Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Languages
Websites
Timeline
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Rania El-Sharkawy

Toronto,ON

Summary

High-performing leader delivering strategic planning support and team leadership to business operations. Dependable and detail-oriented to manage multiple tasks and priorities. Broad experience includes contact center management, forecasting, intraday management, database management, account management, accounts receivable, payroll, vendor negotiations and contract management. Recognized for successful implementation of measures to increase efficiency, streamline operations and increase productivity. Detailed approach to maintaining high threshold for business operations.

Overview

24
24
years of professional experience

Work History

WFM Operations Manager

lululemon
01.2021 - Current
  • As a WFM Operations Manager, my areas of responsibility included automating and improving the functionality of existing Workforce Management tools, development of leaders, vendor management and Project Management
  • Leading the scheduling and administration departments within the guest education center
  • Changed our SL within WFM from 3-5 business days to 4-24 hours which increased the satisfaction of our internal partners
  • Moved the team from emails to a Service Now, our internal ticketing system allowing for more efficiency and better coaching and feedback
  • Maintained high engagement scores throughout several change management initiatives, including elevating the expectation from the team and changing the role description.

WFM Strategy & Contact Center Evolution Leader

Cogeco Connexion
01.2020 - 01.2021
  • Contract from November 2020- August 2021 to build a WFM road map and represent the contact center as the business owner on a business transformation project implementing a new ACD and WFM software
  • Responsible for WFM, daily operation results and team business readiness for launch for the Ontario region.

WFM & Reporting Manager

Hydro One
01.2020 - 01.2020
  • Contract from July 2020-November 2020 to support the WFM team and contact center operation during the implementation phase of a new ACD and WFM software
  • Responsible for WFM, daily operation results and team business readiness for launch.

Call Center Leader

Intuit
01.2020 - 01.2020
  • Seasonal contract from January 2020-June 2020 to support the call center growth during tax season
  • Daily management and support of tax experts
  • Including scheduling and queue management.

Senior WFM & Strategic Planning Manager, Contact Center Operations

MoneyKey
01.2018 - 01.2019
  • As a Senior WFM & Strategic Planning Manager, my areas of responsibility included creating a WFM team for a multi-site 300 seat operation
  • Simplifying the contact center telephony flow to be more scalable for growth
  • Launching a dialer to introduce a blended environment
  • Introducing standard contact center KPI’s and measures of success
  • Eliminated manual dialing through launching a dialer and moving to a blended environment which allowed us to decrease staffing by 30% while increasing work efforts
  • Increased contact center occupancy from 60% to 78%
  • Introduced absenteeism, adherence and compliance reporting which aided the leaders in performance managing agents that aren’t meeting the expectation
  • The day to day of the role is a combination of my previous role at Rogers Communication Inc
  • And Freedom Mobile found below.

WFM & Reporting Manager, Customer Care

Freedom Mobile
01.2016 - 01.2017
  • As a WFM & Reporting Manager, my areas of responsibility included capacity planning, managing the vendor relationship while delivering the agreed upon KPI’s; maintaining the contact center budget and launching WFM software to optimize scheduling efficiency while providing the employees more flexibility
  • Led 8 Analysts that were responsible for 800+ contact centre employees
  • Creating and maintaining the yearly contact center budget in coordination with the Finance department leads
  • Creating a 90-day rolling call volume and workload forecast for multiple departments and international sites
  • Creating workforce schedules for multiple departments and sites internationally across 3 sites in Canada, Egypt and the Philippines
  • Managing the vendors and the relationship to maintain results while keeping OPEX within budget
  • Creating and maintaining a 90-day staffing capacity plan according to projected call volumes and back-office workload
  • Identifying potential risks and recommending alleviation plans to minimize or eliminate impacts
  • Working closely with HR, Training and Recruiting to plan and schedule new hire training classes according to projected call and workload volumes and departmental attrition
  • Communicating trends to the management team to drive product, process, and policy improvements
  • This includes implementation of new technology (VPI) and launching new support channels for customers such as web chat
  • Recommending, developing, and improving processes to maintain the highest level of customer satisfaction and accuracy
  • Continuously monitoring and analyzing variances in budgets and forecasts against realized results across multiple departments and contact center sites
  • Providing support, coaching, and development to the Team Managers and WFM Analyst while overseeing the day-to-day operations
  • Participating in the development of policies and procedures and sharing of best practices to enhance operational efficiency and the overall Customer experience.

Client Service Manager, Comprehensive Outsourcing Services

ADP Canada
01.2011 - 01.2015
Cogeco
  • As a Client Service Manager, my areas of responsibility included managing the client relationship while delivering the agreed upon KPI’s, providing optimum client service and business solutions
  • Development of Payroll Specialists, process improvement and ensuring compliance and adherence to industry standards
  • Led, coached and mentored a team of 8-10 Payroll Specialists responsible for providing service to a portfolio of international clients
  • Led the segmentation project for the business across 3 regions which included a CRM platform change, which improved both the customer experience and productivity from 1300 pays processed per FTE to 1700 pays processed per FTE
  • Proactively advocated on behalf of clients within the various ADP business units to ensure customer satisfaction and efficient delivery of stellar services
  • Identified, documented, communicated and implemented opportunities for sustainable process improvement focused on enhancing service quality and increasing process efficiency
  • Participated in the establishment, communication, implementation and measurement of team and business unit objectives
  • Responsible for the complete resolution of all aspects of service delivery deficiencies impacting clients, ensuring challenges are thoroughly examined and, where appropriate, ensuring processes and procedures are modified to mitigate future occurrences
  • Championed the introduction of new policies, processes, procedures, tools, technology and structure into the work environment, supporting the rapid adoption of same by direct reports
  • Supported Associate development by providing regular, scheduled feedback, using supportive and directive techniques, with a focus on continuous improvement
  • Managed year end processes and communication to ensure alignment, compliance and timely delivery of T4’s.

Senior Manager Workforce Management, Credit Operations Call Center (Collections)

Rogers Communications Inc.
01.2005 - 01.2010
  • As a Senior Manager, Accounts Receivable, my areas of responsibility included automating and improving the functionality of existing Workforce Management tools, development of leaders and Project Management
  • Led 8 Analysts from 2 sites that were responsible for 650 call centre employees in a busy inbound/outbound environment
  • Oversaw daily operations, strategic initiatives, workforce management, and capacity planning
  • Redesigned processes and workflow for Workforce and Capacity planning, gaining operational efficiencies that saved 500K in operating expenses
  • Motivated and coached analysts and staff to maximize customer commitment by proactively managing performance, diagnosing improvement opportunities, providing effective feedback, training, professional development, and corrective action plans
  • Led the redesign of the call center planning process, resulting in improvements in abandonment rate by 5% and outbound penetration by 12%
  • Developed and implemented Service Level Consistency reporting and an All-Hands-on Deck process to manage unexpected high volumes
  • This resulted in a 200% bonus payout in the area of SVL and SVL Consistency
  • Ensured that key business indicators were met and exceeded through the development of strategies focusing on customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and service level consistency
  • Prepared and presented monthly score card to the Senior Leadership Team
  • Re-energized and improved call centre culture and morale through employee engagement committee executive sponsorship
  • Optimized the quarterly forecasting process to ensure accuracy of call volumes and that hiring needs are met
  • Maintained and supported workforce management software and skill-based routing rules supporting multiple lines of business
  • Coordinated with National Recruiting and Training to ensure hiring requirements are met
  • Maintained floor plans to ensure real-time understanding of seating capacity and alignment to seat ratios
  • Collaborated effectively with Risk Management to develop a sound credit and collection strategy.

Recognition & Event Planning Manager, Call Center Operations

Direct Energy
01.2002 - 01.2005
  • As a Recognition & Event Planning Manager, my areas of responsibility included designing and managing incentive programs for call center employees including Team Managers, event planning and leading the administration of employee satisfaction surveys
  • Led the call center relocation project, which moved the call center from Yonge & Sheppard to the Atria complex
  • Managed and coordinated recognition& incentive programs for a 500-seat contact center
  • Measured the success of the program through monitoring operational results, creating and administering feedback surveys
  • Planned several major charity events benefiting different charities, which resulted in raising over 100K during my tenure
  • Analyzed reports from over 30 teams and 6 departments to administer recognition programs
  • Planned and coordinated an employee week once a month varying in themes and purposes, to raise morale and increase employee engagement while learning and challenging the employees
  • Chaired monthly meetings with Senior Executives and Team Managers to identify our objective and message for employee week
  • Led the administration of the yearly employee satisfaction survey
  • Managed the communication process through the different communication vehicles (intranet, email, info boards).

Operations Manager, Call Center Operations

Pizza Pizza
01.2000 - 01.2002
  • As an Operations Manager, my areas of responsibility included managing customer service processes, call center effectiveness and developing a Quality Assurance program for both internal and third-party call centers
  • Direct reports- 80 Customer Service Representatives and 8 Team Managers from 2 different sites (Hamilton & Toronto)
  • Led a major project that changed call routing to order takers working from home based on a quality rating, which reduced the error rate by 8%
  • Defined the contact center objectives and led the design of the call center quality program, resulting in a 10% improvement in overall performance & quality
  • Liaise with Marketing to ensure the proper execution of upcoming promotions and specials to achieve sales goals
  • Liaise with Information Technology throughout the implementation of new software and reporting functions to improve the customer service process
  • Coached and developed direct reports to reach leadership as well as personal growth objectives
  • Developed and implemented incentive programs and social events to enhance morale and performance
  • Managed the communication process throughout the call center and with other departments, such as – Recruiting, Training and Human Resources
  • Executed quarterly presentations and meetings with Contract Service Bureaus
  • Analyzed trends to forecast the staffing levels
  • Participated in the yearly budget and report analysis.

Education

Post-secondary: University of Toronto
BA – General Arts (1996-1997)

Skills

  • Planning and Implementation
  • Workflow Optimization
  • Process Improvement Strategies
  • Workforce Management
  • Operations Management
  • Client Relations
  • Business Administration

Languages

English
Native/ Bilingual
Arabic
Native/ Bilingual

Timeline

WFM Operations Manager

lululemon
01.2021 - Current

WFM Strategy & Contact Center Evolution Leader

Cogeco Connexion
01.2020 - 01.2021

WFM & Reporting Manager

Hydro One
01.2020 - 01.2020

Call Center Leader

Intuit
01.2020 - 01.2020

Senior WFM & Strategic Planning Manager, Contact Center Operations

MoneyKey
01.2018 - 01.2019

WFM & Reporting Manager, Customer Care

Freedom Mobile
01.2016 - 01.2017

Client Service Manager, Comprehensive Outsourcing Services

ADP Canada
01.2011 - 01.2015

Senior Manager Workforce Management, Credit Operations Call Center (Collections)

Rogers Communications Inc.
01.2005 - 01.2010

Recognition & Event Planning Manager, Call Center Operations

Direct Energy
01.2002 - 01.2005

Operations Manager, Call Center Operations

Pizza Pizza
01.2000 - 01.2002

Post-secondary: University of Toronto

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Rania El-Sharkawy