Customer support manager helping to lead digital revolution

Julie Smith/News Tribune
Jerri Bowles, Customer Support Unit Manager at the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, poses in her Truman Building office.
Julie Smith/News Tribune Jerri Bowles, Customer Support Unit Manager at the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, poses in her Truman Building office.

Jerri Bowles is leading the state's effort to use technology to connect Missourians with jobs.

Bowles, the customer support unit manager at the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, oversees two teams of five to six people who provide customer service to hundreds of Missourians each year.

Together, they assist the employers, job seekers and staff at Missouri's 28 job centers located throughout the state in using the MoJobs system.

"Customer service is something I've been passionate about for most of my life -- most every job I've had has been tied to customer service and generally in the low-income, poverty level section," Bowles said. "Knowing that those people generally don't want to be on government assistance but don't know how to get off of government assistance, this was the right fit for me."

Part of her work involves assisting people who the department determines will likely have a more difficult time returning to work. To help, Bowles and her team set up appointments to offer job center services, create an employment plan and talk about training opportunities.

Since the pandemic, Bowles said most of the appointments happen virtually, which Missourians and the state seem to enjoy more.

"I was able to show them a path to sustainable employment where they can support their families and find jobs that had benefits where they could retire," she said. "It's something that brings me so much joy."

Bowles' unit also assists the Missouri Division of Employment Security by helping people file unemployment claims and weekly requests for payments, as well as conducting application audits to ensure people receiving unemployment benefits are completing job applications.

The unit's customer support services also extend to Missourians drawing from assistance programs, like food stamps, because they are required to enroll in the MoJobs system.

Bowles, 45, has worked for the department for five years and lived in Jefferson City for the past 22 years.

She said she has a deep understanding of the clients she regularly works with because she used to be in the same position.

Bowles was unemployed and receiving state benefits in 2016, which meant the state required her to go to a job center. Through that meeting, she got a job at the center and has since worked up to her current management position.

"I actually believe in the program because it does work," Bowles said. "I'm a product of that."

Bowles is also tasked with finding new technology to help the Office of Workforce Development serve more people in finding sustainable employment.

While operations would typically begin to slow down in the Office of Workforce Development this time of year, Bowles said the search for more technology and tools never stops.

The department recently launched its MoJobs Connect mobile app for Apple and Android. The app has almost 400 downloads and is part of the MoJobs system Bowles helps manage.

The convenience of virtual and online services has been popular among clients, Bowles said, which has sparked the department's interest in providing more options.

"Virtual services is the way that things have been going for a while," Bowles said. "The pandemic forced us, along with many state agencies, to learn how to do things virtually for our customers. We need to meet them where they are. If they want to be served virtually, then we got to meet that need."

Now, she's turning her attention toward finding a texting platform that would allow the department to offer customer services over text.

Following a pilot project conducted during the pandemic, Bowles said the department knows Missourians respond more often to text-based communication than cold calls, so it's an important component to begin incorporating into regular offerings.

Bowles is also looking at Big Interview, a platform that provides interview playbooks for specific kinds of situations and clients, and allows staff and clients to review recorded interview footage to make improvements.

"It's a way that somebody from their couch can practice these skills," she said. "They don't have to schedule an appointment to come into a job center."

Her goal is to make the department's services more accessible and easy to use, all while keeping costs reasonable for taxpayers.

Bowles said she's constantly reviewing new technology that could be implemented in Missouri to improve the experience of job seekers.

"It brings me joy to know that we're making a difference in our citizens' lives," Bowles said. "We're giving them opportunities maybe when they never saw that opportunity before."