FTE's

[Helen Lindsay]

Where is the spreadsheet for FTE's?
I am trying to figure the staff needed for a call center that now has 7 people and would like to see an example in a spreadsheet of how it is down with a formula.

I am very confused at using the formula below

Fte"s=(calls*AHT(secs)/(3600*40*ExpOccupancy*Shrinkagefactor) or

(2863*150)/(3600*40*.85*1.1) which comes out to 4461.51 is that 4.45 people?

The problem is that we have peak call times and our lowest call volume is at the end of the day where we get a lot less calls per hour

[shua79]

Hey Helen ...
I signed up today to help you with your problem as I see no one has responded (Tho a mod may have contacted you by email, if so, great)...
I think the first problem with your computation is a simple mistake we can fix... here is your original formula...

(2863*150)/(3600*40*.85*1.1)

Now, if you try to just type this in a calculator without breaking it down, you will get 4461.51 ... That is because you are changing the formula if you do not break it down... What you get, is this...

((2863*150)/3600)*40*.85*1.1

It is multiplying 2863*150, which you want, then dividing that by 3600... then multiplying by 40 then by .85 etc...

In the actual formula you multiply each section separately... (Do parenthasees first...) so it looks like this...

(2863*150) = 429450 / (3600*40*.85*1.1) = 134640

which gives us 429450 / 134640
Which comes out to 3.19

So, I can make you a spreadsheet that will figure up FTE... Thats easy enough... But to really figure up staffing, (Especially at this small a call pool) you need more than that. With this small call pool you are not staffing to calls as much as you are staffing to shifts... Here's an example...

And this is the best possible scenario... You have this small call volume coming in from 8 to 5 PM Monday thru friday...

For this scenario, you can put in your 7 people and it will look like this...

you peak at 3 FTE per interval (Probably closer to 2 to 2.5 with this volume, but I don't know your call arrival pattern) so, 7 - 3 = 4 people...

you have one person on vacation - one person out sick, one person on lunch, and one person on break...

This uses up your 7 people and accounts for your "occupancy" allowance

The trick of course comes when you have to take this small call pool and spread it out over 7 days, and/or 10 - 12 hours a day. At this point, you have to staff to your ends, and then your middles will overlap (Providing the staffing you need to cover your heaviest call volume)... and you have to staff for days off.

Again though, without knowing some specifics like, your HR regulations for breaks and lunches, your hours of operation, your call arrival pattern, and your day of week distribution, it is hard to say if 7 people will cover all of your shifts and allow for time off and absenteeism... (As well as the inevitable attrition and restaffing) If however you are staffing as I said above to 5 days a week 8 - 9 hours a day... rest assured, you have the staff required to do the job...


If you would like me to build a spreadsheet with your FTE formula or anything else really, let me know and I will do what I can...

Joshua