ALDO’s AI-powered approach to workforce management

As a global brand with operations in more than 100 countries, footwear and fashion retailer ALDO Group operates a high-volume contact center that supports customer inquiries, order management and omnichannel CX.

Driving results is a diverse and extensive team who are expected to deliver seamless service across multiple time zones and languages. Much is written about how AI is now capable of replacing such teams, but at ALDO Group, where human-powered service is a differentiator, AI is being used to transform workforce management (WFM) 

At All Access: Workforce management for the contact center 2025 the brands’ group manager of WFM, Victor Hernandez Saldana, will explain how he drove a 35 percent improvement in response times across voice, chat, email and social media, and how he reduced attrition by 20 percent through AI-powered coaching, performance-based incentives and self-service scheduling tools. 

Ahead of his session, Victor explains what the project entailed, how ALDO streamlined its various software systems and how employees were motivated to support the shift.

CX Network: Your session at All Access will look at how ALDO Group optimized WFM for its global retail contact center. As the WFM manager, what were the main challenges you were looking to overcome with this project?

Victor Saldana: We faced several key challenges that we aimed to overcome with this project. 

One major issue was having too many separate software systems that weren’t properly interconnected. We needed to streamline everything into a single omni-solution to improve efficiency.

Another challenge was our scheduling tool. It required constant updates and frequent new versions, making it both time-consuming and costly. Over time, the return on investment (ROI) diminished, turning it into more of a long-term expense rather than a valuable asset for the company. Additionally, because we handle multiple contact channels such as phones, emails, chats and social media, our scheduling tool struggled to accurately reflect staffing needs based on forecasted volume. It wasn’t properly integrated with our other systems, and the effort required to make those connections wasn’t even worth it. 

As a result, we had to rely heavily on manual scheduling, managing forecasts separately, optimizing schedules manually and handling contact distribution on the schedule ourselves through a tool. Without an omni-solution, productivity suffered.

Employee productivity and engagement were also key concerns. Agents had to constantly switch between different tools to handle different types of contacts, creating inefficiencies and frustration. This constant tool-switching disrupted workflows and impacted overall performance.

Another major challenge was scalability and flexibility. As customer expectations evolve, we need to evolve with them, becoming more agile and data-driven, particularly in workforce management. This includes adapting to future AI driven projects, meeting shifting consumer needs and integrating new contact channels. 

We also had to consider back-office operations, the creation of new queues and whether we needed to scale full-time employees up or down. Addressing these challenges was a key goal of this project.

We found that this project could help us optimize our operations, by boosting the AI topic such as AI forecasting, analytics and quality assurance automation. AI-driven forecasting would allow us to predict demand more accurately, ensuring the right staffing levels across all channels, specifically on certain intervals. 

Advanced AI analytics such as speech analytics, would provide deeper insights into customer interactions, agent performance and operational trends, helping us make data-driven decisions. 

Lastly, another critical improvement was gaining full control over our chatbot and IVR systems without relying on a vendor for adjustments. This autonomy allows us to adapt quickly to business needs, improve customer experiences and reduce operational bottlenecks.

CX Network: A wide-reaching transformation initiative like this requires close people management. How did you motivate employees to get behind the changes?

Victor Saldana: There wasn’t a single person responsible for motivating employees, this transformation was a collective effort. All the leaders involved in the project, including our operations director and other key stakeholders, played a crucial role in driving engagement and ensuring a smooth transition. This was a major shift, moving from legacy systems to more advanced, future-ready solutions, and it required alignment across all levels.

To build excitement and engagement, we placed a strong emphasis on data, success stories and clear communication of the benefits. We followed a well-defined timeline, ensuring that all parties were actively involved at every stage, phase by phase, month by month and even date by date.

Beyond just communicating the benefits, we also prioritized collecting feedback throughout the process. We established checkpoints to hear from employees and other stakeholders, adjusting where needed to improve usability and ensure a more user-friendly experience. This two-way approach not only built excitement but also gave employees a sense of ownership in the transformation, making them active participants rather than passive recipients of change.

CX Network: What is your advice for retail contact center leaders managing resistance to AI-driven tools and fears of job loss?

Victor Saldana: I believe we are in a time of significant change. This shift started years ago, but now it’s moving at a much faster, more aggressive pace. 

For that reason, resisting change is no longer beneficial or even an option. In today’s world, especially in the customer service and in the customer experience industry, it’s not about fighting against new technology, it’s about embracing it. Leaders must stay up to date and adapt to the speed of innovation.

There are many things we cannot control, and one of them is the ongoing technological revolution. Instead of resisting, we must focus on adaptation. When we embrace AI, we begin to understand that it’s not about eliminating jobs, it’s about repurposing ourselves for work that truly matters and can have a greater impact. AI provides a tool that allows us to focus on high-value tasks while automating the more basic, repetitive ones. 

This shift ultimately enhances efficiency, improves job satisfaction and allows employees to bring more strategic and human centered contributions to their roles.

CX Network: If you had to do this project all over again, is there anything you would change?

Victor Saldana: If I had to do this project all over again, but with the knowledge I have now of course! There are things I would approach differently. 

Instead of following a structured phase one, two, three and four, I could have started at what we originally considered phase three and then evolved deployment into a more customizable solution for specific aspects. 

However, since I couldn’t have had this knowledge back then, I wouldn’t change much from what we did. The process deployment we followed gave us the experience, insights and information we needed at the right time to execute effectively. 

In the end, every step we took played a role in shaping the success of the project!

Quick links

• How to decide where AI can be used in your organization
• Using data to strike a balance between company and customer needs
• Customer centricity, company growth and the future of customer listening