Best known for its thousands of retail locations, home improvement giant Lowe’s also operates an extensive contact center operation to assist customers with sales, installations, and customer service. Implementing NICE’s Workforce Management suite, Lowe’s has generated massive agent and leader satisfaction through NICE’s Employee Engagement Manager (EEM). Empowering agents with control over their schedules while meeting Lowe’s front and back-office coverage needs and enabling automation and data integration has improved scheduling accuracy, reduced time spent on approvals, and virtually eliminated overtime and overstaffing.
01 THE BEFORE
Painted into a corner
Lowe’s previously used a third-party WFM solution that delivered basic insights into operational statistics, but it did not meet all of the company’s complex needs. Lowe’s workforce management professionals needed six ancillary products, including a custom self-service app and multiple forms and spreadsheets, to make on- the-fly schedule adjustments and process self-service callouts. Lowe’s had little ability to customize reports or to integrate data from other systems, its workforce management staff put a great deal of manual effort into the care and feeding of the several software products.
Even with this complicated toolkit, schedules were inflexible, and agents had no meaningful self-service options to make their schedule changes. With limited visibility, Lowe’s had poor insight into actual staffing needs, meaning that intervals were routinely overstaffed.
02 DESIRE TO CHANGE
Pushing past rough-hewn WFM
On average, Lowe’s old system generated a schedule that was 20% overstaffed, and the company’s limited toolset made it difficult to offer voluntary time off (VTO). Furthermore, the WFM solution couldn’t adequately support agents doing back-office work. Lowe’s has 1,400 hybrid agents and, in total, nearly 60% of Lowe’s agents do some amount of back- office work, so this gap meant that many agents were inefficiently scheduled across workloads.
Lowe’s saw the potential significant business value and quality-of-life improvements for agents if it could move past the limitations of the incumbent system. Lowe’s workforce management leadership wanted a new solution with extensive self-service, proactive VTO opportunity alerts, and business rules that would automatically apply state labor laws to workforce management decision-making. “The day-to-day needs of our associates required extensive manual effort,” said Kenya Smith, WFM Senior Manager at Lowe’s. “We had six makeshift add-ons and none of them integrated with our WFM system. It wasn’t effective, and we needed more advanced tools. We also wanted a self-service solution that was scalable and flexible enough to accommodate our growth.”
03 THE SOLUTION
Empowering employees with effective self-service
In December 2023, Lowe’s went live with NICE Employee Engagement Manager (EEM) in tandem with NICE Workforce Management. NICE EEM solves Lowe’s need for a comprehensive self-service solution that is backed by flexible business rules designed to accommodate state labor laws and Lowe’s business needs. Lowe’s worked closely with NICE’s Value Realization Services (VRS) to design appropriate rules and configure EEM, train staff, and ensure effective change management. Together, the team created self-service workflows based on Lowe’s goals, agent input, and NICE’s expert advisory, including knowledge of what works extremely well for clients transitioning to EEM’s more advanced capabilities.
Real-time notifications keep all stakeholders informed of operational conditions and overstaffing situations which could lead to VTO opportunities. Meal break rules comply with state labor laws and applicable union requirements while reducing unwanted overtime. Employees are empowered through the EEM mobile app and web interface to trade schedules, plan time off, and make forward-looking schedule adjustments. Most approvals are now automated, reducing workforce management admin interventions.
Working with VRS, Lowe’s followed a change management strategy that explained the change to all affected employees, challenged internal leadership to explore new possibilities unlocked by the improved solution, and created excitement around EEM’s capabilities. Training sessions for floor agents and Lowe’s workforce management experts helped boost confidence and buy-in. At each implementation step, VRS helped alert Lowe’s to additional opportunities to optimize self-service delivery and workforce management performance. “We knew what we wanted but we didn’t always know what needed to be addressed,” Smith said. “VRS was key in helping us be successful on the NICE platform.”
04 THE RESULTS
Bottom-line? Tangible benefits
The combination of agent self-service and flexible business rules paid rapid returns for Lowe’s, with a strong uptake in the first few months of operation. Eight months after launch, more than one in every five agents (22%) already use EEM self- service options daily. In addition, these automated schedule changes that EEM makes possible contribute to increased agent satisfaction and empowerment. One Lowe’s agent wrote to management, saying “I love the options and the ability to adjust my schedule as late as the day of… amazing job making things easier for associates and leaders alike.”
This agent feedback tracks with Lowe’s vision from the outset. “We are big on work-life balance and giving our associates the ability to flex their schedules in ways that meet their needs as well as align with our business needs,” Smith said.
The switch to EEM has paid off for the company, with increased satisfaction among leadership, workforce management, and agents. Lowe’s has already realized over $1 million in operational savings from combined agent voluntary time off and workforce management labor savings. The company has automated over 434,000 hours of schedule changes and simplifying the team’s workload saved Lowe’s over $325,000 in workforce management admin labor.
With superior data integration, Lowe’s now has a much clearer picture of its true labor requirements. Unlike the previous solution, NICE’s WFM suite accounts for agent time spent on outbound calls in forecasts and schedule generation. After averaging 20% overstaffing over several periods, the company recorded four straight months of right-sized staffing. “EEM aligns with our core values at Lowe’s. We are able to deliver results by minimizing the administrative burden previously placed on our WFM team through automation of schedule adjustments,” Smith said. “With the flexibility and dynamic configuration options within the NICE solution, we have the ability to focus on customer satisfaction and align our workforce management practices to promote agent empowerment.”
05 THE FUTURE
Further innovations with VRS guidance
Not content with early success, Lowe’s workforce management leadership is focused on doubling the current rate of self-service adoption through EEM. In addition, they plan to increase focus on agent occupancy management and schedule adherence, and further integrate back-office data to refine schedules for those agents and further reduce workforce management admin labor. “We are excited to continue working with the VRS team to drive further improvements,” Smith said.
“Our VRS partnership has been phenomenal. They never hesitate to support my big ideas and help make them happen. I know we would not be where we are today with EEM without VRS’ support.”
WFM SENIOR MANAGER LOWE’S COMPANIES INC.
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Lowe’s is one of the largest home improvement retailers in the world. Lowe’s strives to deliver the right home improvement products, with the best service and value, across every channel and community they serve. The company provides homeowners, renters, and pros the tools necessary to improve their homes and businesses. Lowe’s employs approximately 300,000 people, including contact centers and work-at-home agents with a weekly average volume of approximately 16 million interactions per week.
