Operations Reporting Analyst - 35694 - Westchester, IL

Position Overview

Follett Higher Education is a leading educational service provider and omnichannel retailer, providing students, faculty, staff, parents, and fans with the course materials, learning tools, and retail services needed to successfully support the collegiate journey. Follett Higher Education supports over 6 million students through its 1,100 physical and 1,750 eCommerce campus stores across North America.

The Operations Reporting Analyst is responsible for supporting operational excellence through workforce planning, labor analytics, reporting, and scheduling optimization. This role partners closely with operations leadership, finance, and HR to ensure staffing strategies align with business demand, labor standards, service expectations, and financial objectives. The analyst provides actionable insights through data analysis and reporting while helping maintain operational efficiency, workforce effectiveness, and customer service outcomes.

Responsibilities

Operational Labor and Service Analysis:

• Generate, analyze, and interpret reports related to staffing utilization, labor costs, sales performance, and service productivity to support operational decision-making.
• Monitor, analyze, and report on variances across planned labor, scheduled labor, actual labor, service levels, and sales performance to optimize customer service outcomes.
• Develop and maintain labor scheduling KPIs, dashboards, and operational reporting tools for stakeholders and leadership teams.
• Identify trends, risks, and opportunities related to labor efficiency, scheduling accuracy, and operational performance.

Workforce Planning & Scheduling:

• Develop, publish, and maintain weekly and monthly staff schedules aligned with demand forecasting, labor standards, and service goals.
• Continuously monitor and adjust staffing levels in response to changing business volumes, event activity, and operational requirements.
• Manage labor scheduling activities for designated functions and/or locations while ensuring operational coverage and workforce efficiency.
• Ensure staffing and labor governance standards are upheld, including overtime management, compliance requirements, and scheduling guidelines.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Partner with operations, finance, HR, and department leaders to align labor plans with operational goals and budget targets.
• Coordinate with department leaders to balance workforce efficiency with customer service quality and operational effectiveness.
• Communicate scheduling updates, labor insights, observed changes, and operational gaps clearly to leaders and team members.
• Support operational planning initiatives through data-driven recommendations and workforce analysis.

Continuous Improvement:

• Identify and implement process improvements that enhance scheduling accuracy, reporting efficiency, operational productivity, and employee satisfaction.
• Support the enhancement and optimization of workforce planning systems, reporting processes, and scheduling tools.
• Contribute to the development of best practices related to labor management, reporting standards, and workforce analytics.

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent.
• 3-5 years of experience in Workforce planning, labor scheduling, operational analytics, or related functions.
• Specialized computer knowledge in Workforce planning and scheduling software; prior experience with ADP and/or UKG, Power BI, and AI preferred.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to analyze data, identify trends, solve problems, and recommend solutions.
• Develop effective dashboards and reporting.