Don’t Push Occupancy Beyond 85%

Video Image: Don’t Exceed 85% Maximum Occupancy

In contact centres, staffing efficiency is key. But there’s a line you shouldn’t cross, and it’s called maximum occupancy

In this instalment of our video series on the key concepts behind accurate forecasting, Call Centre Helper’s Jonty Pearce explains why exceeding 85% occupancy can do more harm than good – and how to avoid it in your calculations.

Video: Forecasting Fundamentals: Don’t Exceed 85% Maximum Occupancy

Watch the video below to hear Jonty explain what you need to know about forecasting – focussing on why you shouldn’t exceed 85% Maximum Occupancy:

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What Is Occupancy?

Occupancy is the percentage of time that an agent is actively handling contacts during their available working time.

“One of the things you need to be really careful of when you’re doing staffing calculations is maximum occupancy.

That is the percentage of an hour that someone is actually working on contact centre calls during that period, and you shouldn’t exceed 85% of that figure.”

So, if someone is busy on calls for 51 minutes in an hour, their occupancy is 85%. That’s the recommended maximum.

Why 85% Is the Ceiling

It’s tempting to run contact centres at 90% or even 95% occupancy, especially in high-pressure or outsourced environments. But here’s the catch – it doesn’t work, as Jonty explains:

“In the short term it’s tempting to go over that, but the problem is if you go over 85% for any length of time, then effectively people get burnt out, they get to the point where they can’t think straight.

I’ve heard a lot of outsourcers say we can take occupancy well over 90 / 95%. Yes, and I’ve looked at the figures what actually happens there is the occupancy is actually much worse than that 95% that they think.

What’s happened is people get burnt out, they get to the point they can’t think straight, so effectively average handling time increases, what you find is time on hold increases, and after call work also increases.

So, if you go over 85% what you’ll find is that actually your average handling time goes up to cover that extra amount of occupancy.”

Once occupancy goes over 85% for any sustained period, agents start to burn out, and they lose focus, they get mentally fatigued, and the quality of their work suffers.

This leads to:

Longer average handling times
Increased time on hold
More after-call work
Lower customer satisfaction

So even though it looks like you’re squeezing more out of your team, the reality is you’re getting less.

The Numbers Behind the Rule

Let’s say you’re using a staffing calculator like the one from Call Centre Helper.

“When you’re doing a calculation for instance, if you use the Call Centre Helper erlang calculator, then what you’ll see is we’ll always give two figures.

So, for instance if you didn’t factor in occupancy, you could meet an 80% service level, for say 208 agents, but by time you factor in 85% occupancy that actually says you need 236 agents, and that’s before you apply shrinkage to actually meet that service level.

And if you apply something like 35% shrinkage, you’ll need 337 people on the on the phones or in the contact centre.”

It might tell you that to meet an 80% service level, you need 208 agents, assuming unlimited occupancy, but once you apply the 85% cap, you’ll actually need 236 agents.

And that’s before you apply shrinkage, which typically accounts for holidays, sickness, training, and other non-productive time. With 35% shrinkage, that number jumps to 337 people.

Don’t Trust the First Number

It’s easy to grab the first figure that a calculator gives you and assume it’s enough.

“So be very careful of picking the first number that comes out of an erlang calculator”

But unless you’ve factored in a sensible occupancy limit, and applied shrinkage, you’re going to be understaffed.

And when that happens, performance drops, stress rises, and your contact centre runs into serious trouble.

Why It Matters

High occupancy looks efficient on paper. But in practice, it leads to burnout and inefficiency.

Stick to 85% as your ceiling, build your staffing plans around it, and make sure you’re looking beyond the raw numbers to what actually works in the real world.

If you are looking for more great insights from Jonty about forecasting, check out these next:

Author
Jonty Pearce

Jonty Pearce walked into his first call centre in 1989 and has been hooked ever since. He founded Call Centre Helper in 1989.

He is an Engineering Graduate with a background in marketing and publishing. In 2020 he won the AOP Digital Publishing Award for The Best Use of Data.

He writes and speaks on a wide variety of subjects - particularly around forecasting and scheduling. His in depth knowledge of forecasting algorithms has earned him the nickname "Mr Erlang."

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