Call Centre- Planning Analyst

Call Centre Planning Analyst

Milton Keynes- Remote work available

3 Months +

• Ideal candidate would be someone who has previously worked in call centre resource planning before.
• The key purpose of the role is to provide effective planning and analysis to support to Customer Operations to meet its budgets, performance targets and strategic goals, via accurate forecasting, effective workforce planning and scheduling and optimising tactical temporary workers budget and overtime spend

Main Responsibilities

• Produce accurate and achievable workload capacity plans in conjunction with the operational teams in order to help achieve Service Levels and optimise all available resources
• Through weekly capacity planning ensure that the Service Level is achieved by operating within the designated headcount budget and by using tactical spend of Overtime and Temps to offset seasonal peaks or unexpected changes in demand
• Liaise with and influence the operational leadership teams to ensure that the working assumptions in the capacity plans are realistic and are being achieved (headcount, AHT, holiday spend, overtime requirements etc.)
• Develop and maintain accurate and efficient staffing schedules that meet the needs of our employees whilst delivering exceptional service levels at the best cost to the business
• Develop and maintain 1-2 year customer demand forecasts to ensure that the long range plans for Customer Operations are based on accurate and reasonable expectations.
• Utilise demand forecast to produce productive hours required for our Outsourcer partners, and work with the senior planner to order (10 weeks ahead of requirement)
• Identify and highlight all threats and opportunities to key stakeholders in a timely manner offering solutions and recommendations as appropriate
• Maintain accurate data to support effective planning. This will include but is not limited to the WFM system and FTE headcount data.

• Understand, anticipate and report on increases in customer contacts, working closely with relevant stakeholders to understand reasons for customer contact and adding insight through planning data analysis to build into plans.
• Chair a weekly planning meeting to highlight the capacity plan for the week ahead and give directions to the business around required changes to eliminate areas of over/under performance.
• Lead the delivery of accurate and robust capacity plans to enable effective budgeting and optimal operational delivery.
• Influence and advice Customer Operations stakeholders on best practise provide challenge where appropriate and offer alternative solutions to drive improved outputs and protect the interests of the business.
• Manage key stakeholders to ensure 'buy in' and adherence to the capacity plan by promoting the value of what the team do.
• Effectively manage shrinkage (time away from core tasks, such as training, completing engagement surveys etc) to ensure adequate provision for absence, holiday and off-phone activity whilst supporting overall business KPI achievement.
• Create an environment that embraces and supports change by providing guidance to all stakeholders across Customer Operations that helps facilitate change and achieve company strategy.

• Frequent daily interaction with Operational Leadership team (OLT) and Team Managers, advising, influencing, informing, challenging and seeking insight. This contact will be replicated in our Outsourced partners where remote relationships are essential.
• Strong working relationships with the wider planning team are essential
• Strong working relationships with a variety of stakeholders is essential to the achievement of operational results as well as customer and colleague experience

• Achieving Service Levels whilst hitting or outperforming budgeted headcount, temp and overtime spend
• Forecasting longer term demands - anticipating and reacting to change, identify contingencies and building flexibility into strategies and plans
• Understanding the complexities of cost bases within the different outsourcers (varying cost per hour of resources/different charges for telephony versus admin tasks etc.)
• Working with multiple stakeholders with and understanding their different priorities

• Making the right decisions under pressure
• Predicting customer demand in an environment that can sometimes be volatile
• Scheduling to meet customer demands on an daily basis
• Understanding the reasons for variance to forecast and feeding back into the plan

• Experience within a planning role in a contact centre environment.
• Experience of working with Avaya / Verint WFM or equivalent WFM / ACD system
• Experience of working across multiple teams and stakeholders
• Working alongside third party (outsource) providers
• A good knowledge of forecasting and capacity scheduling methodologies

Desirable

• Experience within the Financial Services and/or relevant Automotive sector(s), with demonstrable understanding of the regulatory environment.
• A recognised planning qualification would be desirable, or be willing to work towards one if successful.

If this role is of interest to you, please submit your CV in the first instance.