Profile: Louise Linder, ING Direct

LOUISE LINDER
Workforce Manager
ING Direct 

Number of years in role:  3
 
Number of staff / seats:  200
 
What do you do?
My primary focus is the accurate forecasting of call volume and the effective rostering of 200 FTE in a 24 x 7 environment across two sites.  This includes long term forecasting, budgeting, attrition analysis, recruitment timetabling and capacity planning.  My team consists of two Contact Centre Schedulers who provide most of the day to day analysis, reporting and scheduling.  We are also responsible for reporting Contact Centre performance throughout the organisation.
 
Describe a typical work day.
The first priority of the day is to check e-mails, review the previous day’s performance and deal with any issues that have been raised in regards to the current day. Outside of this, no day is the same. I could be working with other departments in regards to activity that may effect the contact centre, running education sessions for our staff on WFM practices, budgeting, designing roster or staff satisfaction surveys, reviewing telephony and call routing strategies, analysing performance data, or forward planning for the next 18 months.
 
What results are expected in your position?
Primarily - the achievement of the Contact Centre goals of service level and abandonment rate within budget.   Secondary - increasing customer satisfaction, up-skilling team members, technological improvements, and effective analysis for performance improvement.
 
How did you get here? What has been your career path?
After completing a Degree in Social Research I started in marketing in the book publishing industry for a couple of years in both Australia and the UK.  I then commenced in the communications department of a UK Bank, and upon my return to Australia, with ING Bank.  I moved to Advisor Services after a year, and then to the Contact Centre of ING Direct as a Team Leader.  After 18 months I was promoted to Contact Centre Analyst and then Workforce Manager.
 
What's your career highlight? 
Industry recognition for your efforts is great! Winning this year’s NSW Medium Contact Centre of the Year at the ATA Awards, and achieving Top 3 for Teleservices Champion was a highlight.


What's the most unusual thing that's happened to you at work?
I briefly took a job in the US delivering cars from one end of the country to another.   The average workday was always unusual, as were some of the people I met along the way!!!
 
What's the best and worst thing about your job? 
The best thing is the variety.   The role can be very analytical and statistically based, however it also has a very high level of interaction with lots of people.   I talk daily not only with the Contact Centre management team and Team Leaders, but also throughout the business, particularly with Human Resources, Marketing, Training and the IT departments.  
 
The worse thing about my job is the lack of understanding outside the Contact Centre industry of the role of Workforce Management.
 
How important is it to plan your career? Have you?
A career plan is great – if you know what you want to do.   A workforce management role would not have occurred to me when I left school, or uni, or my next three jobs!   It is more important to be open to new experiences and challenges that will lead to career opportunities.
 
What did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was very little I wanted to be a cake shop owner, I could see no down side!
 
What is your dream job?
Counting my millions after winning the lottery!
 
What is the most important factor in a successful career?
Motivation to achieve the best outcome with 100% effort, and continual education.  There are always new skills and experiences to learn from.
 
Any tips on how to get and stay ahead?
Delegation!   The more skills and knowledge you pass to your team members the easier it is to get support when you need it, and the easier it is for the team to work together to get things done. It is then more likely that you and the team are moving ahead and looking for new challenges.
 
How do you maintain balance between your work and personal life?
Keep work issues in perspective!   Don‘t let trivial and unimportant work issues creep into your time off.
 
How do you encourage loyalty with your staff and clients?
Loyalty is built by consistent positive experiences.   If the priority is placed on providing this to both internal and external customers consistently they will stay with you.
 
What are the important qualities required to be a good manager?
I place a lot of emphasis on fairness and consistency, and commonsense - which I think is underrated!  
It is also very important to celebrate successes as they occur, as it is too easy to focus only on the negative.
 
What do you think the biggest issue in your field is - and what should be done about it?
I think the lack of understanding about Contact Centres in general.  They can be fun and inspiring places to work!    All the achievements and strengths of Contact Centres should be promoted.
 
If you could invite five people, living or dead to dinner, who would they be?
Johnny Depp – to find out if he is as unusual as the varied characters he plays. 
Mary Magdalene – to establish the truth about those rumours (and have the biggest scoop of all time!)
My Grandfather – at the age of 20 to find out what he was like in his youth.
George Clooney – for decoration
And my husband…

Who has been the biggest influence on your career? And who do you admire the most?
My manager at a part-time job while I was at university provided me with great exposure to responsibility at a young age and gave a great boost to my skills and confidence. 
 
I most admire anyone in a position of high responsibility who can juggle multiple tasks and issues with great ease and attention to detail on all, while maintaining a sense of humour.
 
What or who are you incapable of working without?
Sadly, e-mail.  For all its faults, it is still the quickest way to disseminate information and get everyone on the same page quickly, especially in a 24 x 7 environment.  And my morning coffee.
 
What do you think employees want from their employer? And what does your company do for its staff that you feel is different from what other companies provide?
Job Satisfaction everyone wants.    Providing an environment where individual contributions are recognised and people enjoy coming to work is important.   At ING Direct I am fortunate to work for a company that values employee contributions across all business units and levels and regularly demonstrates appreciation.