Resources

For contact centers planning across multiple locations, here’s a practical check on whether each site's plan reflects its actual operating conditions. When was the last time you looked at your shrinkage assumption? Not at the network level, but for each site? Most multi-location contact center workforce management runs to a single blended assumption. It's practical. It's faster. And for a long time, it's been accepted as good enough. But good enough at the network level and g

A leader-level discussion on uncovering the hidden risks in your staffing plans, cost forecasts, and service commitments. What You'll Learn Shrinkage is one of the most influential drivers of contact center performance, yet it is often treated as a single, blended assumption. For senior leaders, this simplification quietly introduces risk into staffing plans, cost forecasts, and service commitments. When assumptions don’t match reality, the gap creates immediate exposure: sta

Most contact center leaders believe they understand their labor model. Headcount is approved. Salaries are budgeted. Capacity is forecasted. And underneath it all sits a quiet assumption: 40 paid hours equals 40 productive hours. That assumption deserves scrutiny. As Mark Alpern , Co-Founder and COO at Cinareo, explained, “ When we talk about shrinkage, it’s really a generic term for non-productive time… it is as simple in principle, but complex in execution. ” The complexity

Shrinkage remains one of the most misunderstood yet impactful metrics in contact center management. While often viewed as a simple Workforce Management (WFM) percentage, miscalculating it leads to significant inefficiencies that affect customer experience, employee engagement, and financial performance