Being Comfortable With The Skin You Are In

Normand Hector has been traveling over the past two years speaking about diversity, equity and inclusion. Having been able to present his platform in front of corporations, sports teams, organizations like Hockey New Brunswick and the Hockey Canada training analysis team, he has learned this: the more we understand each other, the more accepting we are of one another.

In this presentation, we will discuss how to not allow fear or ignorance stop you from growing and learning about other amazing humans. Belonging and respect is critical for everyone.

Normand Hector is a leader known for his enthusiastic commitment for driving positive outcomes, he is motivated by the mission of awareness, respect and progression. A career that has been a model of recognized sales awards and decorations from top corporate organizations in New Brunswick. With a strong background in corporate sales and team-building for over 30 years, he recognizes the importance of dedication, service, and excellence.

Normand has presented with an impact diversity, equity and inclusion with top companies and organizations like Moosehead Breweries , Wyndham Worldwide, YMCA , Black Lives Matter, Saint John Welcome Centre and Lawson & Creamer Law Firm to name a few. Normand met with hockey coaches in New Brunswick in 2020 by presenting and delivering the value of his "Listen To Learn" and not "Listen To React" message.

As the second youngest of 8 children, his parents were hard workers. Coming from a family of game-changers in the civil rights arena his path led him to teach, develop, inspire and mentor our youth by embracing their challenges with his self-confidence and self esteem classes for over 16+ years. In 2016, he was awarded the prestigious Inuk Shuk award for community impact involvement and leadership.

Normand has been with his husband for over 27 years, married for over 16 years. Normand brings unique perspectives gained from life experiences, hard work and determination. He continues to take his career, awareness workshops and otherwise to unprecedented levels. Normand’s fearless down-to-earth humour compels all to laugh while they learn.

A Frictionless Organization

A Frictionless Organization is one that has made its products and services so effective that customers never have to make contact for the wrong reasons. Everything in Frictionless Organizations works for the customers and is easy for them. Using that definition, every organization should try to become frictionless! Sadly, most organizations introduced friction all over the place and do not know how to measure it, nor have the plans to attack it. As result, they wind up having higher customer churn, greater employee turnover, and increasingly expensive support and downstream costs.

Based on research into the new book The Frictionless Organization: Deliver Great Customer Experiences with Less Effort, we will explore the eight steps to become frictionless: Understand, Assign and Prioritize, Eliminate, Digitize, Preempt, Streamline, Leverage, Learn, and Redesign. Here are two questions to consider before we get together: #1, “Which of our customer contact reasons produces the highest degree of irritation to our customers?” and #2, “Why is FCR not 100%?”

Bill Price started Driva Solutions in September 2001 to help companies achieve the delicate balance between cost containment and greater customer loyalty; co-founded the 9-country LimeBridge Global Alliance; started and still chairs the 30-company Global Operations Council that “shares best practices and worst experiences”; and is the lead co-author of three books: The Best Service is No Service (2008), Your Customer Rules! (2015), and The Frictionless Organization (2022). Bill served as Amazon’s first Worldwide Vice President of Customer Service and before that was Vice President & General Manager of MCI Call Center Services, COO & CFO with a start-up software company in San Francisco, and a Senior Engagement Manager with McKinsey & Company in San Francisco and Stockholm. Bill received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and his MBA from Stanford University, and lives in Bellevue, Washington.

Afshan Kinder is a Partner at SwitchGear. She has 30+ years of experience in Telecom, Utilities, Financial Services, Packaged Goods, E-Commerce and Technology, working across all communication channels in contact centres, retail and ‘in field’ sales and service. Her expertise in sales, service, leadership and coaching uses blended learning strategies on her e-learning platform. Examples of these strategies include customized virtual learning and a combination of video and audio conferencing, assignments, case studies, and more!

Jennifer Kennedy is the Training & Development Manager at the Accor Global Reservation Centre in Moncton. She has the opportunity to help her colleagues grow personally and professionally. The Training and Development department has two main areas of focus. The first is to ensure new colleagues receive the preparation and support they need to successfully begin their careers at Accor. The second is providing development opportunities for tenured colleagues to keep them current in their roles and prepare for upcoming challenges. Jennifer feels lucky to work with dedicated and enthusiastic professionals in all departments at GRC who drive employee engagement through positive work culture.

Renee Taylor, currently Centre Director, Moncton Advice Centre, Renee joined RBC in 1995 after graduating with a Bachelor of Business Administration from UNB in Fredericton. Twenty-eight years later, she has had the opportunity to grow and develop in over ten different roles within RBC. The bulk of her career has been with the Advice Centre in a variety of roles: Advisor, Team Manager, Coach, Manager of Coaches and a Business Manager roles across multiple lines of business and channels, both locally and leading remote teams across Canada. Prior to joining as Centre Director for Moncton, Renee worked in the Atlantic region as a Regional Enablement Coach, partnering with teams of Mortgage & Investment and Retirement Experts across Atlantic and Ontario North East. Renee's passion is people and ensuring everyone achieves collective success that inspires personal growth with the ultimate goal of helping our clients thrive and communities prosper! Renee is proud to sit on the Board of Directors of ContactNB.

Kevin Brooks is Senior Director of the CIBC Costco Contact Centre and is based in Fredericton. Kevin has had the fortune of captaining a growing team of about 80 people leaders and 1200 frontline contact centre heroes, all working from the comfort of home across 5 provinces and 3 Canadian time zones. Kevin is also a member of the ContactNB Board of Directors.

Setting Small Goals Towards Big Wins

Big and long-term goals can sometimes feel intimidating and out of reach. In this session, you'll learn how you can create stepping stones and progress goals along the way to keep yourself motivated and focused.

Bret Himmelman is an RBC Olympian and Team Canada Canoe athlete, who balances being an international athlete while working in RBC’s marketing, communication and corporate citizenship department. Bret has competed at four World Cups and most recently won a bronze medal on home soil at the 2022 World Championship in Nova Scotia.

Investing in Your Employees: Uncovering the Connection to Exceptional Customer Experience

In today's competitive business environment, providing a superior customer experience is crucial for success. But how can contact centres help achieve this goal? Even in a time of economic uncertainty, the answer lies in investing in their employees. By prioritizing work/life balance, flexible scheduling, employee recognition, and voice of the employee surveying, companies can create a culture where employees feel valued and empowered to deliver exceptional customer service. This session will explore the importance of employee experience in building a customer-centric culture, and provide practical tips for organizations to implement in their own workplace. Join us and discover the power of connections to elevate your customer experience game.

A champion for outstanding Employee Experience in the Contact Centre, Shawn McCormick leads new development efforts as Director of Innovation at Call Design North America. Starting almost 25 years ago as a frontline helpdesk agent, he’s seen the remarkable shifts in the contact centre industry: back in his day, we didn’t have the emphasis on Agent Engagement or the ability to Work from Anywhere. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, Shawn is very happy to be part of a team of contact centre professionals that believes strongly that all contact centre and back office employees can be happy, fulfilled, and aligned at work. And by achieving this, contact centres can become key drivers of world-class Customer Experience.

International Connections

With the goal of creating a community that will help promote retention in our industry and in New Brunswick, Amber will share her experiences building connections with international newcomers in the classroom. During the presentation, we will discuss ways to remove barriers to making connections focusing on how schools and employers can become beacons of support for international newcomers.

Amber Arsenault has spent more than 15 years in the contact centre industry in a career that began in front-line client service to sales support, and finally to various management positions. She has been recognized for her leadership style, project management success, and customer focused initiatives.

In 2021, Amber’s passion for mentorship and development of others led her to a career change becoming the first instructor of the Client Service & Sales Program offered at NBCC Moncton. Amber collaborates extensively with the community and the contact centre industry to prepare students for a career in Client Service & Sales ensuring they are equipped with the customer service, communication, and sales skills that will set students up for success as top candidates in the workforce.

Staying Resilient ~ Staying Connected

We need to connect as humans. Resilience is more than mindfulness, practicing positive thoughts and emotional intelligence. Social agility with co-workers, friends and family is part of the resilience formula. Darren will discuss his decades of work and research in resilience within organizations and how social connections in and out of work play a critical role in sustaining a quality of work life. His goal during this session is to broaden the definition, understanding, value and application of resilience in the workplace.

Darren Steeves (BED, MSC) purpose is to help as many people as possible live a high quality of life while living one himself. Darren has worked in the well-being, resilience, health, and performance field for over two decades. He has consulted within large insurance companies, corporations, IT companies, with top level executives, Olympic Medalists, World Champion athletes and has attended Olympic Games with Team Canada. He has also been a professional speaker on topics related to well-being for his whole career and has published research, authored a book, is an adjunct professor, been a guest on various podcasts and written columns for various sites and newspapers. After two decades in the well-being, health and resilience industry, Darren co-founded JackHabbit, a much-needed health behaviour science white label platform and app.

Bold Leadership: Inspiring Others to Take Action

In his presentation, John focuses on empowering individuals to develop the courage to make difficult decisions, to set ambitious goals, and to create a clear vision for their personal and professional growth. Drawing on his experience as a Leader at Moneris and his background in coaching and leadership, John provides practical insights and tools for achieving success.

Through interactive sessions and thought-provoking discussions, John challenges his audience to embrace personal development and take ownership of their career paths. He shares strategies for overcoming fear and self-doubt, as well as practical tips for goal-setting and decision-making.

Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out in your career, John's presentations will inspire you to push beyond your comfort zone and achieve your full potential.

John Boutilier is an experienced coach and leader in the contact centre industry, with a passion for developing people and teams to achieve their full potential. With over 10 years of experience in various leadership roles, including his current position as a Team Leader at Moneris, John has honed his skills in communication, collaboration, and problem-solving.

As a speaker, John brings a wealth of knowledge and practical insights to his audience. He understands the challenges that contact centre professionals face on a daily basis and has developed effective strategies for overcoming them. John's presentations are simple, informative, and designed to inspire action.

Whether you're a senior leader, supervisor, or front-line agent, John's expertise can help you elevate your leadership skills and drive results.