Lands’ End refreshes operations with long-awaited contact center modernization
Apparel company Lands’ End wanted to give agents more flexibility and involvement with scheduling while modernizing contact center operations in the cloud.
The previous workforce management (WFM) solution served Lands’ End for two decades. A lot has changed in contact center operations and optimizations since then.
Agents lacked real-time control or input on |scheduling, and WFM specialists were bound to slow, manual processes. The dedicated WFM team generated schedules in advance based on forecasts and availability information, then distributed the schedules via spreadsheet. Any subsequent requests for time off, adjustments, or schedule trades had to be phoned into the WFM team. A WFM specialist would then change the spreadsheets (manually) then type that information into the payroll system as well (again, manually).
02 DESIRE TO CHANGE
Consolidation and consistency in focus
Lands’ End ran on three disparate software platforms. As part of a company-wide push for modernization and optimization, contact center leadership wanted to consolidate on a single, forward-looking, cloud-based solution.
Lands’ End also saw the move to a single contact center platform as an opportunity to harmonize operating policies and practices across different lines of business. Previously, the company’s business-to-business, consumer-facing, and international operations each had different practices. This created waste and drag in the form of siloed operations, limited visibility, and duplicated efforts across different lines of business.
Currently, 80% of the company’s contact center employees are at-home agents, and Lands’ End plans to grow that population. These employees tend to put an even higher premium on flexibility, self-service, and responsiveness, so Lands’ End wanted to provide a world-class work experience. “We continue down the path of more home agents, not less, so the more flexibility we can offer agents, the better,” said Arthur Rebischke, manager of operational analytics and workforce management for Lands’ End.
03 THE SOLUTION
A unified, coordinated rollout
Lands’ End worked with NICE’s Value Realization Services team to design a rollout strategy built on four pillars:
Leadership engagement: This pillar links the implementation of NICE WFM Suite with broader corporate goals for cloud migration and operational improvements. The contact center team prepared a detailed change plan which documented the changes in practices and processes that would ripple throughout the organization, helping executives and line leaders prepare their teams.
Communication: In addition to the change plan, the implementation team provided status updates, first on a monthly and later, on a weekly basis as launch approached. These updates would also explain the range of training and engagement activities that were becoming available. A SharePoint site dedicated to change management gave agents and leaders easy access to timelines, updates, training material, as well as a forum for questions. Agents were also encouraged to share their vision for how the new processes could improve their work experience. The WFM team engaged key change management leaders on a weekly basis to improve understanding on project timelines, to ask questions, and to share lessons learned.
Training and support: The team offered virtual classroom led, on-line self-directed, and job aids for end users, individualized for each agent. These included employee recognition for early adopters, and the creation of an agent superuser team to provide peer-to-peer support. VRS supplemented with a library full of support materials which Lands’ End adapted for its own environment. For easier access, these tools and resources were available on the change management SharePoint.
Business readiness and measurement: Lands’ End kicked off a full change management plan concurrent with technical implementation, and laid the groundwork to measure ongoing success in terms of employee engagement as well as traditional contact center performance metrics.
04 THE RESULTS
Careful planning yields immediate results
The contact center overhaul was completed on schedule, eight months after project kickoff. The careful coordination and change management planning helped the rollout succeed right out of the gate. Agents quickly embraced the ability to coordinate their own absence request and schedule trades via EEM, skipping the traditional method of leaving messages and waiting for confirmation from WFM staff. Adoption of the EEM mobile app continues to climb.
With both EEM and WebStation self-help options available, agents are now empowered to manage most schedule changes directly. Calls to the WFM help desk have dropped 70 percent, and WFM staff time spent on schedule changes is down 80 percent.
The investment in structured methodology to change management, including an agent superuser group also provided strong early returns. The group reviewed training materials for accuracy and clarity, and helped keep both their peers and WFM support staff from being overwhelmed in the hours and days after rollout. Superusers helped other agents with common issues related to login and first-time processes, which kept things running smoothly without spiking demand for help desk services.
05 THE FUTURE
More agent impact, organizational improvements ahead
Unwinding 20 years of entrenched contact center practices doesn’t happen overnight but Lands’ End is already looking for the next wave of improvements from this NICE-powered overhaul. With faster access to agent scheduling data versus operational performance, Lands’ End looks forward to making even more informed decisions about both short-term and long-term staffing needs.
Lands’ End is also using the newly streamlined practices to help improve the initial hire training process, reducing modules which were spread across several forms and systems into a tighter, more digestible experience.
The company continues to work closely with VRS on questions about functionality and opportunity, and to understand how the NICE engineering roadmap could impact future operations.
“This project has been a critical step for us to empower our agents to take control of their schedules and allow them the flexibility that we want to deliver.”
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF CUSTOMER CARE SERVICES LANDS’ END
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ABOUT
Lands’ End, Inc. is a leading uni-channel retailer of casual clothing, accessories, footwear, and home products. The company offers products online, on third party online marketplaces and through company-operated stores, as well as third-party retail locations.
