Agenda
SWPP Annual Conference
April 22-24, 2025
Monday, April 21
4:00-6:00 p.m. – Registration – Legends Ballroom Foyer
4:00-5:00 p.m. – Complimentary Pre-conference Session
Roadmap to the SWPP Annual Conference. New to the SWPP conference? Or just ready to meet some new friends? Come to this fun and interactive session to hear how to make the most of your time at this event. Review the agenda and learn how these key topics will give you specific takeaways for your organization and help you with business decisions down the road. – Speaker: Jessica Harris, School Specialty, & Victoria Marcella, Warby Parker – Music Row 1
5:00-6:00 p.m. – Complimentary Pre-conference Session
Speed Networking. Everyone has heard of Speed Dating. Attend this session for a variation that will help you start off the conference with a bunch of new friends! In our Speed Networking session, you will spend just a few minutes getting to know some of your fellow attendees, and exchange business cards so that you can talk more over the next few days and keep in touch after the conference is over. – Music Row 5
Tuesday, April 22
7:30-9:30 a.m. – Registration & Continental Breakfast – Legends Ballroom Foyer
9:30-10:45 a.m. – Welcome & Keynote Address – Legends Ballroom
The Future of Customer Interactions: A Workforce Revolution. The way customers interact with businesses is evolving faster than ever. Technology, expectations, and workforce dynamics are shifting in ways that demand a fresh approach to how we plan and deliver service. In this keynote, Justin Robbins will explore the trends shaping the future of customer interactions and challenge you to rethink your role in creating seamless, efficient, and meaningful experiences.
Backed by research and real-world insights, this session will examine key forces driving change, including:
With a blend of inspiration and practical takeaways, Justin will equip you with the insights you need to stay ahead of what’s next. This high-energy session will answer the question: Are you just keeping up, or are you leading the future of customer interactions? – Speaker: Justin Robbins, MetricSherpa
11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m. – Workshops
Preparing to Forecast: Decisions and Data for the Planning Process. There are many steps in data review and analysis before the forecasting process begins. In this seminar, you will learn about the up-front essentials of forecasting workload. Hear about the sources of input data and how to decide which best represents future needs. Learn about agent work state activity and techniques to ensure you have predictive AHT data. Practice identifying and adjusting for data aberrations and other considerations for data cleanup before it enters the forecasting process. You will also hear about forecasting models and how to choose the one the best represents your business and calling patterns. – Speaker: Maggie Klenke – Cumberland 4
Building an AI Strategy & Roadmap. Tailored for Contact Center AI decision makers or WFM strategists, this valuable presentation will guide you through the essential steps of developing and implementing a comprehensive AI strategy that aligns with your organization's objectives & customers’ expectations. Learn from an industry expert who will share best practices, tools, and methodologies to harness the power of AI effectively for both your customers & employees and avoid common AI transformation mistakes. Walk away with clear, actionable framework that will drive innovation and a proven path of success for your CX technology decisions & results. Whether you're just getting started, or looking for the next phase of improvements for your customers or employees, this session will set the strategic tone for the remainder of your SWPP conference. – Speaker: Josh Streets, Scoreboard Group – Cumberland 5
Ten Great Tips and Tricks for Capacity Planning, 2025 Edition. A perennial discussion at SWPP, updated for 2025! In this session, we will discuss a range of strategic planning topics from understanding your planning data to sensitivity analyses to model validation to the wisdom of always hitting your service goals. We will discuss tricks to make your cap plans better and will chat about ways to ensure your plan is accurate and correct. –Speaker: Ric Kosiba, Real Numbers – Cumberland 6
WFM Practices for the Modern Contact Center: Letting Your Employees Build Their Schedules. Journey to the modern contact center, where employees are empowered to create their own schedules. Join us to learn how you can create automated rules to ensure that schedules meet business needs, all while improving employee engagement and scheduling satisfaction. Discover how you can use intelligent automation and AI to reduce manual scheduling processes, optimize net staffing, and increase employee satisfaction and retention. – Speaker: Nathan Stearns, NICE – Music Row 1
How the Right Technology Can Enable a New Approach to Contact Center Leadership. Many technology solutions promise improved agent and manager productivity, but understanding their true ROI and customer impact isn’t always straightforward. Adding new technology often introduces more data—but for team leaders already navigating manual processes, making sense of it all can be overwhelming. Join Intradiem’s session to discover how to strike the right balance between people and technology to drive tangible results and measurable ROI. Learn how to unlock the potential of a universal agent model to optimize operational efficiency; empower agents through data-driven, personalized development plans; and lay the groundwork for AI adoption with a people-first approach to technology integration. – Speakers: Mary Ann Chandler & Chris Busbee, Intradiem – Music Row 2
Workforce Management for De-Centralized Retail Environments. Workforce Management as a practice is applicable to all areas of business. There are many similarities that transcend all and differences based on business operating models that require different ways to forecast, plan, schedule, and operate. In Retail Environments there are many challenges including less data, less ability for oversight and tracking, and a de-centralized workforce. This session will go through a case study of Workforce Planning for Retail Locations looking at ways WFM principles are applied and the varying factors needed for success in this type of business operating model. – Speaker: Andrew Blake, TD Bank – Music Row 3
Case Study: Building a World-Class Outsourced Command Center. Come to this session to hear key considerations for moving Command Center work from in-house to outsourced. Learn about lift and shift pain points and lessons learned, best practices for designing a World-Class Command Center as well as Command Center Governance and success criteria. – Speakers: Dale Decena & Joey Campbell, Google – Music Row 4
Where Do Your Goals Come From? While there is no “industry standard” for many of the metrics that we measure, our management teams are always asking us what other companies are doing. Come to this session ready to share your key metrics – and how they were determined -- and hear the same information from the other attendees as well. – Panelists: Stephen Schmidt, Zillow, Dave Payne, Travelers, & Jessica Harris, School Specialty – Music Row 5
Getting What You Want from Your Workforce Data. Storing data in Excel is most helpful when you can easily organize and analyze data based on variables that you want to examine. We will walk through creating pivot tables and charts, use the basic functions of Excel within this context, format and filter information we want to analyze, and create calculated fields of new data for information. In addition, we will be reviewing examples of what you can use this for within workforce data. A sample dataset and step-by-step guide for creating Pivot tables and Charts in Excel 2010 will be provided for attendees. (Attendees should already have an understanding of the basic formulas of excel spreadsheets, formatting, filtering, and basic creation of charts.) – Speaker: Kristi Holcombe – Music Row 6
12:15-1:45 p.m. – Luncheon & WFM Professional of the Year Award – Legends Ballroom
1:45-3:00 p.m. – Workshops
Forecasting Basics: Predicting for Months, Weeks, Days, and Intervals. In this seminar, you will learn the step-by-step process of applying Time Series Analysis to predict future workload. Learn how to identify trend rates and seasonality patterns for a monthly call forecast. After the monthly forecast is in place, the next step in the planning process is to break down the predictions to weekly, daily, and interval numbers. Hear the process and calculations to use to distribute a monthly workload all the way down into intervals for scheduling. Finally, take a look at some right and wrong ways to review forecast accuracy to fine-tune future predictions. – Speaker: Penny Reynolds – Cumberland 4
Signs of Success: Metrics and Measures of WFM Performance. Almost every contact center employee has a performance scorecard, outlining expected levels of performance in many different areas. The workforce management team is no exception. While the tasks may vary from center to center depending on size and functional design, there are common ways to define metrics that point to good performance and a job well done. Learn about the four components of WFM success, along with different ways to measure and report the numbers. See measurement case studies, along with best practices for defining WFM metrics. – Speaker: Maggie Klenke – Cumberland 5
Balancing the Future of Contact Centers: Hybrid Work, Multi-Channel Complexity, & Workforce Optimization Tools. As contact centers evolve, leaders face the challenge of balancing employee well-being, operational efficiency, and customer expectations. This panel discussion will feature industry experts exploring how remote and hybrid work models impact scheduling and performance, the complexities of managing multi-channel interactions, and the role of emerging Workforce Optimization (WFO) tools in driving efficiency and adaptability. – Panelists: Victor Saldana Hernandez, The Aldo Group, Jason Persico, Inspira Financial, & Mark Rhodes, Edward Jones – Cumberland 6
The Evolving Reality: Are Industry Trends Reshaping Workforce Operations? The current state of the workforce management industry and where it's headed in the face of innovation, labor challenges, and evolving business demands means a change to our traditional Workforce Practice. Our industry experts will discuss how Workforce Planners can leverage technology—such as automation, ai, and analytics—to improve operational efficiency, workforce engagement, and compliance. Attendees will leave with actionable insights to stay competitive and agile in this evolving landscape. This session is tailored for operations managers, business leaders, and workforce management professionals looking to streamline labor processes and prepare for industry shifts. Key takeaways include: insights into emerging industry trends and practical ways to future-proof workforce operations; strategies to boost employee engagement and productivity while aligning workforce management practices with business goals; and the importance of adopting a people-first management approach to foster retention, improve morale, and create a more engaged workforce. – Speakers: Mary Ward, Kelly Person, Kyle Pendleton & Carolyn Pilgrom – Music Row 1
5 Killer AI Decision Intelligence Apps to Transform Your Operations. Everyone is talking about AI. But enough of the hype, what does this really mean for leaders? In this session, we’ll explore how ready we are in operations to leverage AI to drive better decision-making. Understand why your data is holding you back and what you can do about it. Plus see 5 real-world examples of where AI is already a reality and making an impact to decision-making in operations teams. – Speakers: Joy Santosh, ActiveOps, & Jennifer Brown, TD Bank – Music Row 2
How AAA Mountain West Group Successfully Combined Their Call Intake and Dispatching Teams. How can roadside assistance providers optimize dispatch times and resource allocation when faced with limited historical data? This session explores how AAA NCNU addressed this challenge by becoming the first in the nation to merge call intake and dispatch teams. We'll examine their use of Verint queue hopping to dynamically assign dispatching tasks and discuss the innovative methods used to generate accurate forecasts despite data constraints. Join us to discover how AAA NCNU is transforming emergency response through strategic integration and data-driven decision making. – Speakers: Jeanie Brierely & Fayth Bushman, AAA Mountain West Group – Music Row 3
There’s More to WFM Than Data: How to Become the Change Leader Who Brings People Together, Makes Ideas Stick, and Gains Buy-In From The Beginning. Not getting buy-in from Operations? Frustrated that people aren’t taking your data insight seriously? Data tells a story, but that doesn’t mean our Operations partners are interested enough to listen. In this session we will move beyond the data in your quest to do what’s best for your customers and your company. We’ll explore ways to make your message more effective and our partners more accepting of everything that WFM offers. Join us for entertaining stories, valuable insights, and multiple tips to take advantage of WFM’s vital role within a company. – Speaker: Bryce Ackerman, Roche – Music Row 4
Taking Your WFM Career to the Next Level. An engaged, ambitious professional will always want to know how to improve in their job. Whether you’ve been in workforce management for a few months or few years, you should always be listening, learning, and looking for ways to advance your WFM career. This session will provide tips to improve your career outlook and offer sound advice to improve your relationships with your customers, colleagues, and leaders. – Panelists: Victoria Marcella, Warby Parker, Bryan Hovasse, Point32Health, and Mary Bova – Music Row 5
Value Force Multipliers: Transforming Contact Center Results with Focused, High-Impact Improvements. In this session, customer experience expert Justin Robbins introduces Value Force Multipliers (VFMs)—focused, high-impact improvements that tackle root issues and align departments to drive workforce planning success. Justin will guide you through identifying VFMs, setting unified KPIs, and implementing solutions that deliver sustainable results across your contact center. Walk away with actionable strategies to streamline workflows, reduce friction, and improve both employee and customer satisfaction. If you're ready to move beyond quick fixes and achieve lasting impact, this session is for you. – Speaker: Justin Robbins, MetricSherpa – Music Row 6
3:00-3:45 p.m. – Afternoon Break – Legends Ballroom Foyer
3:45-5:00 p.m. – Workshops
Essentials of Staffing: Models and Calculations for Contact Center Staff. Managing a contact center means managing by the numbers and the most important number is the right number of staff in seats at the right time. Learn the essentials of calculating staff requirements, including how to assemble workload and apply Erlang techniques to determine staffing to meet service goals. In addition to staffing for incoming telephone calls, learn how to calculate workload and apply the proper staffing techniques for outbound calling, email, and chat contacts. – Speaker: Penny Reynolds – Cumberland 4
Agent Flexibility – How Workforce Management Can Influence Agent Satisfaction. Come join the Home Depot Workforce Management team as they outline several initiatives that they have recently implemented. These efforts have led to higher agent satisfaction scores, lower attrition, and additional benefits. If your contact center is struggling with high attrition, which is costing you money, come join the Home Depot to learn options to unlock flexibility while still effectively managing your business to meet customer needs. – Speakers: Sean Hostetler & Kelley Schroeder, The Home Depot – Cumberland 5
Planning Project Schedule Bids. How do you best prepare to conduct shift bids within your organization? Come to this session to learn steps successfully implemented by Walgreens in a phased bid approach. The process begins by identifying bid assumptions and parameters that are proposed to all key stakeholders to set clear expectations and establish bid agreements. This is followed up with an outlined Shift Bid Timeline following a three-phased approach. Since this has been implemented, everyone is more in sync from cradle to grave throughout the shift bid process. Everyone knows what to expect and when to expect it…no surprises! – Speakers: Kirwyn Adderley & Lakeshia McKenzie, Walgreens – Cumberland 6
Unlocking the Future of Capacity Planning: Challenges and Opportunities in 2025. Join Keyrus and a panel of leading capacity planning experts for an engaging and unscripted exploration into the future of capacity planning. This roundtable discussion will dive into the most pressing challenges facing the industry today, as well as innovative strategies companies are deploying to address them. Topics will include how to integrate short- and long-term capacity planning for maximum effectiveness, how capacity planners are preparing for an AI-driven world, and how to streamline collaboration with HR, Finance, Vendor, and Operations partners. Additionally, the session will explore strategies to minimize unexpected over and under staffing periods. -- Speaker: James Wilby, Keyrus, Iliyana Zdravkova, Google, Tony Graczyk, Principal Financial, & Kim Felice, Conduent – Music Row 1
The Possible, the Practical, and the Profitable: Unlocking the Full Potential of AI-Driven WFM in CCaaS. Workforce management (WFM) plays a pivotal role in any Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS), driving operational efficiency, enhancing agent experience, and ensuring customer satisfaction. While AI offers transformative improvements in forecasting, scheduling, and intraday management, true success lies in mastering the Last Mile—seamlessly integrating the innovations into production environments. This session explores the three critical phases of technology adoption: The Possible, The Practical, and The Profitable. We will cover how advanced AI-driven forecasting, real-time automation, and hybrid workforce optimization are revolutionizing scheduling processes, boosting compliance, and elevating agent engagement. Additionally, we will address the challenges of scaling AI and automation within contact centers, leveraging systems-thinking principles to minimize failure points and build resilience. By shifting the focus from theoretical potential to practical implementation, this session will empower WFM professionals by providing a framework to effectively evaluate, implement, and scale AI-driven solutions—ensuring that innovation translates into measurable operational success and profitability. – Speaker: April Bock, Waterfield Technologies – Music Row 2
Intrinsic Motivation and The Heart of WFM. The critical function of planning, scheduling, and managing resources. It's easy to get lost in the "science" of the work. But what is truly happening in the minds of these "resources?" Why can it be so difficult to get people to do the right thing? Join Nate Brown for an accelerated study in the world of intrinsic motivation and a small slice of organizational psychology. Learn several underlying reasons for why employees act the way they do, and techniques to encourage high-performance behaviors. Key learnings include: how to foster the "community chemical" of serotonin and avoid the dreaded cortisol for an enhanced working environment; identify the most strategic intrinsic motivators to the work of CX, and how to leverage them as a WFM leader; and pitfalls to avoid that can suck the "life" out of the work, leaving employees burned out and missing performance targets. – Speaker: Nate Brown, MetricSherpa – Music Row 3
Building & Evolving WFM. In this session, we'll cover four topics that novices and veterans alike can find value in: building a WFM team, evolving WFM once you're established, WFM talent management and career pathing, and being a trusted advisor. The speakers will share their experiences building and evolving WFM at CNA Insurance, a commercial insurance carrier, and Raymond James, a financial services and wealth management firm. Some key topics will be the business case for WFM, how to manage stakeholders, how to deal with work and requests that are not traditional WFM, what to look for when hiring, and the importance of building trust. – Speakers: John Campbell, Raymond James, & Stephanie Lanier, CNA – Music Row 4
Back Office Case Study: Implementing WFM for a Small Team. Have you ever had to stand-up a back office WFM service for a small team on your own? Are you running WFM for a back-office environment and looking to double check against another example? The session will cover capacity planning, scheduling, and real-time monitoring. – Speakers: Steven Lowe, Aon, & Bob Dobson, Webster Bank – Music Row 5
Why Managing Forecast Volatility is Like Playing a Game of Golf. Tee up your workforce management game with this session on managing forecast volatility. Whether you're looking to improve your long game in predicting trends or perfect your short game in daily adjustments, this session can help you lower your handicap in managing forecast volatility. Come join us to learn about five WFM tools, including 6-sigma methodology, that can help you ‘stay the course’ when managing forecast volatility. Do you know your “club length?” – Speaker: Damon Spurlock, TechStyleOS – Music Row 6
5:00-7:00 p.m. – Networking Reception – Legends Ballroom
Wednesday, April 23
7:45-9:15 a.m. – Breakfast – Legends Ballroom
8:00-9:00 a.m. – Behind Closed Doors with the Sponsors
Behind Closed Doors – NICE – Cumberland 4
Behind Closed Doors – Aspect – Cumberland 5
Behind Closed Doors – Verint – Cumberland 6
Behind Closed Doors – Keyrus – Music Row 2
Behind Closed Doors – Calabrio – Music Row 3
Behind Closed Doors – CommunityWFM – Music Row 4
Behind Closed Doors – Genesys – Music Row 5
9:15-10:30 a.m. – Workshops
Staffing Tradeoffs: Achieving a Balance of Service, Occupancy, and Cost. After determining base staff requirements, it is critical to review all the tradeoffs that impact contact center stakeholders. Learn about how callers are impacted by staffing decisions that drive speed of answer and quality of service. Review how staffing levels impact frontline staff in terms of productivity or occupancy. Finally, see how staffing levels and telecommunications factors affect revenues and costs. Hear about how one person can make an impact on service, occupancy, and cost, as well as the factors to consider when making decisions about agent group size, multi-skilling, or consolidation of sites or groups. – Speaker: Penny Reynolds – Cumberland 4
Setting Strategic Goals for Workforce Management. Just like the organization as a whole and the contact center within it, the Workforce Management department needs to have strategic goals that define the direction for the team. Clearly set overall goals make short-term decisions easier and performance more consistent. In this session, you will learn: the 10 most common goals; definitions and applications; implications of different calculations; tradeoffs when goals create conflicts; and the essentials of creating a strategic plan. – Speaker: Maggie Klenke – Cumberland 5
The Future is WFM. As businesses face rapid changes in customer expectations, workforce dynamics, and technology advancements, Workforce Management (WFM) has emerged as a driving force for operational excellence and creating impactful employee and customer experiences. In this session, we’ll explore the evolving role of WFM in shaping the future of work and uncover practical strategies for staying ahead. Attendees will gain insights into emerging trends, such as hybrid workforces, AI-driven scheduling, and predictive analytics, that are revolutionizing WFM practices. We’ll also discuss how WFM leaders can align their strategies with business objectives, leverage data to make smarter decisions, and foster a culture of adaptability and innovation. Whether you’re a seasoned WFM leader or new to the discipline, this session will equip you with actionable tools and forward-thinking approaches to ensure your WFM strategy not only meets today’s demands but is prepared for tomorrow’s challenges. Join us and discover why the future truly is WFM. – Speaker: Juanita Coley, Solid Rock Consulting – Cumberland 6
Back to WFM Basics: Why it Serves You Better to Keep Your Intelligence Actual. Are you new to WFM, or even a seasoned WFM professional, and you find yourself wondering whether you really need AI in your WFM software suite? I mean, after all, everyone IS talking about it a lot, and it IS revolutionary technology, so <insert cloud of speculation and doubt here>…. In this panel-style seminar led by our partners at CommunityWFM, we hope to remove some of that speculation and doubt by discussing the difference between AI and automation, forecasting basics, long-term forecasting best practices, scheduling approaches and methodologies, reporting considerations, and how AI will potentially impact all the various pieces of the WFM universe. – Speakers: Erick Thurber, Anthony Johnson, Ryan Schanck, & Diana Bengtsson, CommunityWFM – Music Row 1
Adding WFM to the Back Office. The only thing consistent about the businesses we support is change. Workforce management teams are often asked to support the ever-changing environments of the business. In this session, you will hear how several organizations have tackled the movement of WFM from just inbound call handling to multi-media contacts and now to the back office environment. Hear tips and techniques to make this a more successful and smooth transition. – Moderator: Kirwyn Adderley, Walgreens – Panelists: Adrien Seldon, Seldon Solutions, Sherry Fetters, Metronet, & Jodi Maffett, Enova – Music Row 2
When Occupancy is an Output Before an Input. Occupancy in a call center is the percentage of time agents spend on calls versus waiting. It's crucial for efficiency: high occupancy means good resource use, but if too high it risks agent burnout and lower service quality. Maintaining optimal occupancy balances productivity, customer satisfaction, and employee well-being. We will be discussing using occupancy as an output vs an input and all the impacts that occupancy can have good or bad. – Speakers: Emily Braik & Harrison Jones, Qualfon – Music Row 3
Mastering Your Team’s Workload Needs By Building Your Optimal Capacity Framework. Come to this session to understand the components of establishing a framework to help manage your own capacity needs, prioritize work, and offer more solutions of support based on the business' needs. Hear how important it is to develop RACI, Engagement Models, Management Process' and Service Offerings. Samples and real examples will be provided. – Speaker: Jessie Cessna & Cody Janiga-Stoll, Northwestern Mutual – Music Row 4
The Future is Calling: Will Your Contact Center Answer? This panel discussion delves into the future of workforce management within contact centers, spotlighting its critical role in driving operational efficiency, agent satisfaction, and ultimately, customer loyalty. We will explore how cutting-edge technologies such as AI powered workforce automation, real-time performance management tools, and advanced scheduling solutions are transforming WFM from a functional support area into a strategic enabler. Attendees will gain insights into innovations that empower WFM teams to anticipate staffing needs, optimize resources, and create an adaptive work environment. – Panelists: Jim Simmons, Queueless Consulting, & Ted Lango – Music Row 5
Pushing for Self-Serve? What Role Does WFM Play? Thinking ahead to the future integration of self-service offerings, understanding the value that can be extracted from a Workforce team will help align budgets, improve customer experience, and enrich automations. Session attendees will learn how Greenshield's Workforce Management team embraced a shared-service methodology that partnered elements of quality, training, and workforce principles to identify gaps in GenAI for self- or agent assisted-service. As gaps were addressed, forecast accuracy improved, training improved, and organizational trust in Workforce was bolstered. – Speaker: Brandon Emms, Greenshield Canada – Music Row 6
10:30-10:45 a.m. – Break – Legends Ballroom Foyer & Cumberland Foyer
10:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m. – Workshops
Scheduling Strategies: Definitions and Decisions for Successful Schedules. A successful schedule plan involves many decisions on the front end that can impact the long-term and short-term effectiveness of the work shifts. In this session, learn about the fundamental concepts of calculating and applying shrinkage to arrive at schedule requirements, along with considerations of defining schedule components. Hear about how to decide on optimal schedule horizon, shift definitions, and schedule constraints, as well as some of the best strategies for optimizing schedule coverage and minimizing cost. -- Speaker: Maggie Klenke – Cumberland 4
The Biggest and Baddest Analyses Workforce Managers Can Do: What-If and Sensitivity Analyses. When you think of the most important business questions a call center executive might want to answer, they all center around a few common themes of resourcing given uncertainty: What is my expected cost to service my customers? If I wanted to improve service standards, how many heads would it require? Given our economy is so volatile, what investment decisions do I need to make today to ensure we don’t have a service failure next year? How bad will service be if my attrition continues? In this session, we will discuss how you can use your WFM and cap planning process to answer these questions with some simple and clever analyses. – Speakers: Ric & Chris Kosiba, Real Numbers – Cumberland 5
WFM With AI – How Are You Using It Today? AI can be very tricky! It’s a buzz word that we hear every day, but we need to understand how it can work for us. Let's take a look into how AI can help – or hurt -- WFM. Come to this session to take a look into the potential successes and pitfalls with AI in WFM. – Speaker: John Watkinson & Todd Williams, InflowCX – Cumberland 6
Proven Tips to Recognize and Prevent Staffing Gaps. For modern contact centers, disengaged teams and soaring agent attrition can wreak havoc on customer experience and operational efficiency. But guess what? It doesn’t have to be that way! In this session, we’re diving deep into the game- changing strategies that will transform your workforce dynamics to empower agents with more control over their work lives. Placing your agents at the center of scheduling decisions simplifies your workforce management process, reduces attrition, and builds a loyal team, driven to provide better customer experiences. We’ll provide clear, actionable tips to prevent staffing gaps and foster an empowered, vibrant contact center culture. – Speakers: Dave Hoekstra & Florian Garnier, Calabrio – Music Row 1
Rewarded Not Replaced: How the WFM Team Can Come Out on Top of the AI Revolution. Join three contact center veterans – and WFM long-timers just like you – who share your AI concerns in a changing WFM world. We'll discuss strategies to keep calm and carry on by focusing on the ways that human WFM professionals can work collaboratively with AI, and be on the AI bus instead of under it. Attendees will leave with a plan to make the WFM team wildly successful in an AI world while feeling HEFA: happy, engaged, fulfilled, and aligned at work. – Speakers: Michelle Gaffney, Nathan Hollman, & Shawn McCormick, Call Design, NA – Music Row 2
The AI-Enhanced Workforce Planner: Turning Data into Smarter Decisions. AI doesn’t replace workforce planners - it empowers them. This session focuses on how AI enhances WFM by delivering faster insights, better forecasting, and automated decision support. Attendees will learn how to use AI as a strategic tool for scheduling, workforce allocation, and operational efficiency. – Speaker: Robert Beasley, Genesys – Music Row 3
Ask the Workforce Wizard. This session is your chance to ask our panel of experts anything WFM! This interactive panel will answer questions submitted and chosen by conference attendees. If you have a question or an issue that has been a challenge to your team, bring your question to this session! The audience will also get a chance to give some input. This session will be dynamic and informative, but the topics covered will be chosen by you and your peers at the event. – Panelists: Marshall Lee, Human Numbers, Mark Rhodes, Edward Jones, Tony Graczyk, Principal Financial Group, Bryan Hovasse, Point32Health, & Jeff Bretana, Navy Federal Credit Union -- Music Row 4
Selling WFM to Executives: How WFM Got Investments Into the Team Even When Budgets are Down. Have you struggled to sell the concept of WFM to executives? Have you tried to get investments in your team or for needed tools? This session will walk you through some ways that YouTube was able to show the value of investing in the WFM team and tools to executives by showing a robust ROI. – Speaker: Tatiana Morrell & Iliyana Zdravkova, YouTube/Google – Music Row 5
Lessons Learned from Changing WFM Software Systems. So you are getting a new WM software system. You might be really excited or you might be really anxious. Hear from a panel who has been through the process as they share information about common issues and pitfalls to be aware of. Hear how to navigate pain points such as loss of functionality, user acceptance, and changes in processes. The biggest lesson is: it will all be OK! – Panelists: Todd Hixson & Geza Csank, Personify, & Terrell Price, OUC – Music Row 6
12:00-1:30 p.m. – Luncheon & WFM Jeopardy – Legends Ballroom
1:30-2:45 p.m. – Workshops
Managing Schedule Adherence: Creating an In-Place and On-Time Culture. An accurate forecast and perfectly constructed schedules don’t mean much if the frontline staff are not following the plan. In this session, you will learn various measures of how to measure adherence and quantify the problem of schedule non-adherence. See how common principles of performance management can be applied to identify reasons for non-adherence and what you can do to change adherence behaviors. Hear how some centers have created an adherence culture that works. – Speaker: Penny Reynolds – Cumberland 4
What Does Schedule Flexibility Mean? Ever wonder what other companies have done to get the most out of their schedules using creative scheduling and flexibility? Come join this interactive panel where we share our success/failures, best practices, and tips and tricks for you to put your ideas into place. You will also have the opportunity to share some of your own creative options that you have implemented and your experiences. The panel will also look at how labor laws affect different states, nations, and geographies and how to effectively manage these challenges. – Panelists: Teresa Howe, Gerber Life, Eric Bigelow, Qualfon, & Bob Dobson, Webster Bank – Cumberland 5
WFM Organizational Design – Small, Medium, and Large Teams. When your organization merges or experiences business strategy changes, how do you begin to establish or restructure to a Functional or Line of Business Workforce Management Team? Building a strong business case, organizational strategy and prioritized action plan is critical to implementing seamless WFM practices and establishing a stable foundation. In this session, learn from the experiences of the Walgreen’s contact center team and how they were able to use processes to ensure a smooth and successful transition. – Panelists: Kirwyn Adderley, Walgreens, Chad Pierce, Gerber Life, & Brandon Emms, Greenshield Canada – Cumberland 6
PODCAST TAPING: The Power of Leadership over Employee Churn. Join us for a live taping of the next episode of Aspect’s Futureworks podcast. VP of Operations & Strategic Planning at Aspect Stephen Krieger will host Behavioral Scientist Jordan Birnbaum, Glinda Group Co-founder and Chief Thinker/Doer, and Laura Martin, Glinda Group Co-founder & CEO, to explore the influence that leaders have on employee churn. Hear about leadership strategies that foster a culture of employee happiness and engagement — and strategies that don’t. Ask questions and become a part of the podcast! -- Moderator: Stephen Krieger, Aspect -- Guests: Jordan Birnbaum & Laura Martin, The Glinda Group – Music Row 1
How CX Automation is Shaping Workforce Management in the Contact Center and Back-Office. Join WFM industry veterans Trudy Cannon and Nicole Nevulis as they explore the transformative impact of CX Automation on workforce management (WFM). CX Automation is revolutionizing customer experiences, enabling you to balance their expectations with cost efficiency. What does this mean for your WFM practices, both in the contact center and back office? Discover how aligning your WFM practices across customer touchpoints, from contact center first point of contact through back-office process execution, can significantly reduce costs. And learn how real-time CX automation is shaping the employee experience and providing the right tools, at the right time to drive efficiency and effectiveness across the organization. -- Speakers: Trudy Cannon & Nicole Nevulis, Verint – Music Row 2
Radical Change, Real Results: Becoming an Employer of Choice. How do you drive meaningful change in a high-pressure contact center while keeping employees engaged and customers happy? Join us to discover how Vivint transformed their contact center operations and culture by offering agents more control over their schedules, optimizing workforce planning, and automating time-consuming tasks for their WFM teams. This change improved agent work-life balance, reduced attrition, and boosted adherence, all while driving higher performance across the contact center. You’ll walk away with practical strategies to implement similar changes and create a culture of flexibility and empowerment. – Speakers: Simon Beck, QStory, & Riley Parry, Vivint – Music Row 3
Workforce Management Certification Workshop. This workshop provides attendees with information on the certification preparation and process to attain the title of Certified Workforce Planning Professional (CWPP). What is CWPP Certification from SWPP all about? What will it do for you in the workforce management field? What are the requirements for certification? How do you prepare? These and other questions are answered by a panel of workforce management professionals who have already achieved the CWPP designation. – Facilitators: Ava Baxter, Citizens Financial, & Kristi Holcombe – Music Row 4
Speaking WFM to the Non-WFM Speaking Audience. In this highly interactive and fun sharing session, we will dig deep into the communication challenges that we usually don't talk about, because frankly, we don't know how to. We will discuss how to communicate with all levels in your organization from executives to agents, and Operations to HR. We will also talk about the importance of acronym glossaries and clear definitions that are meaningful, not convenient. Come to this session and walk away with new tools in your communication tool box. – Panelists: Mark Rhodes, Edward Jones, Tommy Templin, TTEC Digital, & Eric Roussos, Orlando Health – Music Row 5
Next Task: Increasing Efficiency and Enhancing Decision-Making in WFM Forecasting. This presentation centers on enhancing current WFM operations by boosting work efficiency, upholding suitable service levels, and preserving customer satisfaction. It will provide you with advanced techniques to automate a range of work tasks, such as data collection, volume prediction, and report creation for different business areas, aiming to improve and streamline capacity planning. It will also present effective methods to address unexpected initiatives that result in high call volumes, using a case study of the 2.7 billion people affected by the recent data breach from National Public Data. -- Speakers: Weiquan Cheng, Shelley Li, & Claudea Jennefer, Discover Financial Services – Music Row 6
2:45-3:45 p.m. – Ice Cream Social with the Sponsors – Legends Ballroom
3:45-5:00 p.m. – Workshops
Managing Daily Service: An Intra-Day Plan to Keep Staffing and Service on Track. Achieving intra-day success involves a process of monitoring, tracking, assessing, and acting to ensure staffing levels stay intact to deliver service regardless of the events of the day. In this session, you will learn about ways to monitor and track call volume, handle time, and staffing throughout the day in time to make changes as needed to impact service. Hear about communications and reaction strategies to affect both under-staffing and over-staffing with minimal disruption and maximum coverage. – Speaker: Maggie Klenke – Cumberland 4
Looking To the Future of WFM. Will bots be doing WFM in the future? Will we have UBER agents working from tablets and mobile devices while they catch Pokémon in between calls? Technology is changing seemingly at the speed of light and what do you need to be prepared for and thinking about to stay one step ahead, not just in WFM, but in partnering with an ever-changing workforce. A panel of long time industry veterans shares not only what they see in our future, but how they maintained “fresh space” to keep an eye on the prize while navigating the sea of change. – Panelists: Jason Persico, Blue Shield of California, Jason Hilliard, Radio Systems, & Todd Hixson, Personify – Cumberland 5
Build it Live – Capacity Planning: How to Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Process. Learn the essentials of workforce capacity planning from Adrien Seldon, an industry expert with 16+ years of experience. In this hands-on session, you’ll be guided through building plans in real-time using Excel and Google Sheets, covering topics like forecasting volumes, workload, and headcount needs. A powerful, ready-to-use template will be provided, so by the end of the session, you'll have both the skills and tools to effectively manage your organization's capacity planning. – Speaker: Adrien Seldon, Seldon Solutions – Cumberland 6
Drive Operational Efficiency by Increasing Accuracy in Workforce Long-Term Planning. Join us to discuss best practices for capacity planning. Smartly plan for the future by predicting how staffing scenarios will impact your contact center’s performance goals. Learn how to reverse-solve for performance targets, create shrinkage sub-categories, and leverage AI forecasting. Be able to address last-minute changes or meeting questions quickly with precise, informed answers. Long-term planning can significantly benefit contact centers, so ditch the spreadsheets and streamline your long-term planning to control costs, create better hiring plans, and improve your customer service. – Speaker: Mark Durrant, NICE – Music Row 1
Virtual Analysts, Smart Schedules, & the End of Reactivity. Exceptional customer experiences don’t happen by accident — they’re the result of careful planning, fast reactions, and increasingly, AI-powered decision-making behind the scenes. But for workforce teams, the reality is often messy: too many spreadsheets, constant reactivity, and not enough time for strategic work. In this session, Assembled Product Manager David Patou explores how AI built for the complexity of workforce management is helping teams move from reactive to proactive — enabling faster, smarter decisions around forecasting, scheduling, and intraday management. You’ll learn how leading support organizations are reducing manual toil, using virtual analysts to surface real-time insights, and scaling scheduling decisions without sacrificing flexibility or control. – Speaker: David Patou, Assembled – Music Row 2
AI-Driven Workforce Management: Unlocking Retention, Engagement & Efficiency in Hybrid & Remote Teams. In today’s dynamic work environment where hybrid and remote models have become the new norm, organizations are facing unprecedented challenges in workforce management (WFM). High attrition rates, disengagement, and inefficient scheduling are pushing businesses to rethink their strategies. How can AI be the game-changer in addressing these pain points? Join Khiv Sewad in this thought-provoking session as he unveils how AI-driven workforce management is revolutionizing employee scheduling, engagement, and retention. Discover how the AI-powered Retention Risk Index (RRI) is enabling organizations to predict and mitigate employee churn, optimize workforce allocation, and enhance employee satisfaction like never before. Key takeaways include: how AI can intelligently forecast workforce demand and optimize scheduling in real-time; the role of AI in boosting engagement and productivity across hybrid and remote teams; how predictive analytics in WFM can help in identifying at-risk employees and retaining top talent, and best practices for AI adoption in workforce planning for future-ready organizations. – Speaker: Khiv Sewad, ProHance – Music Row 3
Workforce Management Certification Practice “Bee.” Play this fun, interactive game to test your knowledge and get a flavor for the questions included in the Certified Workforce Planning Professional (CWPP) exams. Attend this session to see what you need to know in order to be successful in the pursuit of CWPP certification through SWPP. – Facilitators: Ava Baxter, Citizens Financial, & Kristi Holcombe – Music Row 4
NFL Sunday Ticket: Lessons From the Past. This is a follow up on last year’s presentation on how YouTube evolved/changed its overall strategy for NFL Sunday Ticket Season launch. This presentation will discuss key changes on forecasting, capacity planning, technology solutions, cost optimization measures, contingency planning, agent training and overall queue management. We will also cover critical learnings from Season 2 and how we’re incorporating these to future season planning and strategy modification. – Speakers: Dale Decena & Andrew Wang, YouTube – Music Row 5
Illuminating Agent Behaviors and Customer Satisfaction Using Active Contact Resolution (ACR). Do you wish there was something that could tell you about employee behaviors and processes that affect the effort expended by your customers without depending on your customers to complete a survey? ACR could be a valuable, low-effort answer for you! Join us to learn how you can implement this metric and how the agent insights can be a foundation for change to the benefit of your customers and service operations. – Speakers: Tony Graczyk, Principal Financial, & Ric Kosiba, Real Numbers – Music Row 6
6:30-9:30 p.m. – Evening Event – Friends in Low Places
Thursday, April 24
7:45-8:45 a.m. – Breakfast
8:45-10:00 a.m. – Workshops
60 Ideas in 60 Minutes – WFM Tips & Techniques from Real-Life Experiences. This fast-paced session with a panel of your WFM peers will have you writing furiously as you try to capture an idea a minute on paper! This format will give you some last minute tips to take home and implement immediately – if you can catch them all! – Panelists: Darlene Parks, Travelers, Marisa Wilkinson, Jason Persico, Inspira Financial, Todd Hixson, Personify, Mary Bova, John Campbell, Raymond James, & Bob Dobson, Webster Bank -- Cumberland 4
How Do You Measure WFM Success? There are so many different metrics that come out of our workforce management efforts. But which ones should we use to measure our success as a workforce management team? Come to this panel session to hear how different organizations measure the success of their teams and demonstrate their accountability to the rest of the company. – Panelists: Marshall Lee, Human Numbers, Mary Katherine Dorr, Trimble, & Cynthia Rivas, CableOne – Cumberland 5
Building an Amazing WFM Team. Trust and engagement are crucial elements when building an effective workforce management team. But once you have your team established, how do you keep them fully engaged? In this session, learn how to build and sustain a team that is collaborative, productive and inspired, all while focusing on their personal health and happiness. – Panelists: Victoria Marcella, Warby Parker, & Tyler McGary, Cinch Home Services, & Kristi Holcombe – Cumberland 6
Career Progression Programs – What, Why, and How Through a WFM Lens. Career progression programs (CPPs) increase associate satisfaction, engagement, productivity, and retention. WFM teams play a crucial role in ensuring the successful rollout of a CPP. The Humana Government Business WFM team will present what we learned before, during, and after launch to help others plan for their own successful CPP launch. This will include how these programs affect capacity planning, forecasting and other important WFM planning aspects. – Speaker: Michael Cook & Patricia Sinclair, Humana Government Business – Music Row 1
Capacity Mitigation Through Schedule Flexibility. Sound like an oxymoron? Here's how we do it successfully in the call center and back office environments - without shift bids or performance-based scheduling! We will review what flexibility options we offer, how we implement them into our intraday staffing plan, and trend reporting to address changes and how we make recommendations. The result is consistently meeting SLA's while empowering our employees' work/life balance! – Speaker: Becky Denman, Progressive Insurance – Music Row 2
RTA BOT: The Future of Shrinkage Management and Staffing Efficiency. This session will delve into the deployment of the real-time Adherence (RTA) BOT and its impact on reducing shrinkage while optimizing staffing levels. We will present detailed insights into the implementation process, key challenges, and measurable results, including FTE savings and improved resource allocation. Attendees will receive practical information on how the RTA BOT helped stabilize shrinkage rates across various projects, providing a foundation for better workforce planning. The content is ideal for those looking to enhance their workforce management processes through innovative technology. – Speakers: Jennifer Springs & Nizar Mechergui, Maximus – Music Row 3
How to Easily Explain WFM to Everyone. People who aren’t familiar with WFM have so much to learn, including things like the different roles in WFM, what the stats mean, and the “why” behind them. Percentages and numbers can tell part of the story, but what are some ways you can really explain things to your colleagues? By breaking data down into bite-sized chunks and dissecting it, you can present WFM information in an easily understandable format. Come to this session to learn how to explain WFM to leadership and other departments in your organization. The lecture will be a repeat of last year's debut, but more polished and concise. – Speakers: Matt Millner, Nelnet, & Brandon Emms, Greenshield Canada – Music Row 4
Mastering GigCX Capacity Planning: Scaling Workforce to Meet Business Demand. In today’s dynamic business environment, leveraging GigCX talent offers unparalleled flexibility and efficiency in workforce management. This session will focus on the strategic and practical aspects of planning for GigCX capacity, demonstrating how an adaptable, on-demand workforce can be a powerful asset for any organization. Drawing from personal experiences, we’ll explore how to create flexible staffing and scheduling solutions that support business needs while keeping operations lean. This presentation will outline actionable insights to simplify GigCX scheduling, ensuring your workforce is always aligned with demand. – Speaker: Ashish Bisht & Brian Keenan, Arise – Music Row 5
Is There a Secret Formula For Balancing Service & Agent Development? Frontline leaders are constantly challenged with balancing service goals with the development of the employee. Is there a way to achieve both? Hear from industry leaders share their tips to maximize training/development plans and the customer experience. -- Panelists: Mark Rhodes, Edward Jones, Tony Graczyk & Maureen Orsborn, Principal Financial Group, & Jeff Bretana, Navy Federal Credit Union – Music Row 6
10:00-10:15 a.m. – Break – Legends Ballroom Foyer & Cumberland Foyer
10:15-11:30 a.m. – Workshops
60 Ideas in 60 Minutes – Tips & Techniques for Making the Most of Your WFM Software. This fast-paced session with a panel of vendor experts will provide you with a practice idea each minute. This is not a sales pitch for products. These are the vendor experts that can provide tips on how to get the most out of a WFM investment from the early planning stages, implementation, training, and ongoing use. This format will give you some last-minute tips to take home and implement immediately! – Panelists: Ryan Schank, CommunityWFM, Rick Torado, NICE, Barry Jones, QStory, Katherine Gomez, Genesys, Saurabh Sharma, ProHance, Cameron Pulliam, Assembled, Juston Hicks, Waterfield Technologies, & Jeff Wiliams, Aspect – Cumberland 4
The Role of WFM in Business Continuity Planning (BCP). Have you ever wondered what you or your organization would do if you had to evacuate one or more of your work sites and/or experienced high shrinkage within your WFM team for an extended amount of time due to an emergency event? This session will discuss WFM Roles including the three P’s (Planning, Preparation and Partnership) in managing the business as well as managing WFM during an event. This discussion will also assist to provide insight into Business Impact Analysis to determine overall criticality rating and maximum tolerable outage. – Speakers: Kirwyn Adderley & Trey Bynum, Walgreens – Cumberland 5
Forecasting, Capacity Planning and Spend Management – Closing the Loop. This session explores the critical link between forecasting, capacity planning, and spend management in workforce management. Learn how to accurately predict demand, optimize staffing levels to meet that demand, and control costs by closing the loop between these three key processes. Discover practical strategies and real-world examples from Google's operations, highlighting the benefits of an integrated approach for improved efficiency, reduced costs, and enhanced business outcomes. – Speakers: Rikki Macolor, Cesar Castrejon, & Frankie Ho, Google – Cumberland 6
Embracing Change. CHANGE! We face change from every direction. From dealing with changes in employees (remote vs. onsite), to navigating the massive changes during COVID, to just simple ordinary changes in our surrounding environment, everyone tries to navigate change successfully. So how do we embrace change? How do we prepare ourselves to adapt and thrive in this new environment? Come to this interactive session to learn about the human aspect of embracing change and some practical principles to embrace change. – Speakers: Heather Chesbro & Zachary Kohl, Nelnet, & Jason Hilliard, Radio Systems – Music Row 1
Building a Better Business Plan. You've identified a business problem and opportunities with your WFM technology, found the perfect WFM solution to resolve, but you need money. Now what? It's time for a business case. In this session, we will deep dive into how to build a business case, who to engage, and what lessons we can learn from missteps at some of the largest Fortune 500 organizations to help you secure the funding for your next WFM technology purchase. – Speaker: Matthew Hays, AAA – The Auto Club Group – Music Row 2
Streamline to Success Beyond WFM: Transforming Organizational Performance with Process Mapping & Improvement. Discover how to revolutionize your team’s effectiveness with proven cross-departmental process mapping and improvement strategies that deliver measurable results. We will dive into the transformative power of process improvement by sharing WFM workflows with the rest of the organization to uncover hidden inefficiencies and maximize automation opportunities. Included are discussions on process improvement, syncing PTO, reducing waste & syncing absence & in-office activities. – Speakers: Ericc Whetstone & Shannon Jackson, ALG Vacations, & Brandon Emms, Greenshield Canada – Music Row 3
Maximizing Productive Time Spent Using Desktop Process Analytics. Join us to explore an additional layer of data around agent performance. With a large portion of our resources are at home, it is that much harder to make sure our agents remain productive. We all rely on adherence data but who knows what they are doing when they are not taking calls? In this session, we will bring some practical examples of how desktop process analytics can give you the insight you are missing. From understanding keystroke activity, applications being used, as well as compliance and productivity triggers. We will also discuss how to create meaningful reporting to aid in data driven decisions in both your front and back office teams. – Speakers: Alex Lenda & Sibylle Marcoccia, Blue Shield of California – Music Row 4
Using Creativity to Promote Schedule Flexibility: Finding the Win/Win Situations. This session will be about creativity in building a flexible scheduling model. Every Contact Center is as different as every representative. During this session we will explore how you can find those win/win situations where you can accommodate employee needs and still balance service level. Additional topics covered will include how to gain leadership buy-in and frequency of flexibility options. – Speaker: Jodi Maffitt, Enova – Music Row 5
11:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. – Closing General Session – Legends Ballroom
Become A Catalyst for Change Post-SWPP. You are undoubtedly returning home with a head full of ideas following your experience at SWPP. But, will you put those ideas into action and ensure that you don’t lose the excitement that you felt at the conference? In this closing session, Justin Robbins will share how to build momentum coming out of SWPP and engage your team back at the office in exploring and implementing new ideas to improve quality and training. This will be a high-energy ending to our time together that will ensure you’re set up to succeed post-SWPP. – Speaker: Justin Robbins, Metric Sherpa
12:00 p.m. – 2025 SWPP ends
