Continually improving performance is hard work. As Tony Farrell, Customer Service Manager at the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham found; setting targets and appraisals is only part of the story. Keeping the motivation going by involving the staff during a period of change is just as important.
When Tony joined Barking & Dagenham last year, the customer service centre clearly needed an overhaul. The reception area was old-fashioned; it was dark with outdated screens keeping staff and customers apart.
"The first thing we did was to develop a customer service improvement programme," Tony said. "We wanted to improve the facilities available, take down the barriers and modernise the service centre," he said. "Basically, we wanted to make sure the customers' first impression would be a positive one."
Low morale
At the start of the programme, morale was quite low among the staff, Tony recalls. "From day one we involved the staff," he said. "We had weekly meetings when we went through the progress and encouraged a collaborative way of working," he said. "We found it important to give the team ownership; everyone helped out choosing colours and seating design etc," he said. As a result, the staff felt they could make real contributions.
"If you come into the centre now you can see the change in people," Tony said. "There are smiles everywhere, we have open discussions and there is a really nice atmosphere." Consequently, performance has improved greatly.
Appraisals and recognition
Another key factor in the improvement has been the introduction of professional processes. "We now have a process for training and development," Tony said. "We have set targets, we work with appraisals and recognition for good performance," he said. "There is also some healthy competition going on which has really improved morale."
The current targets are quite generous, Tony said. A floorwalker should greet the customer within 2 minutes. If they need to be referred on to an officer, they should be seen within 10 minutes. The transaction should then be completed within 15 minutes. Most staff are generic, handling a range of services such as housing and council tax benefits, council tax, rent and business rates enquiries.
Floorwalkers
A brand new Q-MATIC solution helps to monitor performance, targets and the flow of customers throughout the day. When customers walk through the door, they are met by floorwalkers stationed at modern lecterns. The latest Q-MATIC Client Plus software links all the service points together, from the floorwalkers to the counters, interview rooms, and the managers' office. All team leaders also have access to the system showing, in real time, all relevant queuing information in the front office. The 40" plasma screen in the waiting area shows waiting times as well as live television to entertain the customers while they wait.
Customer friendly
"Q-Matic helps us manage performance more easily," said Tony. The plasma screen, together with the audio call forward function, makes the whole centre much more customer friendly," he said. "Customers are more aware of what's going on now. If they come in during a busy period, the floorwalker can tell them their expected waiting time beforehand and they can see where they are in the queue at all times," he said.
In April next year, the Borough is planning a whole new one stop shop in Barking, to complement the existing one in Dagenham. The new facilities will have lifelong learning services including a library. "We are planning to use a Q-Matic solution again with mobile floorwalkers using PC tablets," Tony said".