January, start of most plan years and the month with the highest volume, the most escalations, issues and grievances, required full coverage and triage of reported issues to determine true impact, areas affected, root cause and preventative measures. Led the team handling the initial level-one triage of all incoming tickets to determine validity and escalate as needed. Failing to meet turnaround times or escalate issues appropriately resulted in negative impact to clients, members and the organization. The volume of tickets grew 200% and turnaround time decreased from 24 hours to only two hours starting January first, but received no additional headcount to assist. The team needed to triage tickets 24 hours a day seven days a week; however, the department normally worked 8:00 to 8:00 Monday through Friday. Quality control evolved into a top priority for leadership.

Incorporated an incentive program to drive overtime and support the off- and peak-hours calls. The incentivized program transformed overtime into a fun, profitable and rewarding experience. Created an annual theme to implement more amusement with decorations in the office, inviting team members to dress-up in theme related costumes, hand out prizes, hold drawings and provide food and snacks in a festive work atmosphere. Implemented a taskforce to help boost the awareness of the campaign. Adjusted department schedules to support the new command center hours of operation. The team started triaging and working all incoming tickets on December 31 to ensure 24×7 coverage, researching all tickets within two hours, escalating to the global command center for large impact issues. The team entered daily status updates into the dashboard each night for senior leaders, met with clients to discuss the issues and worked with the training department to convey messages on issues.

As a result, led five successful Januarys with minimal client impact or member abrasion. Resolved all large global issues before January third and experienced a considerable decline in tickets by the second week of January.