The How of Metrics
What to Collect and How to Use it
Amy Latzer
Chief Operations Officer, 211 LA County
31st I&R Annual Training and Education Conference
June 3, 2009
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211 LA County
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Introduction
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Understanding performance metrics
and methodology.
Understanding the drivers of world
class service as well as obstacles.
The importance of setting goals and
standards.
How to apply performance metrics
to the growth and improvement of
service delivered by your agency.
211 LA County
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Overview
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Our goal today is to identify areas
of measurement and how to use
that data to help your organization
grow.
Staffing
Workload
KPIs
Fundin
g
Inquirers
Cost
s
Metrics
Goals
WFM
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Glossary of terms
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Abandoned Call/Contact - A call or other type
of contact that has been offered into a
communications network or telephone system, but
is terminated by the person originating the
contact before any conversation happens.
After Call Work (ACW) - Work immediately
following an inbound call or transaction. If work
must be completed before agent can handle next
contact, then ACW is factored into average handle
time. Work may involve keying activity codes,
updating database, filling out forms, or placing an
outbound contact.
Agent - The person that handles calls in a contact
center also referred to as a Specialist.
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Glossary of terms
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AHT (Average Handle Time) - The amount of
time an employee is occupied with an incoming
contact. This is the sum of transaction time and
wrap-up time.
Blockage - The inability to complete a
connection between two points because of a busy
condition in the pathway.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI) - The most
critical measures of performance in any
organization, typically productivity measures.
LDQ (Longest Delay In Queue) - The longest
time a caller waited in queue prior to being
handled.
211 LA County
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Glossary of terms
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Occupancy - Generally a percent of logged in time that
an agent spends in active contact handling.
Schedule Adherence - The term used to describe how
well agents stick to their planned work schedules. May
also be referred to as compliance.
Service Level - Speed of answer goals that are often
expressed as the speed of answer to be attained or as
some percentage of calls to be answered within some
number of seconds (e.g., 80 percent of call answered
within 30 seconds).
Workforce Management (WFM) - The art and science
of having the right number of agents, at the right times,
to answer an accurately forecasted volume of incoming
calls at the service level standard set by the call center.
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What is a metric and what is it’s value?
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A Metric is a measure of activity or
performance that enables assessment of
outcomes.
Metrics can help to answer key questions
about operational effectiveness:
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Are long term goals and objectives being
achieved?
What does success look like?
How satisfied are callers with services?
How important is the service to the
community?
How effective are managers and specialists?
211 LA County
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What are the benefits?
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Enhanced decision making-goals can be set for
desired results, results can be measured,
outcomes can be clearly articulated.
Improved internal accountability-more delegation
and less “micro-management” when individuals
are clear about responsibilities and expectations.
Goals and strategic objectives are meaningfultracking progress enables the evaluation of
planning efforts and can aid in determining
whether a plan is effective or not.
211 LA County
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AIRS Data Requirements
Reports and Measures
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Service Requests
Referrals Provided
Service Gaps
Demographic Data
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Zip Code
City
Age
Gender
Language
Target Population
First Time/Repeat Caller
Follow up
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Step One – Determine KPIs
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Identify the most important indicators of
performance. They should at minimum
identify the following areas.
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Long term goal measurement
Quality of service delivered
Efficiency of the organization
Effectiveness of management and specialists
Performance indicators should be
measured at the organization and
individual (Specialists) levels at varying
intervals.
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Sample Reports
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Step Two – Set Goals
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Analyze historical results and trends to
determine future objectives.
Goals should be based on a percent
improvement over historical results and
should be time driven.
The goal should identify gaps, improve
processes, and increase overall
performance.
Create a monthly, quarterly and/or annual
action plan.
211 LA County
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Step Three – Action and
Implementation Plan
Successful organizations use a detailed plan to ensure a
systematic approach and process to gain measurable
results.
 Have SMART goals. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable,
Results focused, Time focused)
 Get buy in from management and all organizational
areas affected by the action plan prior to finalizing it.
 Establish roles and actions throughout the organization
to help generate best practices.
 Understand the history
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Historical analysis is key-know where you have been so
you know where you are heading.
This will lead you to root causes for problems and help
guide you to solutions.
DO IT! Start gathering the information and using it to
help grow your agency and improve service delivery.
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Sample: 211 LA County – Action Plan
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Action Plan:
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Efficiency
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Quality
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Handle through efficiency and Quality measures
100% Contract Compliance
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Full implementation of quality program
Increase coaching program
Team Coach and CRA will create coaching plan and
determine area for improvement
Service
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Decrease ACW
Decrease Time in Aux
Increase Productivity
Program Managers streamline quarterly reports
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Balancing Act-Quantity and
Quality
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Suggested Technical Tools
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ACD Phone System reporting tool
Database reporting system
Excel
Access
Erlang-C Calculator
Quality Monitoring System
Work Force Management System
Internal Portal
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Summary
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Identify KPIs
Develop Goals
Create action plan and timelines
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Contact Information
Amy Latzer
211 LA County
Chief Operations Officer
626-299-2979
alatzer@211la.org
Real People. Real Answers. Real Help.
www.211LACounty.org
INFORMATION AND REFERRAL FEDERATION OF LOS ANGELES
COUNTY
Serving Los Angeles County since 1981
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