Karen Kimberley
Ketchikan,AK
Summary
Successful human resources professional with 16+ years customer service experience in face to face, phone and computer communication with applicants and employees of a major retail employer. Advocate for healthcare, benefits, phone support, concierge and coaching. Hiring, staff management, benefits, payroll issues, scheduling and placement were weekly and monthly tasks. I, now, feel that in order to take advantage of my work experience and do my lifes best work, that I need to be using these skills on a daily basis.
Overview
40
40
years of professional experience
Work History
Customer Service Specialist
OptumRx
10.2022 - Current
- Assisted customers with making payments or establishing payment plans to bring accounts current.
- Helped customers open accounts, make deposits, update information and carry out range of routine actions.
- Troubleshot shortages and overages to support quality control efforts.
- Promoted high customer satisfaction by resolving problems with knowledgeable and friendly service.
- Answered incoming calls, providing frontline customer support or assistance with product and service transactions.
- Answered inbound calls, and chats to facilitate customer service.
- Demonstrated excellent communication skills in resolving product and consumer complaints.
- Remained calm and professional in stressful circumstances and effectively diffused tense situations.
- Developed strong customer relationships to encourage repeat business.
- De-escalated problematic customer concerns, maintaining calm, friendly demeanor.
- Consulted with customers to resolve service and billing issues.
- Escalated customer concerns, issues and requirements to supervisors for immediate rectification.
- Fielded customer complaints and queries, fast-tracking for problem resolution.
- Maintained knowledge of current promotions, exchange guidelines, payment policies and security practices.
- Asked probing questions to determine service needs and accurately input information into electronic systems.
- Set up and activated customer accounts.
- Informed customers about billing procedures, processed payments and provided payment option setup assistance.
- Used proven techniques to de-escalate angry customers during telephone interactions.
- Mentored new employees on procedures and policies to maximize team performance.
Jewelry Sales Associate
Walmart
Ketchikan, AK
09.2019 - 06.2022
- Provided excellent service to customers through active engagement, direct eye contact and listening skills.
- Engaged positively with each customer, providing professional and polite support for sales and service needs.
- Welcomed customers, offered to help locate items and suggested merchandise without being intrusive or pushy.
- Kept calm and applied strong problem-solving and interpersonal skills to resolve conflicts.
- Followed store opening and closing procedures as per company guidelines.
- Asked open-ended questions to ascertain what type of item customer desired, price range limits and recipient of item.
- Managed and processed customer payments made by credit and debit cards as well as cash and provided correct change if applicable.
- Counted cash, made change and stored coupons to keep organized and balanced cash register drawer.
- Maintained current store, product and promotional knowledge to drive consistent sales.
- Calculated pricing, applied discounts and collected payments to process transactions.
- Processed merchandise returns and exchanges for customers to refund payments, trade items and offer store credit.
- Trained and coached newly hired associates on store return policies and customer service techniques.
- Processed payments and maintained accurate drawers to meet financial targets.
Personnel Manager
Walmart
Ketchikan, AK
05.2003 - 09.2019
- Facilitated new hire onboarding by scheduling training initiatives, resolving issues and processing paperwork.
- Identified vacancies in staff, supported recruiting process and interviewed prospective personnel.
- Improved operational efficiencies by creating filing systems to maintain confidential employee documents and reports.
- Supervised and coordinated activities of human resources staff, delegating tasks relating to employment, compensation and employee relations.
- Assist associates with purchase of medical benefits, eligibility and claims. Pharmacy benefits, eligibility and claims.
- Helped to coordinate dental, pharmacy, vision, and other benefits, eligibility and claims where applicable.
- Communicated with associates and their care givers to help them understand services purchased and resolved any issues that came up.
- Strengthened and enhanced processes for managing complaints by leading thorough investigations into incidents and concerns.
- Developed organizational filing systems for correspondence, communications, records and report
- Executed strong negotiation skills to see both sides and worked to reach agreements to satisfy both parties.
- Administered payroll, retirement-plan contribution tracking and health and welfare outsourcing.
Department Manager
Walmart
Ketchikan, Alaska
01.2001 - 05.2003
- Worked closely with sales associates to complete tasks.
- Followed safety protocols and company processes and procedures.
- Enforced safety rules and other policies to protect employees and minimize company liability.
- Supervised 8 full-time and 3 part-time employees.
- Cultivated talented team of departmental employees through outstanding mentoring, coaching and teaching skills.
- Handled shift overstock, restocking, and inventory control.
- Utilized excellent math skills to maintain accurate inventory levels.
- Prepared weekly schedules to verify proper floor coverage within fiscal guidelines.
- Supervised staff of 10 in daily activities, delivering continuous training and coaching to bolster each employee's skill set.
Office Manager
Dr Shepherd, DDS
Ketchikan, AK
05.1983 - 01.1988
- I replaced Dr. Shepherd's office manager when she married and I ran it until he passed away. I then, closed his office and forwarded his patients files to the appropriate place.
- Oversaw receiving and organizing correspondence, answering and forwarding calls and creating business letters and records.
- Managed office inventory and placed new supply orders.
- Handled scheduling and managed timely and effective allocation of resources and calendars.
- Prepared meeting agendas and recorded and transcribed minutes.
- Reviewed files and records to obtain information and respond to requests.
- Used judgment and initiative in handling confidential matters and requests.
- Administered payroll and maintained proper documentation of employee personnel.
- Monitored payments due from clients and promptly contacted clients with past due payments.
- Wrote professional business correspondence to maintain strong line of communications.
- Reduced financial discrepancies by accurately managing accounting documentation while maintaining case costs and billing processes.
- Shared concern with the number of unpaid claims in the files, and researched the issues involved. Found that the forms were not filed correctly nor completely, and was able to recover over $70,000 from unpaid claims.
Office Manager
Dr Bob Bliss
Ketchikan, AK
1988 - 1990
- Was hired especially to follow through with the unpaid accounts in their file cabinets. Because I was familiar with the insurance forms and terminology, I knew to fill out each form completely and knew when to include x-rays. I was able to recover over $50,000 from unpaid claims in his files.
- Made appointments for patients and kept each one on time and scheduled and charged correctly.
- Reviewed files and records to obtain information and respond to requests.
- Coded and entered daily invoices with in-house accounting software.
- Monitored payments due from clients and promptly contacted clients with past due payments.
- Elevated customer satisfaction ratings by promptly resolving client and case issues.
- Reduced financial discrepancies by accurately managing accounting documentation while maintaining case costs and billing processes.
- Prepared and made daily deposits and assisted with invoice processing and bank reconciliation.
Education
High School Diploma -
Brookings-Harbor High School
Brookings, OR06.1966
Bachelor of Arts - Education
Prairie Bible College
Alberta, CanadaTechnical Teaching Certificate - Teaching Sewing To Adults And Children
Kwik Sew
Dallas TXSkills
- Personnel information systems
- Recruitment and hiring
- Training development
- Planning
- Friendly, positive attitude
- Clerical
- Mentoring and training
- Rules and regulations
- Staff development
- Issue and conflict resolution
- Organizational skills
Timeline
Customer Service Specialist
OptumRx
10.2022 - Current
Jewelry Sales Associate
Walmart
09.2019 - 06.2022
Personnel Manager
Walmart
05.2003 - 09.2019
Department Manager
Walmart
01.2001 - 05.2003
Office Manager
Dr Shepherd, DDS
05.1983 - 01.1988
Office Manager
Dr Bob Bliss
1988 - 1990
High School Diploma -
Brookings-Harbor High School
Bachelor of Arts - Education
Prairie Bible College
Technical Teaching Certificate - Teaching Sewing To Adults And Children
Kwik Sew
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