Resource Planner, Hastings Direct

Due to continued growth and expansion of our brand, an exciting opportunity has arisen for a

Strategic Planner to join our team. As Resource Planner, you will forecast operational contact volumes and design appropriate shift patterns for our operational front line colleagues, ensuring delivery of high quality customer service levels.

About us

Hastings Direct is a fast growing, digitally focused general insurance provider of products and services to over 2.7 million customers in the UK. We've doubled our customer base in just three years and we now employ over 3,400 colleagues.

It's our attitude and the way we run our business that makes us different. We focus on getting it right for our colleagues, customers, company and community. It's a dynamic, flexible, fun and constantly changing environment. You'll enjoy the scope to make a real difference for our customers, influence our company, benefit the communities we work in and have some fun along the way.

The Role

Reporting directly into our Planning Business Partner, the successful candidate will be responsible for effective forecast planning within a 3 month window, using Workforce Planning methodology to resource against customer demand.

A fantastic opportunity based in our Leicester office, to make a real difference for our colleagues and customers, as the main point of contact for the operation. Holding responsibility for ensuring that we have the right people, in the right place at the right time.

Your remit will include the following:

• Provide short/medium forecasts which are accurate within 5%+/- of contact volumes.
• Decision-Making: To make pro-active and reactive resourcing decisions based upon available information, ensuring that Service Level targets are attained and balanced with colleagues work/life balance, using the appropriate systems to make decisions.
• Planning: To maintain up-to-date recruitment plans and effective intra-day flexibility to achieve target Grade of Service. Holding regular shift review meetings with front line colleagues and reviewing rota cycles, optimising working patterns, whilst building in flexible working requests. Making pro-active resourcing decisions and suggesting any changes to current Forecasting & Scheduling processes.
• Analysis: To pro-actively analyse trends and information, to enable effective management of the operational outages affecting the published schedule, to ensure that Service Levels are attained.
• Influencing: To influence and obtain agreement from the relevant leaders when seeking to change current processes or existing schedules to ensure Service Level target is met. To negotiate business priorities with our leaders when making difficult and sensitive changes that may have a high impact on planning
• Data Capture & Interpretation: To ensure that relevant information is captured and entered onto the appropriate systems to ensure information is available for decision making & planning process.
• Communication: To effectively communicate to our leadership team, the procedures of F&S and explain their decisions and the reasons behind them.

Required Experience:

• An expert in contact centre technologies and methodologies i.e. WFM, ACD, webchat, IVR, call routing, Avaya, CMS
• Ability to interpret highly complex data to make effective recommendations to improve operational performance and drive increased customer satisfaction
• Strong analytical, planning and decision-making skills
• Strategic thinker with ability to translate in to operational plans
• Exceptional negotiating and problem-solving skills
• Proven experience in delivering robust real time capability across multi-site and multi-channel contact centres
• Previous experience of forecasting, planning and workforce management methodology, telephony systems/tools and workforce management systems.

Personal attributes:

As a growing business this role is critical to our delivery and success, it will be exciting, busy, varied and challenging so a roll sleeves up, hands-on approach is an absolute must.

• Natural problem solver and decision maker, who communicates effectively to all stakeholders.
• This is a dynamic, fast paced working environment - candidates should be comfortable working within that setting and demonstrate a proactive working style.
• Great attention to detail - systematic approach to managing your workload.

Benefits for you

Please find some of the great benefits we offer here at Hastings Direct;

• A competitive basic salary which we will share with you upon shortlisting
• Up to 5% bonus earning potential
• 25 days holiday
• Life assurance
• Competitive pension
• lexible benefits - buy or sell holidays
• Discounted Hastings Direct products
• Discounted rail travel

Hastings Group is an equal opportunities employer which means we treat people fairly. We welcome applications from all suitably skilled persons regardless of their gender, age, race, disability, ethnic background, religion/belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or marital/family status. Please also note that we have a thorough referencing process, which includes credit and criminal record checks.