Outpost WFM: Project OutCast

Leave a comment or suggestionIs your Workforce Management plan alive and kicking, or is it just a reanimated corpse? In this episode, Corey Sewpersad breaks down "The WFM Zombie Syndrome"—a dangerous state where mindless copy-pasting replaces the art and science of WFM. We dive into how to identify "Patient Zero" in your team, the difference between competency and willingness issues, and the "cure" that turns managers into true WFM leaders. If your schedules are mismatched and your FTE allocations are skewed, it’s time to stop treating the symptoms and find the cure.Key takeaways include:How to spot the "Patient Zero" infecting your rosters.Why the WFM team needs WFM principles applied to themselves.The 3 traits of a WFM Leader: Interpersonal, Informational, and Decisional.Support the show

Leave a comment or suggestionThis episode looks at WFM from a different perspective - does Ops really need a team of people to build schedules, or can they run their own rosters on Excel?Is it necessary for a business to actually have a forecast, or can they get by with merely guessing. Was there ever a situation where the answer was ‘Maybe WFM can benefit us’?Hopefully this episode can turn that ‘Maybe’ in ‘Definitely’.1. The Burst Fire Hydrant Moment - It’s not bad luck, it’s a missing forecast.2. Guessing is Not a Strategy - In a world of chaos, guessing is risky.3. The Avengers of Ops Control - Using the talents of WFM to provide more than an Excel Roster.4. From Firefighting to Leading - Stop surviving the day, start mastering it.Support the show

Leave a comment or suggestionThis episodes covers a different side of working in WFM - not what’s seen on the Job Spec, not the fancy building you’ll be working in or how popular the company is. I go through my journey in WFM and cover the things that I have never seen on any WFM job ad but found that these skills are worth more than the actual WFM skills, to make a career. Based on a true story. Support the show

Leave a comment or suggestionIn this episode, we go through the highlights of my guest appearance on Irina Hollatz show ‘WFM Unfiltered’. Be sure to check out her Podcast and YouTube channel for really insightful content with many industry professionals. Link to her YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@wfmunfiltered?si=1FILwE_hFIDO8JKiSupport the show

Leave a comment or suggestionCompilation Episode!In this one, we cover various aspects of WFM in one episode.Absence Insights.Outbound PlanningService Level challengesWFM AnalyticsLeadership in WFMSupport the show

Leave a comment or suggestionCan WFM lead Ops teams to better results — not by force, but by example?In this episode I cover:1. WFM: More Than Just Schedulers.2. Productivity Starts at the Top.3. Want Ops to Stick to the Plan?4. Contact Centre Leadership, Reinvented.Support the show

Leave a comment or suggestionIf you tuned into our last episode where we explored "Applying WFM in Outbound Contact Centres," then you're going to love today’s deep dive — because now we're taking it one step further: what if we could measure and prove the real financial gains of smart WFM Analytics?In this episode I cover:1: The Productivity Sweet Spot.2: The Myth of Headcount Cuts.3: R58,000 Without Spending a Cent.4: WFM Analytics: Your Competitive Edge.Support the show

Leave a comment or suggestionManaging Service Level is like steering a car — you can't wait until after the crash to turn. In this episode I cover:1: Forecasting vs Guessing2: Real-Time Agility3: Excuses vs Reasons4: WFM as a Strategic WeaponSupport the show

Leave a comment or suggestionIf you’re using agent call volumes to forecast outbound workload… you’re doing it wrong. What you're really forecasting is past 'agent behaviour' and not future 'business demand'. And that’s why your schedules don’t work—and your team ignores them. In this episode I cover:1: The Forecasting Trap2: Why Most Outbound WFM Plans Fail3: WFM Isn’t Just Scheduling4: One Simple Change = 38 Extra Sales a Day5: You Can’t Manage What You Don’t UnderstandSupport the show

Leave a comment or suggestionCan WFM provide more usable insights into absence trends?Yes, provided there is collaboration with HR. Using the reason codes for the absence, together with the numbers, the WFM team can drill down further into better understanding the fluctuations in the absence percentage.Instead of planning for a flat shrinkage, with a flat absence percent, here are some ways we can be creative with the data from HR, to improve how WFM supports the business in controlling this metric. Support the show

Leave a comment or suggestionHi there!In this episode I spend a few minutes talking about who I am and where I’ve been for the past almost 20 years so that you can get to know me better and why my WFM content is created in this way. Its just a quick into to who I am as a person and where I’ve worked and my experience to build trust between us.Please feel free to reach out and connect on LinkedIn!Thanks. Support the show

Leave a comment or suggestionIn this breakdown of the series ‘The Mars Outpost’, I do a walkthrough of the entire series and relate them back to the real world.This episode highlights the importance of the concepts of WFM and how essential it is, to have some or all of the concepts of WFM working in your business to identify risks and use them to plan for similar events that could happen in the future.Support the show

Leave a comment or suggestionThe last transmission recording of the specific set-up challenges faced by the WFM team on Mars.Support the show

Leave a comment or suggestionThe WFM didn’t just do the same thing over again expecting a different result, they analysed their data which included the decisions and impacts of those decisions to improve their planning for the second arrival.With the arrival of the second group, the workforce has grown but now has a mix of skilled and unskilled resources. The question of efficiency and effectiveness comes into play - it isn’t one or the other, our WFM used shrinkage and speed to production concepts to overcome this challenge.Support the show

Leave a comment or suggestionAfter celebrations from harvesting the first successful batch of crops, work continued and we found instances of ‘avoidance’ taking place. Typically the ‘human nature’ of finding shortcuts followed us to Mars and our WFM had to find solutions.At this point, our WFM team went from loved for being able to keep everything on plan to being frowned upon for calling out performance issues and enforcing rules.Support the show

Leave a comment or suggestionWe’ve had to implement some new metrics to help guide and direct both mining and farming operations to run smoothly.Our team baselined tasks using Time and Motion studies to develop an acceptable AHT and then went on to introduce an Occupancy metric. These in turn helped with allocation of resources and guidance on production levels to maintain a consistent output. Support the show

Leave a comment or suggestionAfter work got underway on the mining and farming operations, there were some performance challenges, some of which was only evident after being put in the real life situation - similar to that of staff going live onto calls from training and feeling overwhelmed. On Mars, our WFM team created solutions by cross-skilling our resources after comparing the results of new assessments done in the live environment to the results of the training assessments done on Earth.Support the show

Leave a comment or suggestionArrival of the first group of humans on Mars and the challenges faced once they landed.The WFM team got into action displaying real-time contingencies to mitigate risks to the new arrivals and adjusting and adapting their existing resources in real-time to prevent risks to existing personal. Support the show

Leave a comment or suggestionA prologue into the upcoming six part series called ‘The Mars Outpost’.Support the show

Leave a comment or suggestionWFM isn’t just about forecast and schedules, it’s become an actual business strategy that can be used in almost any industry.In this episode I introduce the show, inviting business leaders, operational managers, CEOs and WFM professionals to follow and subscribe as I put my two decades of experience across both BPO and Captive environments into a show that’s designed to reveal the true power of Strategic Workforce Planning. Support the show