NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – April 7, 2025 – The Society of Workforce Planning Professionals (SWPP) has announced the five finalists for the 2025 Workforce Management Professional of the Year Award, which recognizes a workforce management professional who has shown outstanding leadership in the industry. The finalists are Bill Hodge of USAA, Cody Janiga-Stoll of Northwestern Mutual, Breanne Katrin of Delta Airlines, Rachele Scales of Insite Managed Solutions, and Cooper Taylor of 8x8.

“I am very proud to present these five workforce management professionals as finalists for this distinguished award,” said Vicki Herrell, SWPP Executive Director. “Each year, there are so many outstanding nominations that it continues to be a difficult task for the SWPP Board of Advisors to select the top five. Each one of these individuals has demonstrated great skills, leadership, and ability in our industry, as well as delivered measurable results for their companies.” The winner of the award will be announced at the SWPP Annual Conference, which is held in Nashville, Tennessee on April 22-24, 2025.

Bill Hodge is Forecasting Analyst Lead for USAA Insurance which provides call, chat, and social media, operating 24 X 7 with 4500 agents in 14 locations. They handle 1.7 million inbound calls per month utilizing technologies from Cisco, NICE, and EEM. The WFM team consists of 29 staff. He has a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from the University of Phoenix, and received the Wells Fargo Presidents Award in 2006.

Jen Aparicio, Director Workload Planning & Forecasting at USAA, stated: “As Forecasting Analyst Lead at USAA, Bill has consistently demonstrated exceptional skill, foresight, and dedication in their approach to workforce planning, resulting in significant positive impacts on our organization. His skills are grounded in practical experience, coupled with the development and implementation of complex statistical models (time series, driver-based,
and erlang) and simulation techniques (ExtendSim). His proven track record of process improvements, optimization, while mitigating risk is elite in the WFM industry.”

Bill has implemented WFM software and processes, resulting in demonstrable ROI. In addition, Bill has exemplified a proven ability to lead and collaborate with cross-functional diverse teams (operations, finance, risk, SMEs) to achieve business objectives. Bill's impact is particularly evident in his transformation of technical workforce tools. He spearheaded the conception, development, and implementation of a new Capacity Planning
Tool, resulting in over 250 hours of annual workload reduction (a savings of $180,000) for the USAA Workload Management team. This achievement was particularly impressive given the complex documentation required to meet Model Risk Management guidelines. Bill's collaborative approach, fostering strong relationships and clear communication, was instrumental in securing buy-in and ensuring full implementation.

Beyond these exceptional results, Bill possesses several key qualities, including:
• Strategic Thinking: Bill consistently anticipates future workforce needs and proactively develop strategies to address potential challenges. In 2024, Bill’s efforts drove a 13-point improvement in service level over plan and a $14.3 million annual reduced FTE requirements, including a 3% shrinkage reduction.
• Innovation: Bill readily embraces and explores new technologies and methodologies, as demonstrated by his development of the Capacity Planning Tool.
• Collaboration: Bill works effectively with various departments and stakeholders to ensure alignment and buy-in on workforce planning initiatives. He is recognized as the subject matter expert, frequently consulted for ad-hoc analyses, such as assessing the potential impact of government shutdowns.
• Leadership: Bill has mentored and developed other team members across the organization, fostering a culture of continuous improvement within the workforce planning function.

Bill’s dedication to excellence and commitment to building a strong, effective workforce are truly commendable. His contributions have significantly benefited USAA and set a high standard for workforce planning professionals.

Cody Janiga-Stoll is Assistant Director of Contact Center Optimization at Northwestern Mutual, a financial services company employing 1500 agents in three locations handling approximately 200,000 contacts per month utilizing calls, chats, and back-office functions. The WFM team consists of 55 persons and they utilize technology from Verint, Five 9, Interactions, and Intradiem.

Jessie Cessna, Senior Director of Resource Planning & Enablement, stated, “Cody has demonstrated unparalleled expertise in workforce management, balancing cost and expenses while prioritizing employee health, quality, and productivity. His outstanding accomplishments in 2024, especially in turning around key relationships with business partners, make him an exceptional candidate for this award.”

Cody has successfully balanced costs while prioritizing critical areas such as employee health, quality, and productivity. One of his significant accomplishments includes establishing a detailed IVR call intent-level taxonomy by Q3, which led to a decrease in the transfer rate of 8% by October 2024. This surpassed the target by 3% demonstrating his capability to manage costs while improving service delivery.

Cody's commitment to employee health is evident in his impressive employee Net Promotor Score (eNPS) score of 59 vs a target of 27 and an engagement score of 90% vs a target of 79%. He has fostered an inclusive work environment, focusing on team development and cross-functional collaboration. His proactive approach in seeking feedback and conducting skip-level meetings has created a culture where team members feel seen, heard, and understood.

While the service level and cycle time consistency for back office faced challenges due to staffing shortages, Cody's leadership ensured high forecast accuracy targets were met. His short-term forecast team had an accuracy that reached 93%. Despite staffing challenges, Cody's efforts were instrumental in achieving success in these areas.

Cody's ability to turn around relationships with business partners has been a cornerstone of his success. By developing a weekly briefing process and a monthly outlook process, he has helped senior leaders gain a deeper understanding of their team’s performance and potential mitigation strategies. His dedication to investing time with leaders has repaired strained relationships, restored confidence in technology, tools, and processes, and improved FCS productivity key results.

When a leadership vacancy arose, Cody seamlessly took on additional responsibilities, ensuring team stability and demonstrating strong leadership skills. His proactive approach highlighted his ability to manage and lead effectively, even in challenging circumstances. Cody was entrusted with a new role to lead workforce technology initiatives. He embraced this change with enthusiasm and dedication. Cody developed comprehensive program-level
engagements and established clear communication channels for technology updates. This ensured that all stakeholders were well-informed and aligned with the technological enhancements. His proactive approach in integrating workforce management with technology has driven significant improvements in operational efficiency and team performance.

Despite the increased workload and changes in his role, Cody demonstrated exceptional commitment to his professional development. Amidst his numerous responsibilities, he successfully completed his Certified Workforce Planning Professional (CWPP) certification. Additionally, Cody's commitment to professional growth is further exemplified by his recent academic accomplishments. In May 2024, he earned his MBA from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. These achievements prove his dedication to continuous learning and his drive to enhance his expertise in workforce management. Balancing his professional duties with rigorous certification requirements showcases his remarkable time management skills and unwavering commitment to excellence.

Breanne Katrin is Manager of Workforce Planning for Delta Air Lines. The company handles 4.5 million telephone, email, chat, and social media contacts monthly with nearly 6000 agents in seven locations and an additional 2000 agents at BPOs. The WFM team uses Presidio Network Solutions and Calabrio WFM.

Dave Hoekstra, Product Evangelist for Calabrio, praised her by stating, “With Breanne, it’s not just what she does; it’s how she does it. Always caring, always uplifting, she wields a smile and understanding to influence, build compromise, and get it done. This can-do spirit, fueled by genuine empathy and integrity, makes Breanne someone you implicitly trust to do the right thing. Her thoughtful recognition of others’ efforts motivates them to rise to the occasion, forge ahead, and find a way. It works because she holds herself to the same standards.”

As one of the world’s largest airlines, Delta serves nearly 165 million customers each year and offers over 15,000 daily flights, leading to an extremely high volume of customer service calls for Breanne’s team. As part of the Delta Resource Planning team, Breanne administered WFM activities (mainly scheduling and shift bids in their extremely old homegrown legacy system). She has worked tirelessly to learn the functionality of their WFM software’s shift bidding module and has become Delta’s subject matter expert (SME). The shift bid has become the launch point for Delta’s rollout of WFM software over the past year, and it is the first thing that is rolled out at each new Engagement Center. She has successfully rolled out shift bidding in the WFM system to over 4,500 agents so far.

The COVID and post-COVID era has been hard on many industries, but for airlines, the impact was extreme. Delta swung from celebrating their biggest year ever in February 2020 to canceling all flights within weeks. Thirty percent of their workforce voluntarily took exit packages, yet just three months later, volume returned to pre-pandemic levels—without the headcount. Entering 2021, Delta embarked on a rapid hiring journey, bringing on over
3,000 new domestic employees and expanding their messaging channel through business partners in just a few months. To support operations, Resource Planning first adjusted all schedules and operating hours, then worked to unwind those changes as demand surged back. Through it all, Breanne had her team's back, implementing changes and driving new ways of working in an unprecedented time.

As Delta emerged from COVID, they refocused efforts on new WFM technology that had originally been slated for rollout in 2020. Breanne took on a significant leadership role, heading up the Resource Planning team while serving as an SME on the complexities of their business. Delta's infrastructure is highly complex, consisting of:
• Nine engagement centers (eight domestic, one international)
• Four international business partners
• Multiple service channels (Phone, Messaging, Email, and Queues)
• More than 12 lines of business operating in different time zones and languages

In total, Delta creates more than 130 bid groups for their resources alone, and until this year, they managed this process primarily in Excel as our previous software reached end-of life. Working closely with tech, experience, and field teams, as well as technology partners from their WFM software, Breanne defined the business needs for Delta Reservations and Care, a workforce of over 8,000 agents across Delta and its partners. She has worked tirelessly to support the business, ensuring that our new WFM technology was properly configured for resource planning while also advocating for end-users in the field.

Breanne’s expertise in both existing planning tools and the new WFM system meant that she was instrumental in planning schedules for the entire operation for 2024 and 2025—in both the old and new systems—while they transitioned a few centers per bid period. Since 2022, Delta has cut wait times by more than 65%, thanks in large part to the skillful movement and scheduling of people. While some may attribute this solely to hiring, the
data tells a different story. When heavy hiring slowed in 2023, Delta compared 2023 wait times with 2024 wait times and saw a 25% year-over-year improvement, the majority of which resulted from smoother scheduling and better alignment of resources to business needs.

Rachele Scales is WFM Lead for Insite Managed Solutions. The BPO company employs 3000 agents in 23 locations using Genesys Cloud, Verint, Vonage, Nice IEX, Nice CXOne/InContact, and AWS. The 24X7 operation handles one million contacts per month utilizing voice, chat, email, social, and back office interactions. The WFM team consists of 22 staff.

Jenine Kent, Chief Delivery Officer for Insite Managed Solutions said, “Rachele Scales has built an impressive career rooted in workforce management, blending both formal training and extensive hands-on experience across diverse industries and contact center environments. Rachele’s work over the past year represents the very best of what WFM leadership can achieve — blending technical excellence, process rigor, team development, and business collaboration into a cohesive transformation that delivered tangible results.”

Rachele’s journey began more than a decade ago, working as a frontline agent before transitioning into WFM roles, giving her a deep appreciation for both agent experience and operational efficiency. Over the years, Rachele has received comprehensive training in forecasting methodologies, capacity planning, real-time management, and performance analytics, with deep platform experience across multiple WFM tools. Beyond technical training, Rachele has actively pursued leadership development to bridge the gap between technical expertise and executive communication, ensuring WFM is consistently viewed as a strategic business partner rather than just a back office function.

Rachele has consistently been recognized internally for her leadership and impact. Rachele won the Perseverance Award for her unwavering commitment to excellence, consistently rising to every challenge — from stepping into expanded leadership roles to delivering exceptional client results — all while supporting her colleagues with her deep expertise, collaborative spirit, and tireless work ethic. While her formal certifications include platformspecific WFM tool training and advanced Excel/analytics coursework, her most meaningful recognition comes directly from her clients and team members, who regularly cite her approachability, expertise, and ability to translate complexity into clarity as defining traits. Rachele also has Insite ccSigma Yellow Belt and ccSigma Green Belt certification.

Rachele’s leadership delivered immediate and lasting results, including improving forecast accuracy from 82% to consistently above 95% across all programs within her portfolio. WFM’s credibility also dramatically improved, with operations leadership actively seeking WFM input for scheduling decisions, staffing approvals, and long-term budget planning. WFM team engagement and confidence grew significantly, with team members reporting
greater clarity, empowerment, and a stronger sense of purpose. And cross-functional collaboration evolved from a reactive process to a proactive, collaborative partnership, where WFM was involved early in decision-making rather than consulted after the fact.

By restoring forecast accuracy, aligning staffing plans to real business priorities, and fostering stronger collaboration with operations, Rachele’s work directly contributed to improved service levels across client programs, optimized labor costs through more accurate scheduling, improved agent experience, as schedules better matched demand and reduced last-minute changes, stronger leadership confidence in WFM data, resulting in faster decision-making and reduced friction between teams, and perhaps most importantly, Rachele transformed the perception of WFM from a support/reporting function into a strategic advisor helping the business achieve both service and financial goals.

Rachele’s efforts garnered amazing monetary benefits for the company, including labor cost savings of approximately $1.2 million annually, driven by improved forecast accuracy and optimized scheduling. The company also saw a reduction in unplanned overtime and improved efficiency in resource utilization and avoided consulting costs, as the improved internal processes eliminated the need for external forecasting and workforce planning
consultants.

Rachele also was able to improve agent satisfaction, due to reduced last-minute schedule changes, and she built stronger relationships between WFM and operations, leading to better cross-department alignment. She also fostered enhanced WFM team engagement, as team members felt empowered to own processes and contribute ideas, creating a culture of continuous improvement.

Rachele ensured that these improvements were not temporary fixes but part of a sustainable, scalable framework by embedding the WFM Playbook as the team’s standard operating procedure, ensuring consistency across all lines of business. She maintained the weekly review cadence, keeping performance conversations ongoing, transparent, and collaborative, and cross-trained team members across forecasting, scheduling, and realtime
management, ensuring process continuity even during staffing changes. Rachele also instilled a continuous improvement mindset within the team, encouraging regular process reviews, data deep dives, and proactive problem-solving.

Cooper Taylor is Senior Workforce Management Analyst for 8x8. The telecommunications operation handles 11,000 phone, web, chat, and SMS contacts per month in five locations with 250 agents including BPOs. They utilize 8x8 Contact Center and Verint WFM Pro technologies. The WFM team consists of two persons.

Cooper has been with 8x8 for over four years, starting as a Workforce Management Analyst and then receiving a promotion to Senior Workforce Management Analyst role. He has an MBA and is a four-time winner of the 8x8 Super Star award, which is awarded quarterly to the top five individual contributors in the 8x8 Support Department of 400+ employees. He is currently studying for his Certified Workforce Planning Professional (CWPP) certification and the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) designation.

According to Christopher Lathouwers, Workforce Management Program Manager at 8x8, “Cooper is extremely analytical and loves problem-solving. He views the daily management of our phone, chat, and web queues with an inquisitive mind, always looking to figure out the optimal way to ensure our interactions are being answered in the thresholds set to ensure the business is meeting its KPI's.“

Within 3 weeks of joining 8x8, Cooper single-handedly found all the reports needed to create an Adherence Tracking Report that he updated manually in Excel daily, reporting on the prior days’ adherence for the team. In Cooper's initial report, the team’s weekly adherence percentage was 32.1%, which was causing missed service levels (SLAs), as well as a phone and chat abandon rate above 20%. Within four months of reporting on Adherence to our management team, the daily adherence had climbed to 72.7%, which was due to Cooper’s diligence in not only reporting the figures to the management team but also taking the initiative to create a weekly checkpoint call with the leaders to discuss individual agent performance to help them to have pinpointed coaching sessions with agents who struggled to follow their schedules.

It was at the 4-month mark into Cooper’s tenure with 8x8 that the Workforce Management team of five quickly became a team of two as three colleagues left all at the same time. This quick change forced Cooper to pick up and learn the other key areas of the team rapidly to ensure that business results would not be compromised. One crucial piece that Cooper fought for during this transitionary period for the team was to bring in a Workforce
Management software that could be utilized to help fill the place of losing 60% of the team without burning the remaining team members out trying to pick up the slack of their former peers. Within two months, Cooper had set up and viewed demo calls with five different software providers and had settled on one as the product that could help us with forecasting, scheduling ,and adherence reporting. Cooper took on the role as the software
administrator for the team, ensuring it was set up properly during the implementation phase and that it continues to be maintained and helpful to the team over three years later.

Cooper has helped to overhaul the workforce management program by decreasing phone and chat abandon rates from 22.9% in 2020 down to 3.6% in 2024 through his adherence reporting (both manually in Excel and within the WFM tool once implemented). He also performed the first forecasting for 8x8 and he has been able to reduce our forecast variance from 12.1% in 2021 to 6.4% in 2024 which has dramatically helped the management team
with their headcount decisions.

Cooper’s forecasting, scheduling, and adherence data has driven the ability to decrease headcount at their BPOs from over 150 agents in 2020 down to 90 agents in 2025 without impacting the underlying KPIs of abandon rate below 5%, ASA of less than 35 seconds, and SLA of 90% of calls answered within 75 seconds.

The SWPP Board of Advisors selected the five finalists from nominations submitted on the SWPP website. The Workforce Management Professional of the Year award is chosen from the five finalists by the Board of Advisors and announced at the 2025 SWPP Annual Conference.

About SWPP
The Society of Workforce Planning Professionals (SWPP) is an organization devoted to facilitating education and networking opportunities among workforce planners across all industries. Membership in SWPP is available to all workforce planning professionals and other interested parties from consulting and vendor organizations. Both individual memberships and corporate membership options are available, with full benefits and costs
outlined on the organization’s website at www.swpp.org.