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Keynote: Unlocking Opportunities

Originally broadcast Monday 26th April. 2021, 09:30

Hear from Phil Anderson, Director at The Forum with the conference opening keynote. Understand how disruption can pave the way for new opportunities and how you can become key to unlocking change and development.

Keynote: Your Moment of Truth

Originally broadcast Monday 4th April 2022, 09:30

Confident to Succeed Every day we practice living versus an ever-changing world and environment. Those who strive to learn and improve can adapt better. Those who are contempt with how they are or refuse to accept the changes around them will find it hard to catch-up as the change required to survive and thrive becomes bigger.

Kieran Ridley at Newcastle Building Society

2024 Planning Awards

Transitioning from operational backgrounds to strategic planning, Kieran embraced change and innovation while navigating integration challenges. He implemented Workforce Management solutions, streamlined processes, and introduced a centralised bereavement team to enhance service delivery and mitigate risks. With a focus on accuracy and efficiency in forecasting, he demonstrated resilience and adaptability in managing staffing levels and call volumes. Continuous learning and improvement underscore his commitment.

Kirsty Ritchie at Wheatley Housing

2024 Planning Awards

Kirsty has led on optimisation, by removing inefficient tasks to allow more value-add activities like extending the planning window and gaining the benefits like planning for recruitment. Her focus on longer term planning ensures that peak is now well managed and easier for all. Kirsty is well respected and is committed not only to continuous learning & development but also to sharing skills and new learning with her peers.

Kristie-Leigh Armstrong at BT Group

2024 Planning Awards

Kristie-Leigh spearheaded a transformative journey in workforce management, with an  emphasis on communication, collaboration, and employee well-being. Through initiatives like Flexi-breaks, My Day and Uni-flex, she has helped shape a culture of accountability and inclusivity, reducing shrinkage and increasing coverage. Kristie-Leigh’s dedication to personal development and support for colleagues inspires others to embrace change, drive innovation, and prioritise the welfare of their teams.

Lauren Laycock at NFU Mutual

2024 Planning Awards

Lauren doubled the complaints department’s headcount, guided by data-driven insights to enhance efficiency. Lauren’s adept stakeholder engagement gained trust and elevated operational performance. Her journey underscores adaptability, collaboration, and a commitment to continuous improvement, resulting in tangible outcomes such as improved service levels and complaint resolution rates.

Leeds Bradford Airport Planning Team

2024 Planning Awards

This team revolutionised operations by adopting data-driven planning, refining stakeholder engagement, and streamlining processes, planning for security operations. Customer satisfaction saw huge improvements following queue times plummeting from 24 to 6.5 minutes and improved communication internally optimised resource planning and reduced errors. They removed inefficiencies, boosted employee satisfaction, and were able to attract high-quality recruits as a result. Through a culture of innovation and collaboration, they set a new standard for excellence in the aviation industry.

Linda Redfearn at Novuna

2024 Improvement & Quality Awards

In an era demanding rapid and accurate information sharing for customer service excellence, Linda’s story shines as a beacon of innovation in knowledge management. Working as a Procedures Specialist, she transformed her organisation’s approach to managing, accessing, and utilising knowledge. With a focus on a user-friendly, centralised knowledge base, her journey from identifying inefficiencies to implementing strategic solutions showcases remarkable improvements in operational efficiency, engagement, and training quality, serving as an inspiring example for others.

Liquorice Consistents – Does somebody at Bassetts not like me?

At our Customer Strategy & Planning Connections conference in Newcastle on 26th April ‘22 we explored probability using Liquorice Allsorts.

Looking back on 2021

2021 was our year for Unlocking Opportunities. Doing more of what we do well is a great opportunity that we don’t always fully exploit. One of the most valuable things we can do is put time aside to reflect on what has gone well. When things go wrong we are quick to review, so that we can learn from our mistakes. We are not so good at learning from our successes. If we can repeat and build on our successes then that has to be a good thing. As we come to the end of 2021 it is time to look back on what we have done well, so that in 2022 we can do it again only better.

Mark Lincoln at Aviva

2024 Planning Awards

Mark aligned working patterns with demand which led to improved service quality and a 9% increase in queries handled and he was able to recognise nuances between voice and chat scheduling to optimise agent efficiency. By leveraging both experiential knowledge and analytical tools Mark advocates for a blend of instinct and data-driven insights, with an emphasis on the importance of historical data for forecasting.

Mel Coley at The AA

2024 Improvement & Quality Awards

Mel’s story at The AA is a compelling narrative of strategic improvements and impactful changes in quality assurance. Highlighting empathy and collaboration, her focus on both customer and business outcomes led to notable enhancements in operational efficiency and team morale. Challenging traditional views and fostering continuous improvement, Claire’s customer-centric approach and commitment to team engagement have driven significant operational advancements, embodying a transformative journey in fostering a supportive, quality-driven culture.

Michael Ferrera at indeed

2024 Planning Awards

Michael champions accessible data presentation, pre-emptive issue identification, and real-time response strategies. His approachability and dedication to learning earn praise from stakeholders, while his collaborative spirit fosters a culture of innovation. Projects include self-scheduling implementation and a shift towards future-focused data analysis. Michael’s efforts not only streamline operations but also cultivate a data-centric culture.

Michelle Adshead at VitalityHealth

2024 Planning Awards

Michelle led a pioneering project, promoting work-life balance by empowering employees to choose their shifts. Positive feedback ensued, prompting the implementation of a shift swap feature for enhanced efficiency. Work-life balance scores provided valuable insights, demonstrating the organisation’s commitment to employee well-being. Michelle’s adaptability and vision earned widespread acclaim.

Mike Connor at Capita Regulated Services

2024 Data, Analytics & Insight Awards

Mike’s journey at Capita exemplifies dedication, innovation, and collaborative spirit. Starting in 2014 as a customer service representative, his interest in operational efficiency led to his role as a performance analyst. Skilled in Power Query and Power BI, Mike turned SLA data into actionable insights, enhancing service delivery and customer satisfaction. Overcoming challenges with advanced tools, his work improved operational efficiency and inspired peers towards continuous improvement. A commitment to continuous learning and development is driving organisational success through data-driven decisions.

miPerform & Northumbrian Water

2024 Partnership Awards

miPerform and Northumbrian Water have been working in partnership since 2020 to redefine the boundaries of client and technology collaboration. At the heart of this partnership is a joint vision to deliver customer service excellence through empowering agents and enabling self-management, through deployment of an innovative toolset that supports peer-to-peer benchmarking, gamification, transparency, and fairness of reward. The operational background of the team at miPerform has been key to success; they understand what is important, combined with rapid response times, shared goals and an openness to learning and challenge. This is a very successful and embedded partnership.

Mohamed Nasr at emovis

2024 Planning Awards

Mohamed led the implementation of the Genesys system at emovis. Through comprehensive testing with a test team and frontline feedback integration, he was able to ensure the necessary adjustments for operational efficiency. Colleague commendations highlighted Mohamed’s strong planning skills and proactive attitude, with his innovative suggestions proving successful. His contributions exemplify a commitment to excellence and continuous improvement.

Moment of Truth – The Forum Community App, live stream exclusive

The moment of truth; critical time for your workforce strategy and hybrid operating model. Strategy is about to become the reality as organisations look to introduce strategic Hybrid operating model at scale post the summer holidays which will have important consequences for the future.

Moment of Truth: Confident to Succeed

Our actions, or inaction, will define us. We are the key to our own success. During 2021 we focused on unlocking opportunities and the part each of us can play in helping to shape the future. For 2022 we want to focus you on your Moment of Truth and being confident to succeed.

Navigating Operational Challenges with Data driven decision-making at Hiscox

2024 Innovation & Transformation Awards

A cultural transformation built on visibility and transparency of data and how this is used to drive better decisions. Trust has been built in understanding and using the data to change the decision-making dynamic. Confidence with data has improved the understanding of customer and colleague behaviour. This case study demonstrates the transformative power of data-driven decision-making and strategic evolution in driving operational excellence.

Next generation productivity: how operational playbooks & real-time automation help our people grow

Powerful member stories reveal a sea-change in empowering operational teams and developing the role of real-time in our new hybrid world. Alison Conaghan and Dave Vernon explore the operational end of the planning cycle.

Next generation shrinkage: understand the value of time

As planners do we see time away from the operation mainly as a cost to control? Instead, how could we analyse where each different area of shrinkage time is adding value? We need to look from the colleague as well as the customer and commercial point of view.

Dave Vernon explores how we can look at shrinkage as a value not a loss, and change how we think about shrinkage targets.

NFU Mutual Planning Team

2024 Planning Awards

NFU Mutual’s planning team evolved rapidly from a modest operation to a central strategic pillar within their organisation, overcoming scepticism, significantly increasing the team’s size and scope, and demonstrating the tangible benefits of strategic planning. Key to their success was establishing a strong, data-driven decision-making process, stakeholder engagement, and the ability to demonstrate the practical value of planning initiatives, leading to a broader acceptance and integration of the planning team’s efforts across the organisation

NICE and BT Group

2024 Partnership Awards

Driven by a goal to discover whether NICE’s NEVA technology could be used to support scheduling activities, NICE and BT Group worked together as one team to design a solution. By adopting NICE’s NEVA technology, they were able to reduce the number of interdependent systems, remove transactional work, and create new skills and career development opportunities for schedulers to learn robotics. This venture was built on mutual respect, open communication, and shared goals, and created a new use case for NEVA which works for BT Group and which NICE can share with their customers.

NICE Technology Showcase

Originally broadcast Tuesday 15th November 2022, 12:30

The Psychology of Adaptive Choice Join Graeme and David from NICE, as they revisit The Psychology of adaptive choice, the challenge of offering our agents choice and empowerment over their schedule.

Opening Keynote

Originally broadcast Monday 14th November 2022, 09:30

Hear from Chris & Phil as they discuss the benefits of being prepared.

Operational Excellence at Novuna

2024 Innovation & Transformation Awards

Novuna exemplified the importance of effective team integration and operational efficiency in driving organisational success. Through collaborative efforts, transparent communication, and a commitment to continuous improvement, organisations can navigate challenges and seize opportunities in today’s ever-evolving business landscape.

Operational Readiness

This video is to accompany the article in the 2024 Best Practice Guide: Shaping the Future

Partner Article: 7 tips for transitioning from fixed shifts to optimized schedules

The goal of workforce management (WFM) is to optimize the deployment of the most valuable - and costly - resource in every contact center: the employees.  That won’t happen unless you optimize the shifts of your employees. Yet we often see contact centers using old-fashioned fixed shifts and rotas even when they have a WFM system that enables more sophisticated scheduling. Why does that happen? Why is it a bad idea? And what is the best way to transition from fixed shifts to optimized schedules?

Read more

Categories: Library

Partner Article: Attrition in the Contact Center: Trends in Combatting Employee Turnover

A new hire leaves after 25 days on the job – or never shows up for their first day. Or perhaps an employee with five years at the company submits their resignation, taking their experience and knowledge with them. Whatever the scenario, attrition comes with high costs to teams and the enterprise. Download Centrical's Ebook to read their top tips on attrition.
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