Schedule Rules

Scheduling rules help you distribute employees into shifts throughout the week. There are two types of scheduling rules:

  • Daily Rules are templates for possible shifts (and their activities) in a day. For example, you can create a daily rule for a weekday morning, which may have different activities than a night/weekend shift.
  • Weekly Rules group daily rules together. They define how the agent's week can be organized. Employees have to be associated to a weekly rule in order to be assigned to a shift.

How does this come into play?

Well, let's say you have groups based on agent seniority:

  • Junior agents might work three morning shifts and two night shifts
  • Student agents work two night shifts during the week and two morning shifts during the weekend.
  • While senior agents would work only mornings during the workweek, without weekends.

You'd need several scheduling rules, both daily and weekly, to organize these different work weeks.

Agent Shift Preferences in Scheduling

In addition to rule-based scheduling, agent preferences play a key role in how shifts are assigned.

In CXone Mpower WFM, agent shift preferences are configured using a combination of Daily Rules, Weekly Rules, and individual Agent Preferences. These settings help balance agent flexibility with business staffing requirements, ensuring optimal schedule generation aligned with forecasted needs.

  • Daily Rules - It defines flexible Shift Start Times and Start Time Increments. You can also add Slack Time for scheduled activities, allowing them to be placed within a time window on the agent’s schedule. This flexibility improves schedule generation and helps meet staffing requirements.

  • Weekly Rules - It specifies the Day of the Week. Using multiple Weekly Rules increases flexibility in assigning days off, which agents can select as part of their schedule preferences.

    For example:

    By creating multiple Daily Rules with varying start time windows and increments, agents can choose their preferred shift start times for each day. When Weekly Rules are combined with Daily Rules, agents can prioritize their Time Off Preferences and Possible Days Off.

  • Agent Preferences - The Agent Preferences consist of three components as follows:

    • Agent Rank

      • Located under the Employee menu, Agent Rank determines scheduling priority. A lower rank number indicates a higher priority.

      • If no rank is set, the system uses the Hire Date (longer tenure = higher rank).

      • If neither is provided, rank is not considered in scheduling.

    • Shift Preferences by Start Time

      • Agents can select preferred start times for each day of the week.

    • Time Off Preferences by Day

      • Agents can prioritize preferred days off, from most to least desired.

Schedule Generation and Preference C

During schedule generation, agent preferences are considered alongside service level goals and staffing requirements. The system aims to ensure adequate coverage while honoring agent preferences where possible.

  • Agents with the same rank are considered equal in the agent preferences Rank.

  • When multiple WEM skills and Service Level targets are involved, coverage becomes the primary factor in determining how many preferences can be granted.

CXone Mpower WFM uses proprietary optimization algorithms to evaluate and score potential schedules. These algorithms consider:

  • Start-time preferences

  • Days-off preferences

  • Agent rank or priority

  • Seat limits and staffing coverage (via simulation)

The system balances these factors to generate the most effective schedule while maintaining service level targets.

Setting Shift Preferences

Shift Preferences can be set in two ways:

  • Administrators: Via the Employees > Preferences tab.

  • Agents: Via My Zone > My Schedule, then selecting Shift Preferences from the top-right menu.

When creating new employee profiles, administrators can enter attributes such as Rank and Hire Date. These attributes are used in WFM and across the CXone Mpower Suite.

For more information, visit the CXone Mpower WFM Help Site – Shift Preferences.