Manila Philippines Call Centre Information
Kim Newkirk Named
2007 Workforce Management
Professional of the Year
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – March 1, 2007 – The Society of Workforce Planning Professionals (SWPP) today announces Kim Newkirk of Bluegreen Corporation as the 2007 Workforce Management Professional of the Year, an award that recognizes a workforce management professional who has shown outstanding leadership in the industry.
“We are thrilled to recognize Kim Newkirk with this distinguished award,†said Vicki Herrell, SWPP Executive Director. “Kim possesses all of those qualities unique to the workforce management professional, and is a valuable asset to both her company and the industry as a whole. She has achieved great results for Bluegreen Corporation, and shown how important workforce management is in the call center.â€
"Kim was extremely excited to be selected as one of the top five candidates for this honorable award and was really impressed with the level of professionalism of the conference and all of the talented members in attendance,†notes Angela Blevins, Vice President of Contact Center Operations. “Kim’s excitement really grew when she was selected the overall winner. We’re very proud of her and the Workforce Department’s accomplishments in 2006. She has made many contributions to our team, but I would specifically like to applaud her accomplishments utilizing IEX to develop best practices ensuring that we maximize the functionality of IEX. Kim has also trained other staff members on IEX to ensure that we continue to follow best practices for call management.â€
Kim serves as Resource Planning Manager for Bluegreen Corporation’s owner contact center in the Indianapolis area. Since joining Bluegreen in April 2003, Kim has been responsible for resource planning, budget management, and divisional profit and loss statements. Kim supervises a staff of five professional employees in the contact center and has more than 10 years of experience in the workforce management arena. Prior to joining Bluegreen Corp., she worked as a Business Analyst at Telamon Corp. in Carmel, Indiana, and at Aspen Systems Corp., a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, in Indianapolis.
Bluegreen has experienced explosive growth within the past few years and Kim has played an instrumental role with this expansion across the Owner Relations division. In 2006, Kim was extremely successful in leading the workforce management efforts of the company and helped reduce annual payroll expenses with her division realizing a total payroll savings of over $400,000. This savings was accomplished through three successful initiatives: determining the optimal use of Voluntary Time Off (VTO) saving the company $215,265 in payroll costs and eliminating 17,360 hours during off-peak periods; leading a team that reviewed the efficiency of operating hours which allowed the center to close on Saturday with a savings of $216,320 in payroll costs in just the first few months; and revising schedules to save $10,245 in payroll costs and cover peak times more efficiently.
Kim also successfully implemented schedule and vacation bidding within the IEX TotalView software, consistently met service goals (80% of calls answered within 45 seconds) within a multi-skilled environment with an annual call volume of 1.3 million calls, achieved a forecasting accuracy rate in 2006 of 2.1%, and expanded the use of the workforce management tool to four other departments within the company.
A native of Columbus, Indiana, Ms. Newkirk graduated from Indiana State University in Terre Haute where she focused her attention on business and marketing courses. In addition to her role at Bluegreen, she serves as a full-time mom for her two sons, ages 6 and 4, both of whom are actively involved in recreational sports.
The winner was chosen by the SWPP Board of Advisors and announced at the 2007 SWPP Annual Conference, which was held February 21-23 at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN. The other finalists for the award include Aaron Becraft of Microsoft Corporation, Melissa Fernandez of Nevada Power Company, Brian Hemminger of Coca-Cola Enterprises, and Kim Hoffman of American Home Shield. The SWPP Board of Advisors selected the five finalists from nominations submitted on the SWPP website.
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.
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