Senior Manager: Workforce Management at TFG (The Foschini Group)

The Foschini Group (TFG) is seeking a Senior Manager WFM who will be responsible for leading the WFM division and oversee WFM projects. The purpose of the position is to ensure that relevant methodologies, systems, and tools are in place to enable optimal workforce management.

Key Responsibilities:

• Extensive experience workforce planning, scheduling, and forecasting and time and attendance management process and solutions within the retail environment
• Accountable for optimising the WFM end-to-end processes and through technology and innovative practices.
• Manage a team of WFM Analysts and support various business units within the retail operations environment
• Will be required to define strategies involving workforce management, evaluating improvement options.
• Leads planning and execution of SLAs, capacity planning, and workforce plans for multiple functional areas
• Able to define metrics, goals, and strategic direction across functional area(s) in support of overall group vision.
• Leads projects/initiatives and champions projects within the organization, influences all participants when driving projects to ensure success and adoption
• Drives strategy and communicates TFG vision with internal and external teams
• Collaborates with Capacity Planning and Forecasting to determines location requirements by analysing forecasting planning factors, including service levels, business volumes (key KPI’s), business patterns, staffing capacity, staffing, staff productivity, workforce management systems etc.
• Identifies opportunities and risks, dives deep, and works with internal and external teams to implement solutions.
• Innovates by driving continuous enhancements and operational efficiencies across all process areas.
• Assists in analysing metrics and staffing on a consistent basis to make recommendations and ensure efficiency
• Influences key stakeholders to ensure that resources needed are prioritized to achieve quantifiable results, monitoring the effectiveness
• Organizes team structure for multiple functional areas to ensure scalability for present and future volume needs
• Communicates effectively with senior management and leaders across the organization to determine priorities and direction.
• Influences peers, senior management, and external stakeholders on the organizational vision for their functional area(s)
• Continuously builds network of WFM talent inside the company
• Creates mechanisms to quickly on-board new talent to the organization.
• Is an effective coach and provides feedback to direct reports to help develop talent and support career development.
• Sets and balances goals across team, optimizing performance against department goals and employee development
• Describes the strategic importance of the department’s vision inside and outside of team

Qualifications and Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree in a quantitative field (engineering, economics, math, stats) or Human Resources/Business Sciences required
• Exposure and understanding of statutory requirements, applying, and monitoring laws and regulations including those applicable specifically to retail environment
• Sound knowledge of WFM best practices and HR policies and procedures
• Industry relevant training courses, including WFM processes and tools
• Minimum of 5 years of direct management work experience in a Workforce Management role
• Strong data analytics and reporting experience at a senior level in Services or Operations
• Demonstrated knowledge of workforce modelling and implementing workforce optimisation models
• Proven experience utilizing SQL, Microsoft Excel and dealing with large sets of data

Skills and Competencies:

• Proven track record of working swiftly, delivering results, and leading a team(s) in a dynamic business environment
• Be able to work in a fast-paced environment and under pressure, meet tight deadlines and prioritize workload
• Be a change agent with strong credibility and influence in an organisation, recognising the change management needs in the organisation and ensuring smooth transitions and roll-out of initiatives.
• Ability to consolidate and analyse complex information, finding innovative solutions and new ways of working through harnessing technology.
• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills
• Business & financial acumen – understanding financial concepts (costing and budgeting)
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to package ideas and results, presenting it in a technical and non-technical method.
• Functional / Technical Skills: must have strong quantitative, analytical, and technical aptitude
• Proactive, highly motivated, innovative and problem-solving skills
• Self-directed active learning to continually improve performance and add value
• Strong commitment to exceptional customer experience, and a high level of dedication, enthusiasm, motivation, and persuasive ability in a team and cross-functional environment