Resource Planning & Scheduling
Build schedules that fit demand and reduce avoidable pressure on the operation
Employing the right number of colleagues is only part of the answer. They also need to be deployed at the right times, in the right skill groups and in a way that remains workable for the people delivering the service.
When schedules do not fit demand, service becomes harder to protect. Real Time teams spend the day recovering from gaps already built into the plan. Colleagues experience short-notice changes or schedules that feel impractical. Managers may see enough people on paper while the operation continues to struggle across individual intervals.
Resource Planning & Scheduling establishes the long-term rules for scheduling and turns available resource into practical plans for the weeks ahead. This includes shift patterns, interval plans, absence controls and managed adjustments before the operating day begins.
Atlantic WFM helps organisations improve schedule fit, reduce manual correction and give the operation a stronger starting position.
When resource planning support can help
- staffing appears sufficient overall, but service and workload vary sharply across the day
- shift patterns no longer reflect the shape of demand
- schedules require frequent manual correction
- absence planning creates avoidable service exposure
- weekly planning depends heavily on workarounds or individual knowledge
- colleagues experience impractical, unpopular or frequently changing schedules
- WFM system schedules are not trusted or usable
- Real Time teams regularly inherit gaps and interval problems that could have been addressed earlier
It can also help organisations preparing for new opening hours, channel changes, flexible working or wider changes to the operating model.
Why schedule fit matters
Even when total staffing looks broadly right, interval-level mismatch can still create service risk. The operation may have enough paid hours across the week, but too many of those hours may sit at the wrong time or in the wrong skill group. These interval mismatches also create avoidable pressure for the colleagues delivering the service.
A closer match gives the operation a better starting position. It protects service more consistently, reduces the amount of daily correction required and helps colleagues work schedules that are fairer and more practical.
What this service covers
The shift patterns, rules and operational constraints that determine how colleagues can be scheduled from week to week. This includes decisions about fixed, flexible and rotational approaches and how they balance demand, cost, operational practicality and colleague needs.
The planning and control of holidays, shrinkage and other planned absences so that service risk is understood in advance and colleagues are treated consistently.
The process of turning available resource into an interval-level plan for each operating week, usually several weeks in advance. It reflects expected demand, skills, known staffing, planned activities and current operational information.
Controlled changes made as updated information becomes available and before Real Time management takes over. These changes should improve the plan without creating unnecessary disruption.
Weakness in any one of these areas can leave the operation relying on manual fixes, short-notice changes or in-day recovery.
What clients receive
- analysis showing where staffing and demand are poorly matched by interval or skill
- redesigned shift patterns or scheduling rules, supported by evidence of their likely effect
- an improved interval-planning process with clearer inputs, responsibilities, deadlines and quality checks
- stronger absence-planning rules and controls
- recommendations for WFM system configuration and use
- documentation and an implementation plan to support the agreed changes
Where appropriate, we also help define ownership and how Planning, Operations, Real Time and other internal stakeholders share information, make decisions and work together.
The aim is to leave the organisation with schedules that fit demand more closely, require less manual correction and remain workable for colleagues and managers.
Outcomes and benefits
- match staffing more closely to demand at the interval and skill level
- reduce overstaffing, understaffing, avoidable overtime and inefficient deployment
- improve service performance and customer experience
- protect revenue where availability, response times or backlogs affect conversion and retention
- reduce manual effort, rework and short-notice schedule correction
- improve colleague experience through fairer and more workable schedules
- give Real Time teams a stronger plan from which to manage the operating day
Why Atlantic WFM?
Practical scheduling experience across customer operations
Atlantic WFM brings direct experience of shift design, weekly resource planning, absence planning and before-the-day adjustment across contact centres, digital operations, back-office teams and outsourced environments.
Philip Stubbs has led planning teams, designed shift systems, improved schedule fit, advised on 24-hour coverage and helped organisations make better use of WFM systems and scheduling rules.
- Outsourcing provider - designed schedules for colleagues supporting a major public health campaign
- UK bank - designed a rotational shift system to support more effective workforce deployment
- Digital retailer - redesigned shifts for an email and social handling team to improve coverage and schedule fit
- UK retailer - redesigned shifts for complaints handling colleagues to improve match between staffing and workload
- Outsourcing provider - designed new shift patterns for two inbound telecommunications accounts
Client perspective
Neil Barber, CEO, Interact CC Ltd
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the capacity planning and resource planning services?
Capacity planning looks further ahead and identifies future staffing gaps or surpluses, usually by week. Resource planning and scheduling design the shift patterns and interval-level plans used to match available resource to demand.
Can you help if we already have a WFM system?
Yes. A WFM system requires suitable rules, activities, skills, constraints and assumptions to produce useful schedules. We can review whether the system configuration reflects how the operation works and supports the planning process effectively.
Do you only help with shift design?
No. Shift design is one part of the service. The work can also include interval planning, absence planning, WFM system use, planning rules, ownership and changes made before the operating day.
Is this only relevant to contact centres?
No. The same principles apply in back-office and other customer operations where workload and staffing need to be matched across the day.
How does this differ from Real Time management?
Resource Planning & Scheduling builds and improves the plan before the operating day. Real Time management responds to actual demand, staffing, adherence, incidents and workflow conditions once the day is live.
Request a conversation about Resource Planning & Scheduling
If you need better schedule fit, more workable shift patterns or a more reliable scheduling process, we can discuss the issues you are seeing and what would help.