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Description
Welcome to WFM Unfiltered
Real conversations. Practical insights. Smarter workforce strategies.
If you're responsible for workforce management, operations, or service delivery, and it feels like performance, planning, and people management are all happening under pressure — you're in the right place.
WFM Unfiltered is the go-to podcast for operations leaders, contact center professionals, and senior executives who want fresh thinking and real-world solutions. Hosted by Irina Mateeva, a globally respected WFM consultant and transformation expert, each episode dives into the operational challenges leaders face and offers grounded, experience-driven insights that actually move the needle.
Expect meaningful conversations with industry leaders, strategic perspectives on WFM technology, employee experience, and resource optimization, and stories from the field that will resonate whether you're leading a small team or scaling global operations.
This isn’t your typical industry podcast. It’s sharp, insightful, and refreshingly human. No buzzwords. No sales pitches. Just 30 minutes of value-packed dialogue designed to support performance improvement and empower better decisions.
New episodes weekly. Subscribe now and stay ahead of the curve in workforce management.
For consulting, coaching, or custom WFM solutions, visit www.rightwfm.com or contact Irina directly at Irina@rightwfm.com.
#wfm #workforcemanagement #wfmpodcast
50 Episodes
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Message the show! Greg Reffner joins Irina on WFM Unfiltered with a refreshingly blunt take on what really goes on behind the scenes of B2B vendor-client relationships. With years of experience navigating the high-stakes world of tech sales and customer success, Greg shares war stories that will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about vendor partnerships. If you've ever sat in a meeting nodding along while a vendor promises the moon, this episode will hit uncomfortably close to...
Message the show! What happens when you stop pretending and start leading? In this week's episode of WFM Unfiltered, Irina sits down with Danny Green—a former contact centre sales pro turned respected operations and leadership expert. His career didn’t start with a polished plan. It started in the trenches, facing real problems and learning from hard-won experience. From sales floors to 24/7 global operations, Danny’s journey is packed with insights that challenge how we think about leadershi...
Message the show! What if the secret to a thriving contact centre career wasn’t in your CV, but in your mindset? In this episode of WFM Unfiltered, Irina sits down with Nenad Lukikj, a self-made leader who went from humble beginnings to reshaping the way we think about workforce management, innovation, and personal growth. Nenad’s story isn’t your usual LinkedIn highlight reel—it’s full of real risks, unorthodox choices, and a relentless commitment to doing things differently. From discoverin...
Message the show! From flipping burgers to flipping the script on outbound sales - Garry Gormley’s journey is anything but average. In this episode of WFM Unfiltered, Irina sits down with the founder of FAB Solutions to dissect what makes outbound tick, why most organisations do it so badly, and what leadership really means in the contact centre trenches. Garry doesn’t hold back. With experience spanning thousands of calls, teams, and metrics, he pulls the curtain back on the sales strategies...
Message the show! Aaron Wojtak joins Irina on WFM Unfiltered for a brutally honest dive into what’s really happening at the intersection of real-time analytics, agent performance, and leadership in contact centres. With a background that spans frontline agent roles to strategic workforce planning, Aaron brings a grounded, no-nonsense perspective that cuts through the noise of corporate fluff This episode challenges the traditional “command and control” culture still lurking in too many operat...
Message the show! WFM is dead. At least, that's what Jimmy Hosang thinks - well, the tools, anyway. In this explosive conversation, Jimmy joins Irina on WFM Unfiltered to challenge everything we think we know about workforce management technology. Forget dashboards and legacy software; the AI revolution is already rewriting the rules of contact centre planning, and Jimmy doesn’t hold back. From his unique perspective as a tech entrepreneur with WFM roots, Jimmy exposes how AI isn’t just disru...
Message the show! Why do WFM teams constantly feel like they’re missing the mark—even when the numbers add up? In this episode of WFM Unfiltered, Irina sits down with Zakaria Berrada, the Head of WFM for Global Strategic Accounts at Foundever, who brings over two decades of leadership in planning, forecasting, and operational strategy. His insights aren’t just from the textbook—they’re from the trenches. Zakaria opens up about his career shift from finance into WFM, and why understanding peop...
Message the show! What happens when you strip the buzzwords out of CX and just focus on the people? In this episode of WFM Unfiltered, Irina sits down with Charlie Adams — customer experience director, author of It’s Just People, and a man who’s seen the contact centre industry from the inside out. From smashing AI myths to confronting uncomfortable truths about management and data, this one’s a no-fluff, all-reality masterclass in how not to screw up your customer experience. Charlie’s worke...
Message the show! This episode of WFM Unfiltered goes deep into the heart of every planner’s frustration — why no one listens to the WFM team. And to help us unpack that truth, Irina is joined by Jason Bartram, a global workforce planning leader at eBay, with decades of frontline experience in turning chaos into strategy. Jason doesn’t just talk about planning; he talks about what it takes to make it matter. From the importance of defining clear responsibilities to the power of trust-based le...
Message the show! Transformation. Everyone talks about it, but very few get it right. In this episode of WFM Unfiltered, Irina sits down with Gregorio Uglioni - also known as the CX Goalkeeper - to dismantle the corporate myths around change, strategy, and customer experience. With a rich background in healthcare transformation and a passion for customer-led innovation, Greg shares war stories from the frontline of business change that’ll make you question everything you think you know ...
Message the show! Where does Workforce Management actually belong inside a company? If you've ever felt like WFM is misunderstood, underused, or straight-up misplaced within your organization, you're not alone. In this episode of WFM Unfiltered, Irina is joined by Pier, a lifelong contact center and workforce leader who brings serious insight and lived experience from every level of the industry – from agent to director, and everything in between. Pier breaks down the real-life implications ...
Message the show! om both sides of the table — as someone who’s hired for WFM roles and as someone who’s had to fight for credibility without formal credentials. He and Irina debate whether certificates really prove capability, why vendors may be part of the problem, and how the obsession with system knowledge is holding back operational growth. Expect frustration, a few uncomfortable truths, and a whole lot of clarity. Whether you’re hiring for WFM, trying to land your next role, or just won...
Message the show! We don’t usually do reruns… but this one? It earned it. WFM Unfiltered is proud to bring back one of our most popular episodes — with a sharper look and better sound — because Adriana Olteanu dropped insight that’s just too good to get buried in the archives. Adriana leads forecasting and capacity planning at Groupon, and in this conversation, she and Irina get real about the uphill battle WFM professionals face when senior leadership won’t listen. From building a bulletproo...
Message the show! Is your product manager helping—or holding you hostage? This week on WFM Unfiltered, Irina brings on Rich O’Farrell, a seasoned contact centre insider turned Product Director, to finally answer the burning question: are product managers the enemy? From call centre agent to the head of WFM product strategy at Verint, Rich has seen it all. And now he’s spilling the internal truths that most vendors hope you never find out. This episode is a full-throttle breakdown of what real...
Message the show! Implementations suck. You know it. We know it. Adam Saad really knows it. And he’s not here to sugar-coat a damn thing. In this episode of WFM Unfiltered, Irina teams up with Adam—Founder of Tech Stack Advising and host of the Scaling Out Loud podcast—to dismantle the illusion of smooth software implementations. From toxic vendor relationships to overpriced consultants and ghosting sales teams, Adam exposes the patterns that derail tech rollouts before the first config scree...
Message the show! Is your BPO partner a strategic asset—or an operational liability? In this explosive episode of WFM Unfiltered, Irina pulls no punches and brings in transformation heavyweight Dan Piper to dissect the real state of Business Process Outsourcing in today’s contact centre chaos. Dan’s 20-year career in operations and BPOs—from team manager to Global VP of Continuous Improvement—makes him uniquely qualified to expose what works, what doesn’t, and what’s quietly killing performa...
Message the show! What does the law say about AI? And more importantly, what should we be asking? In this episode of WFM Unfiltered, Irina sits down with John Walter — lawyer, tech innovator, and founder of ProxyLink — to dissect the growing tension between artificial intelligence and legal boundaries in the contact center space. From transitioning out of the legal field and diving into customer support, John’s path has been anything but typical. His frustration with how AI is being rolled ou...
Message the show! The battle between remote work, hybrid models, and full office life rages on—and we’re diving straight into the fire. In this episode of WFM Unfiltered, Adrian Hawes joins Irina to dissect the realities, myths, and consequences of remote work in the contact center industry. Is working from home still the productivity dream we thought it was, or has it created bigger problems than we expected? Adrian shares his expert insights on the evolution of work-from-home policies, the ...
Message the show! Team leaders and WFM professionals—why does it always feel like you're speaking different languages? In this episode of WFM Unfiltered, we’re tackling the age-old battle between workforce management and team leaders. And who better to break it down than Martin Teasdale—contact center veteran, founder of the Team Leader Community, and host of Get Out of Wrap. With over 25 years in the industry, Martin has dedicated his career to supporting and elevating team leaders, and toda...
Message the show! What does the future of WFM look like, and why is it still misunderstood at the executive level? Jim Simmons, a leader in workforce management and operational strategy, joins the show to unpack the biggest trends shaping WFM in 2025. With decades of experience optimizing workforce strategies, Jim breaks down why WFM teams struggle for recognition and what it takes to earn a real seat at the executive table. From AI hype to the hard truths about automation, Jim doesn’t hold b...
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