Business Transformation | Operational Transformation | Continuous Improvement

I am a dedicated transformation professional with extensive experience leading business improvement, operational change, customer experience and technology-enabled transformation.

Throughout my career, I have worked across government, healthcare, customer service, contact centre and commercial environments, leading significant change programmes and building high-performing teams.

My expertise combines Business Transformation, Continuous Improvement, Operations, Customer Experience, Workforce Planning, Technology and Change Management.

I take a practical, outcome-focused approach to transformation — understanding the problem, using data and insight to identify opportunities, engaging people in the change and turning strategy into measurable improvements.

Current Role

Head of Business Transformation / Senior Systems Thinking Manager

Scottish Government | Dec 2023 – Present

Lead the delivery of change and transformation into operational teams, ensuring that initiatives deliver against organisational objectives and the needs of colleagues, employers and members.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading change and transformation programmes.

• Working with senior leaders to identify priorities and opportunities.

• Transforming services around user needs and member outcomes.

• Developing a customer-focused, can-do culture.

• Leading quality and outcome testing.

• Managing customer complaints and associated conduct risk.

• Using root-cause analysis to identify improvement opportunities.

• Leading continuous improvement initiatives.

• Building organisational capability, resilience and capacity.

• Preparing operational papers and business cases.

• Supporting strategic and operational decision-making.

Previous Experience

Director of Business Improvement

Maximus | Nov 2021 – Dec 2023

Led Business Improvement and Continuous Improvement across a large operational environment.

Key achievements included:

• Ownership and transformation of the Business Support Centre.

• Establishment of new planning infrastructure and teams.

• Leadership of Continuous Improvement and Business Improvement functions.

• Deployment of Continuous Improvement infrastructure across approximately 1,800 employees.

• Creation of a pipeline of improvement opportunities.

• Delivery of 23 improvements within the first three months of the new infrastructure.

• Transformation of back-office functions.

• Deployment of new performance suites.

• Line management of Performance Roles and Product Owners.

• Development of customer service and technology capability.

• Delivery of remote working across the organisation.

Manager

EY | Jun 2021 – Oct 2021

Short-term consultancy role focused on transformation, workforce planning and continuous improvement.

Led intelligent resource allocation using AI and strategic tools, providing real-time information across multiple operational factors.

Worked directly with clients to design a workforce transformation team aligned to Continuous Improvement and deployed new management information reporting tools.

Resource & Development Manager

Lifeplus | Nov 2019 – Apr 2021

Senior Planning and Service Excellence role.

Key achievements included:

• Introduction of process and control methods across Planning, Data and Analytics.

• Implementation of best-practice approaches.

• Development of a comprehensive capacity plan incorporating shrinkage and utilisation.

• Integration of contact centre infrastructure during COVID-19.

• Enabling the workforce to work remotely.

• Management of a large multilingual planning team.

• Management of multiple operational and customer service functions.

Head of Enterprise Planning & Insight

Ingeus / RRP | May 2013 – Nov 2019

Held a number of roles providing enterprise planning, resource modelling, knowledge management, complaints management, analysis and quality support.

Provided planning, modelling and forecasting services for approximately 2,000 employees, alongside leadership responsibility for Quality, Continuous Improvement, Complaints, Knowledge Management, Analysis and Change functions.

Core Expertise

Leadership

A proven leader with a strong focus on developing people, building productive relationships and creating an environment where teams can continuously improve.

Business Transformation

Experienced in leading complex transformation and change programmes from strategy through to operational implementation.

Continuous Improvement

Experienced in Lean Six Sigma and Agile approaches, with a strong focus on identifying waste, improving processes and delivering measurable outcomes.

Planning & Analytics

Extensive experience across workforce planning, resource modelling, forecasting, performance management and operational analytics.

Operations

Experienced in managing office-based, contact centre, hybrid and fully remote operational environments.

Customer Experience

Strong focus on understanding customer needs, improving journeys and using feedback, complaints and data to drive service improvement.

Technology & Digital Transformation

Experienced in using technology, digital platforms, workforce management systems, CRM, knowledge management and reporting tools to transform operational services.

Selected Achievements

Continuous Improvement Strategy
Developed and implemented a Continuous Improvement strategy across an organisation of approximately 1,800 FTE.

Workforce Management
Implemented workforce management capability across front-office and back-office operations, improving planning, customer experience and operational control.

CRM & Task Management
Facilitated integration of 11 disparate systems into a single system with additional security layers.

Knowledge Management
Implemented a Knowledge Management System within a highly secured environment using process flows and smart FAQ functionality.

Omnichannel Communications
Led implementation of new communications systems across Contact Centre, IT, Back Office and Warehousing functions.

Interactive Feedback
Introduced online feedback and question functionality, reducing reliance on telephone engagement.

Digital Channels
Introduced webchat and social media channels to improve customer access and enable channel shift.

Qualifications & Certifications

• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt

• Certificate in Contact Planning and Management

• Diploma in Project Management

• Scrum Master

• CBT Life Coach

• Associated NLP Practitioner

• Business Coach

Articles & Professional Interests

I have written and contributed to work covering:

• Performance improvement

• Continuous improvement

• Workforce planning

• Capacity planning

• Quality monitoring

• Customer retention

• Operational utilisation

• Shrinkage

• Professional development

• Business transformation

My Approach

My approach to transformation is simple:

Understand → Analyse → Improve → Deliver → Learn

I believe successful transformation is not simply about introducing new technology or processes. It is about understanding people, customers and operational reality, then creating practical solutions that deliver sustainable improvement.

I combine data, insight, technology and human experience to turn complex problems into clear actions.

Data → Information → Intelligence → Insight → Action

Contact

Chris Gage

Business Transformation & Continuous Improvement Leader

Email: chris@performanceandinsight.com
Website: chrisgage.org
LinkedIn: Chris Gage