Maureen Splettstaszer has served as the Director of Business Applications for the NICE User Group Board of Directors since 2016.
Before we ask you about your role on the NICE User Group Board of Directors, will you tell us about your current job responsibilities?
I am a relationship manager between US Bank’s contact center solutions and support (which is like a shared services kind of an organization that does workforce engineering, communication, analytics and reporting and customer experience for all of the contact centers) and specific business lines. So, the individual contact centers don’t need to know “who do I go to for this or that”, they just come to me and I figure out where we need to go. And it goes both ways. When the business line has questions, they come to me and vice versa and I facilitate conversations.
What path led you to US Bank?
Before I was at US Bank I worked in retail as a distribution analyst. I looked at inventory needs for different stores and how much inventory would go to each store. After my husband and I had our first child, it wasn’t going so well. We were out of town from our family and had no family support. My husband traveled all the time for work, and my daughter was sick quite a bit, so I was super stressed out, and I wasn’t happy. We wanted to get back to home which is Fargo, ND. I saw an opening at the bank and thought I would take it until I found what I really wanted. I just needed that job to get me back to Fargo. And 14 years later here, I am, still at the bank! So, the move was all about family that got me here.
Tell us about your experience using NICE solutions?
I started using NICE in 2010. Funny story why I know that. We went through a massive system upgrade where we upgraded NICE recording and quality, NICE workforce management, our Avaya phone system…. we upgraded everything! I had been on maternity leave and when I came back from maternity leave, we had started this project and my boss at the time said, “Maureen, we need someone to take the NICE recording platform through the upgrade and be in charge of it. You’re the one.” Prior to that I had no experience with the tool. It was dropped in my lap, and I was in charge. Lesson learned – if you go on maternity leave, you’ll never know what you’ll come back to!
I never had a background in quality assurance. My background is analytics, reporting and insights. So it’s kind of weird mix, but over time I really latched on to the tool and thought, “If I’m charge of this thing I’m going to make it the best it can possibly be. If it doesn’t work the way I want it to, I’m going to figure out how to make it work the way I need it to.” That’s why I’ve been so successful with it. It’s been a constant - I’m not going to take no for an answer. If the tool isn’t meant to do something, and I can’t upgrade, I figure out how to make the system work for me. It’s a little like solving a puzzle.
What prompted you to join the NUG board?
I was at a NICE Interaction’s conference and I was approached by Charlene Gillam, Linda Duba, Barb Bleiler. These people were so passionate about the system and so motivating and reaching out and saying, “We have something special, do you want to be part of it and make a difference?” I was recruited, and I’m so happy I was. It’s been a phenomenal tool in my tool box to have these relationships.
What do you like best about NUG?
I like that it is a community of peers. I work with a lot of tools in my daily life and this is the only tool I work with where I have access to other users. I like that I can reach out and put something in a forum and say “how do you guys do this” or “what’s the best approach” and I get it get straight from the users, not filtered through the vendor. Between the NUG site and Interactions I’ve been able to build a solid foundation for support.
Tell us a little about you, personally.
I’m married to my super cool husband, Rick. We’ve been married 16 years. We have two kids Olivia (15) and Remington (10). Those two keep me pretty busy when I’m not at work. You can often find me in a high school gymnasium watching my daughter; she’s a dancer and a cheerleader. The fact that I have a cheerleader/dancer is shocking, since that is the opposite of my personality! My little guy is in 4th grade and does crazy 4th “gradeness”.
What is the last book you read?
I’m not a huge book reader. Life is pretty serious as it is, so when I read I like to read fun things. I love music, 80s and 90s rock music, so I typically read about musicians and their shenanigans over time. I am currently reading The Beautiful One, which is Prince’s autobiography/biography that was being written when he passed away. I’m reading it super slow because I don’t want it to end. The slower I read it, the longer it lasts.
What advice would you like to offer to those just starting their careers in technology?
My advice is take every opportunity you can to learn. The more you learn, the more successful you’re going to be. Don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo. I’m 10 years into using this tool and just this week alone, I’ve learned something new that I didn’t know before, and I’m trying something new we’ve never done before in the tool. So, don’t ever stop learning and trying new things.
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