Workforce Planning Analyst

UnitedHealth Group•Eden Prairie, MN

18h•$29 - $52•Remote

About The Position

Optum is a global organization that delivers care, aided by technology to help millions of people live healthier lives. The work you do with our team will directly improve health outcomes by connecting people with the care, pharmacy benefits, data and resources they need to feel their best. Here, you will find a culture guided by inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health optimization on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together. Successful support of Operations Business partners in the execution in establishment of daily work direction, real-time inventory routing management, and execution of staff forecasting and planning to support multiple back-office operations with their inventory service level requirements and business objectives. You’ll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.

Requirements

2+ years of experience in business/finance analysis or workforce forecasting and planning
2+ years of experience using advanced level of proficiency in MS Excel working with large data sets, including the ability to utilize VLOOKUPs, create pivot tables and graphs, and incorporate standard formulas and functions
2+ years of experience analyzing information from multiple data sources to identify trends and outliers for issue detection and problem resolution
1+ years of experience with either back-office or call center transaction and production tracking applications
Access to reliable transportation and valid US driver’s license
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including proven ability to effectively present data and trend analysis, work direction, concerns regarding performance, action plans, solutions, and opportunities
Intermediate level proficiency in MS Word and MS PowerPoint
Adaptable and able to quickly move with change while maintaining a positive attitude
Ability to work a flexible schedule as needed for infrequent occasions, including early hours, weekends, and holidays
Previous experience communicating with, and presenting to, VPs and Directors to provide performance status and recommendations as well as collaborating on solutions

Nice To Haves

Previous experience in capacity modeling, six sigma/process improvement, or project management
Previous experience leading medium-sized projects
Previous experience with MS Access with the ability to understand queries
Previous experience maintaining an automated work routing application in a back-office environment, i.e. enterprise work router
Previous experience working with scheduling applications, e.g., IEX
Previous experience in Tableau with skills in creating adhoc reports
Previous experience using MS Visio for process flows/mapping
Experience in the healthcare industry with products and services

Responsibilities

Partner with Operations, putting customer experience at the forefront when managing challenges. Know your business. Build a Trusted Advisor Relationship
Work independently and have strong business ownership, while serving as a resource to others
Take specific actions to collaborate and build trusting relationships with business partners and those we serve
Be a Trusted Advisor to Operations, team members and management as needed, as well as being a resource to all Business Partners - A trusted advisor is someone who has exceptional, targeted knowledge in a particular industry; one you can expect to provide unbiased advice
Proactively plan according to current trends; strategize based on anticipated trends and projections
Enable data-driven decisions that establish Workforce Planning & Support as a 'trusted advisor'
Plan and facilitate effective meetings, providing clear communication of tasks at hand and appropriate follow-up to keep channels of communication open across stakeholders
Adjust meetings as necessary to fit within the business schedule
Provide an agenda, as well as notes with appropriate action items after each meeting
Collaborate with all workforce planning functions to support WPS unification efforts and streamlining services provided
Improve inventory planning and alignment between Workforce Analysts (WFA), Short Range Planning (SRP), Long Range Planning (LRP), Scheduling & Configuration, and Industrial Engineering (IE) teams by analyzing data, identifying opportunities to planning partners to ensure appropriate staffing and inventory/aging service levels
Work with business partners to understand their general processes and workflow, using shadowing as an opportunity to strengthen our products and services
Analyze inventory and performance against targets and determine corresponding work direction and identify opportunities for operations
Effectively communicate the daily work direction plan for/to Operations, Supervisors, Managers, Directors, and VPs, verbally and/or in writing
Administer skills/profiles database and routing prioritization logic to ensure accurate work assignment
Conduct data analysis of current state inventory, receipts, completions, capacity, and agent performance including intraday data and metric monitoring, detect inventory and performance issues, and immediately communicate concerns. Collaborate with Operations partners to make necessary adjustments to solve the broken process, routing, or other issues causing stalled inventory/service, which includes ensuring that roadblocks, holds, and other issues are escalated with appropriate urgency
Perform ad hoc analysis to identify trends, patterns, and opportunities to improve overall business performance
Support the preparation, maintenance and analysis of reports, dashboards and monthly packages relating to staffing, inventory, and production levels, aging of inventory, and effectiveness of performance
Support business areas during reported system outage and latency
Provide guidance to operations on appropriate scheduling practices to achieve 95-105%25 conformance, utilizing appropriate processes; or realize a 2%25 improvement throughout the year. Oversee the development, testing and implementation of technical solutions
Educate Operations supervisors, managers, and directors on the WPS tools to help them gain an understanding and appreciation of the tools and how they can be used to more effectively help their team members become as successful and efficient as possible
Assist Business Partners in preparing talking points for remediation plans on misses and action plans for remediation of issues
Take the initiative on projects, committees, and special requests
Apply an understanding of the technical and business solutions available to optimize daily work direction, constructively offer suggestions related to staffing forecasts. Identify and provide potential solutions to address issues in performance, systems, processes, or skills, whether in planning processes or intra-day management
Deliver Quality the first time, every time
Eliminate mistakes, increase credibility, reduce rework, maintain our Brand, Live our Cultural values
Rigor, Discipline and Consistency in our daily to weekly support of our operational teams, ensuring deadlines are met and commitments are honored, while supporting an overall accuracy of work
Escalate issues when goals may be compromised, there is risk of financial targets not being achieved and/or the customer experience may be unsatisfactory unless deliberate actions are taken. Analyze performance and make recommendations to ensure financial goals are achieved. (PGs, Financial OT)
Engage in productive discussions with operations regarding the analysis of data for their respective teams
Drive scheduling and capacity planning accuracy through the use of WPS tools
Mentoring within WP&S - tips and tricks, knowledge share, best practices
Demonstrate innovation and improve processes
Offer creative solutions to improve processes
Develop solutions to improve the execution of WP&S support for Business Operations and drive departmental initiatives
Demonstrate an innovative mindset
Seek innovative ways to streamline and increase efficiency in our overall processes
Identify ways to simplify processes/reporting/communication/tools/products so it is most effective
Seek automation opportunities