Derek Hermann Email & Phone Number

Seattle, Washington, United States

Everett, Washington, United States

Guided all aspects of operations, including call center, back-office functions, collections, training, quality assurance, workforce management, business analytics, and support areas. Led a diverse, union-represented team of over 120 employees, including 5 managers and 10 supervisors, within a hybrid work environment. • Achieved record call center Service Levels between 2019 & 2023, with an average of 80% of calls answered within 30 seconds or less, with efficient resource management and iterative process improvement. Results were a 34% improvement over prior years. • Reduced incoming call volumes by 28%, from 2019 to 2023 (cut down from 319k to 229k per year), through improved customer self-service and elimination of problem call drivers. This saved the company $2.3MM over the 4 years.• Directed customer debt recovery efforts post-pandemic, where debt surged to over $17MM in 2021, 7x the normal amount. Accomplished via creative outreaches and guidelines designed to incentivize customer good-faith behaviors. Total debt was reduced by 54% in December 2022 and 71% by December 2023, recovering $12.1MM total.• Developed and managed annual department budgets between 2019 & 2024, ensuring results always came in under target, by regularly re-establishing resource needs vs. evolving trends and business improvements. Average budget savings of 13% or $2MM per year for the organization, with 2023 being the largest at just under $3MM regained.• Led employee engagement within an inclusive environment, establishing career advancement and growth opportunities, balanced with regular performance management and progressive discipline.• Championed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) via monthly Engagement Norm meetings with all teams to foster ongoing growth and model inclusivity. Facilitated open discussions on social justice and diversity.

Everett, Washington, United States

Led diverse teams, managing call center, quality assurance, and workforce management teams individually during that span. Teams consisted of up to 40 staff members and 4 supervisors simultaneously. Utilized advanced staffing metrics for forecasting, scheduling, real-time adjustments, and historical analysis. • Reduced total call volumes by 32% between 2013 – 2018 (dropped from 466k to 319k per year) as Workforce Manager, a resource savings of $987k total during the 5 years.• Increased employee productivity & morale in 2018 by redesigning department-wide work processes, which improved access to available time off by 348% and decreased call-outs with no additions to staff.• Developed Quality Monitoring program from scratch, succeeding through employee collaboration and buy-in. Quality Assurance scores rose by 17% within 1 year; first-contact resolution increased by 12%.• Trained 3-day Process Improvement course for 500+ utility office employees from 2016 to 2019 over numerous sessions. Course curriculum based on simplified Lean Six Sigma principles.• Organized structured training for 1,000+ employees for SAP Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation in 2015 through cross-functional collaboration, earning 'Team of the Month' in October 2015.

Everett, Washington, United States

I spearheaded customer functionality development for SAP billing and CRM implementation, focusing on critical areas such as customer information, accounts, payment arrangements, move-in/out/transfer processes, sales & marketing, Key Account management, and conservation programs. My role included gathering requirements, identifying best practices, and creating technical blueprint documents. I acted as a liaison between business stakeholders, the Project Management Office, and IT.I developed comprehensive test scripts and plans for user acceptance, system integration, and end-to-end scenarios, conducting testing in development and QA system environments, ultimately validating in Production. My effective communication and change management skills ensured the successful implementation of these critical solutions.