Navigating the Political Waters as a Workforce Planner Steve Gustavson & Nancy Durbin Navigating the Political Waters as a Workforce Planner

Presenter Bios Steve Gustavson Nancy Durbin Steve Gustavson held a number of analytical and process improvement oriented roles prior to assuming responsibility for the Assurant Specialty Property National Command Center about 3 years ago. He has been integral to the development and maturity of the workforce management teams at Assurant and continues to be a change leader. Steve’s data driven approach to solving business problems and his commitment to motivating teams to be driven by results, have been essential to his success. Nancy Durbin Nancy Durbin has over 18 years of workforce management experience in a variety of roles and has led multiple teams to successfully implementing new WFM practices. She is vast knowledge of Aspect’s suite of products, Exony, Cisco, and other call center systems. Nancy has been a key player in building workforce management teams from the ground up and currently manages the Forecasting and Scheduling teams at Assurant Specialty Property. Steve Gustavson & Nancy Durbin

Creating a “Value Add” Workforce Team The Assurant Specialty Property National Command Center equips our People, follows the Process, and leverages Technology, in order to achieve… A common purpose: Providing Operations with the support needed to meet business objectives A common goal: Meeting Service Level objectives for all clients Mutual accountability: Client dedicated success through the dedication of every team member One cohesive team with 3 roles to ensure that the right number of agents are in the right place at the right time… Prediction (Forecaster): Use robust analysis and historical data to PREDICT call volume Optimization (Scheduler): Use the forecast and daily business needs to OPTIMIZE the plan Execution (Intraday Analyst): Use real time analysis to EXECUTE on the plan Steve Gustavson & Nancy Durbin

Interacting as a “Value Add” Workforce Team Senior Leadership Finance Operations Account Executives Needs: Efficient staffing Transparency Needs: SLA adherence BCP preparedness Needs: Staffing needs Clarity of metrics Needs: Tools to meet objectives Active SLA mgmt. & comm. Steve Gustavson & Nancy Durbin

Interacting as a “Value Add” Workforce Team Senior Leadership Finance Operations Account Executives Challenges: Call center dynamics Cost of seasonality Challenge: Contracts vs. Wants Challenges: Call center dynamics Seasonal “smoothing” Challenges: Pressure from clients Playing the “short game” Steve Gustavson & Nancy Durbin

Leading a Change in Culture Establish Solid Internal Processes People – Get the right people on the bus Process – Prediction, Optimization, Execution Technology – It comes last for a reason…utilize technology to support the business and processes. Form Effective Partnerships Support from senior leadership is a must Don’t overlook the people – engage with Human Resources Line level managers are a key part of execution Leverage Partnerships to Address Challenges Decisions must be data driven – let data do the talking Approach challenges from multiple angles Timing and perception make a big difference Steve Gustavson & Nancy Durbin

Example Documents – Long Range Plan Steve Gustavson & Nancy Durbin

Example Documents – Schedule Run & Compliance Steve Gustavson & Nancy Durbin

Example Documents – Planning Documentation Steve Gustavson & Nancy Durbin