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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. Example Documents – Long Range Plan
Steve Gustavson & Nancy Durbin

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

9. Example Documents – Planning Documentation
Steve Gustavson & Nancy Durbin