use the new automated “call me later” tool and manage intraday change.
- Providing automation that enabled agents to manage and update their availability directly in EEM.
- Empowering the forecasting team to conduct AI analysis.
Since implementing WFM AI Forecasting, KPN has improved the forecast interval accuracy of its most important contact types from 1% to 4% and has successfully achieved its mission of 50% (within a bandwidth of 90-110%) in a few weeks.
Perhaps most importantly, KPN has been able to bolster agent satisfaction. The AI-enabled scheduling vastly improved agent occupancy from 96% to an on- target 90%, absence rates from 3% to 1%, retention from 5% to 15%, and flexibility.
Robert Buist, manager WFM change team at KPN says, “With the Employee Engagement Manager rollout, the flexibility is now with the agents and not with us. They don’t have to contact us to take time off or swap shifts. They’re happy for that because it saves them time and contributes to job satisfaction and happiness.”
05 THE FUTURE
Poised to pioneer a sustainable, digital-first future
Positioned for future growth, KPN plans to expand its use of EEM beyond agents to also include supervisors and administrators. Ultimately, the strategic partnership has helped the telecommunications leader empower its agents to manage their schedules, rebuild trust in the system, and focus on delivering a seamless digital journey.
