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Episode 24 – Karen Hogg, Coach, ex Chief Customer Officer and COO

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-y7nbr-1462aa8

Michelle Ansell at Douglas Jackson welcomes Karen Hogg to The Impact Room.

Karen is a business coach and mentor.  Karen has experience working at a C-suite executive level with brands such as Axa, Sainsburys Bank and more latterly Atlanta Group as COO, Chief Operating Officer, before taking on the role of a Chief Customer Officer, CCO.

Hear from Karen, on how she believes the business landscape has changed for financial service and insurance companies, and what are the key ingredients for business and individuals to thrive would you say?

Her role, a Chief Customer Officer role, we know this position is in its early formation for many businesses and individuals, what have you learnt that you might be able to share about this role and how it can best serve a business 

The ABI have recently set out an ambitious blueprint to help drive change and boost the attractiveness of the insurance industry to people from all backgrounds, what are your thoughts on what can be done to help change the narrative?

How the last few years have affected women in the workplace, how the challenges and demands placed upon them have changed? 

When you have a passion for both your people and customers, why do you think so many businesses lose their way in these areas?

What advice would you give someone who wanted to thrive at a strategic/Director level or, board appointment.

Hear all this and more from Karen in The Impact Room, where exceptional, diverse and impactful leadership and wisdom is shared.

If you would prefer to watch the full video you can do that here. 

Or alternatively you can listen where you enjoy your podcasts here.

Source: https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2023/07/24/episode-24-karen-hogg-coach-ex-chief-customer-officer-and-coo/

Publish Date: July 24, 2023


Optimizing Organisational Efficiency: The Vital Role of a Resource Planning Director

In the dynamic landscape of business operations, the allocation and utilisation of resources play a pivotal role in driving success. Enter the Resource Planning Director – a key figure responsible for overseeing the strategic management of an organization’s resources. From people to finances and equipment, their expertise ensures that the right resources are harnessed in alignment with the organization’s objectives. In this blog post, we’ll explore the significant role of a Resource Planning Director and shed light on the critical reasons why effective resource planning is a cornerstone of any successful organization.

  1. Mastering the Art of Resource Allocation:

At the helm of resource planning lies the Resource Planning Director, equipped with the expertise to develop and execute comprehensive resource plans. Their mission is to align these plans with the organization’s goals, ultimately steering the company towards prosperity. By carefully assessing resource utilization data, they identify areas of opportunity for optimization and efficiency improvement, presenting recommendations to senior executives and stakeholders.

  1. The Pillars of Organisational Success:

 

Resource Planning Directors play a vital role in fostering organizational success. Let’s delve into some of the crucial reasons why effective resource planning is essential:

a. Maximising Efficiency: Efficient resource allocation ensures that each asset is leveraged to its fullest potential. As a result, productivity soars, and the organization can achieve more with fewer resources.

b. Empowering Decision-Making: Data-driven insights into resource utilization empower leaders to make informed decisions. By knowing where resources are best utilized, organizations can invest wisely and avoid wasteful practices.

c. Enhancing Competitiveness: In today’s fast-paced business world, a competitive edge is vital. Effective resource planning gives organizations the ability to respond swiftly to market changes and outperform rivals.

d. Boosting Morale: When resources are optimally allocated, employees feel valued and supported. A well-managed workforce is happier, more engaged, and motivated to achieve success.

e. Reducing Risk: Resource planning helps identify potential bottlenecks and risks in advance. By proactively addressing challenges, organizations can minimize disruptions and maintain stability.

In the quest for organisational excellence, the role of a Resource Planning Director stands out as a linchpin for success. Their meticulous efforts in managing resources efficiently lead to better decision-making, enhanced competitiveness, and heightened morale across the organization. Embracing effective resource planning is no longer a choice but a necessity for thriving in today’s business environment.

If your organization is seeking to elevate its resource planning capabilities or looking to hire a skilled Head of Resource Planning, we invite you to connect with Perry Fletcher, our expert Practice Lead across Planning, WFM, Insight, and Analytics at Douglas Jackson. Contact Perry at Tel 0345 620 9720 or email perry@douglas-jackson.com to explore how this pivotal role can drive your organization towards new heights.

#resourceplanning #resourceplanningdirector #headofresourceplanning #resourceplanningrecruitment #resourceplan #wfm #workforcemanagement #recruitment #recruitingaresourceplanningdirector #executivesearch #recruitmentconsultant

Source: https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2023/07/24/optimizing-organisational-efficiency-the-vital-role-of-a-resource-planning-director/

Publish Date: July 24, 2023


I don’t like recruiters

This is something that someone said to me not that long ago and it is something that if it isn’t said, it is often inferred through actions or sentiment.

Luckily on this occasion, my client added but I do like you, which thankfully is the case with many of the people I deal with but let’s talk about why people don’t tend to like recruite

To be fair there are a lot more professionals that people don’t like…

I don’t know about you, but most people don’t like visiting their accountant but if their accountant helps save them money, then it’s a win.

Most people don’t want to have to visit a solicitor, but if the solicitor can clear up a legal matter for you then it’s a win.

Most people don’t want to visit the dentist but if a 6 monthly check up stops you from having a future infection and root canal, then well that a win, right?

As with all the other professionals listed above, there are lots of recruitment consultants and they all offer very different services.  Some are generalists, some are specialists, some are high end retained search and some are, well let’s face it just bad!

There are good and bad in all industries and recruitment is no different, so many enter the industry with promises of flash cars and the big bucks, have very little mentorship or training, are put under huge amounts of pressure to perform no matter the cost, are encouraged to sell what is best for their employer and not the client or candidate.

All the above are some of the reasons I started my own company, because for me, I believe recruitment and more specifically a search process can be so much better.

That our consultants should be supported, trained and empowered to do the right thing for their clients and candidates.

That you should be able to like the person you are working with and really love the process delivering your next key strategic leadership hire.

If you want to start liking your recruitment process and recruitment partner then please do drop us a line, we have some ideas that might help.

Tel: 0345 620 9720

mail@douglas-jackson.com

Source: https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2021/11/25/i-dont-like-recruiters/

Publish Date: November 25, 2021


Stop Losing Your Diverse Talent

Whilst some organisations have seen a massive uptick in D&I activity in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. Others have seen major programmes, like leadership development and diversity projects take a back seat for business critical activities bought about due to the pandemic.

Whatever the situation EDI is here to stay, especially as more private equity and venture capital firms are now asking for and looking for more diversity and sustainability across their portfolios. EDI and ESG initiatives should already have a seat at the boardroom table and if not they are waiting at the door to be let in.

But where do you start and how do you develop a better initiative across Diversity, Equality and Inclusion?

How do you help your leaders become more effective at leading higher performance inclusive teams?

How do you create a more effective onboarding strategy which incorporates talent, acquisition and retention activities that don’t just tick a box and hit a quota but deliver long term sustainable shifts in the dial and realise better equality and inclusion for everyone…

These are some of the subjects we covered in a series of EDI Cohorts and confidential collaboration events.

As with all large scale fundamental change and behavioural change, these initiatives take time.

We have seen many businesses fall foul of working towards agreed quotas and averages, only to see huge efforts and wins at hiring diverse talent and leaders, fail as this same talent starts leaving in waves as the inner workings of the organisation have not changed.

Without inclusion there is no diversity!

This last 6 months we teamed up with Martin Hill-Wilson of Brainfood Consulting and Angella Hill-Wilson of Bridgehouse Consulting to bring a series of events to our network on EDI/DEI, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

If you would like to know more and help your business shift the dial on diversity, hire more diverse talent and leaders, to stop losing your diverse talent, understand the difference between equality and equity, help develop good foundations and practices, then do get in touch.

In this short 40 second clip, hear from Angella on why laying out a description of Diversity matters to your business and folk.

Douglas Jackson is a high end retained search consultancy, working with customer and consumer centric business to hire diverse impactful leadership. When exceptional leadership matters.

Source: https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2021/10/11/inclusionanddiversity/

Publish Date: October 11, 2021


Help to move the dial when it comes to EDI…

How important is EDI, Equality, Diversion and Inclusion, to you and or your business?

Employers are increasingly coming to recognise the strong business case for improving the level of diversity and inclusion within their workforce and across all levels of their senior leadership.  A more diverse and inclusive workforce delivers higher levels of engagement, creativity and innovation.


Latest research carried out by McKinsey on why diversity matters, found that companies in the top quartile for gender or racial and ethnic diversity are more likely to have financial returns above their national industry medians.

In their latest report, Diversity wins: How inclusion matters they state that they have seen ‘a stronger business case for diversity, but slow progress overall’. Since 2014 the data has seen uplifts from 15-20% on executive team female representation in the US and UK, yet globally, just a one percentage point from 2017 to 2019, with over one third of the companies having no women at all on their executive teams.


We are very excited to soon be launching a collaboration with a business and individuals committed to helping business leaders and organisations, move the dial when it comes to EDI.

We are looking for expressions of interest from business leaders, and or HR Directors who are about to start or, are already on their diversity journey who may benefit from a series of roundtable events and or webinars. There will be no charge for these initial sessions,  This is something both I, the team at Douglas Jackson and our partner are extremely passionate about and we want to offer a confidential platform and opportunity where you can learn, share and hear about best practice developments.

There will be three potential categories of interest.

An Introduction to Diversity for:

  • Organisations wanting to start their journey
  • Organisations who have just begun

Help with EDI Leadership, looking at the EDI ecosystem and the commitment required to positioning EDI culture as a win-win for all for:

  • Senior management teams, executives and EDI sponsors and those in the early phases of their EDI journey or, who are looking to accelerate progress of an existing initiative.

Finally Designing your on-boarding for Diversity & Inclusion for:

  • Organisations wanting to support diversity recruitment practices and to improve their ability to retain talent.

If you would like to register your interest for any of the above, please click on the button below and we will be in touch with details of future events as they are released, or if you would like to learn a little more, feel free to contact me on michelle@douglas-jackson.com, or Tel: 01543 231071.

Best

Michelle

 

Source: https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2021/04/28/help-to-move-the-dial-when-it-comes-to-edi/

Publish Date: April 28, 2021


The Impact Room – Jo Causon CEO Institute of Customer Service

We were delighted to see Jo Causon, Chief Executive Officer of Institute of Customer Service in the Impact Room recently. Jo joined Hannah Louise Cox to share some insight and thoughts about customer service, customer demands, ease of customer service, challenges, transparency, communications, opportunities.

What do the organisations that do well with customer service do differently, ethics, value.

What needs to change in the UK to help our customers feel happier and improve customer experience.

The role the boardroom has to play in delivering great customer service, setting the purpose and legacy.

The Impact Room – Where exceptional, diverse and impactful leadership and wisdom is shared.

#instituteofcustomerservice#jocauson#customerservice#customerstrategy#boardrooms#customerlegacy#customerpurpose#theimpactroom

Hannah Louise Cox, Practice Lead, Douglas Jackson. Helping CEO’s and Senior Executives | Retained Search | Diversity & Inclusion | Senior Leadership | High Growth | Technology | Large Scale Transformation | CX Professionals List 2021, CX Magazine

A high-end retained executive search firm exclusively focused on consumer centric business, delivering high performance, diverse, impactful leadership.

Source: https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2021/04/13/the-impact-room-jo-causon-ceo-institute-of-customer-service/

Publish Date: April 13, 2021


Developing Extraordinary Talent and Great Leaders

‘If you had an incredibly high number of brilliant leaders in your business right now, what difference would it make to the culture, to the environment and to the results that your business were getting?’

This was just one of the questions asked by @Elke Edwards from Ivyhouse on our live event on Extraordinary Leadership for 2021 and beyond.

In this short two minute clip of Elkes’ introduction, she asks some searching questions:

  • How many great/extraordinary leaders do you know right now
  • How multi-dimensional is your view of leadership
  • How mutli-dimensional is your companies view of leadership
  • How highly regarded is your leadership offering in your business
  • How seriously is leadership taken as skill in your business

“If you had an incredibly high number of brilliant leaders in your business right now, what difference would it make to the culture, to the environment and the results your business were getting”?

If we do the same thing as we always have when it comes to the development of our leaders, then we will get what we have always got.

If you would like to know more, drop me a note below, or contact me directly, michelle@douglas-jackson.com

Douglas Jackson hold a number of educational online events and webinars on a range of subjects to help our audience of customer led leaders, CEOs COOs CCOs and HR Directors to learn from best in class and challenger thinking. If you have any ideas or thoughts on any subjects or subject matter experts you would like to see featured, then please do let us know.

Douglas Jackson help customer led leaders; Customer Service Directors, Customer Experience Directors CEO’s CCO’s, COO’s and HR Directors to identify, attract, hire and retain exceptional Executive, Managerial and Subject Matter Expert level talent is what we do.

A proven track record delivering retained search, a more diverse, inclusive recruitment strategy, job and behavioural profiling, CV contingency selection, or, interim fixed term contract. We offer management consultancy across talent acquisition.

Source: https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2021/01/19/developing-extraordinary-talent-and-great-leaders/

Publish Date: January 19, 2021


Merry Christmas and Christmas Opening 2020

Our Offices will close on Thursday 24th December at 12 noon and re-open on Monday 4th January 2021 at 9am.

During this time members of the team will be dialling in to collect messages and be able to access emails. 

If you are attending an interview, or, need to speak with any of the team urgently then you should already have all of your individual consultants personal contact details but if not, please call and leave a message on: 0345 620 9720 or email; mail@douglas-jackson.com and someone will get back to you. 

If your call and message is not urgent, a member of the team will be back in touch with you in the New Year.

We would like to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Safe, Happy New Year.

See you in 2021.

Source: https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2020/12/23/merry-christmas-and-christmas-opening-2020/

Publish Date: December 23, 2020


Planning Your 2021 Talent Acquisition Strategy?

If you are planning your 2021 talent acquisition strategy, what will you do differently?

Whether you will be doing virtual, a mix of interactions, or socially distanced interviews.

Our free guide will help you avoid some of the top pitfalls for chasing away top talent and help you plan for a more successful outcome.

Claim Your Free Copy
 

 

 




























Source: https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2020/11/17/planning-your-2021-talent-acquisition-strategy/

Publish Date: November 17, 2020


How You and Your Leaders Can Emerge Stronger and More Successful

If you are like many of the customer and employee focused business leaders and HR Directors we are talking to, resilience and the ability to attract and develop resilient leaders is critical at this time.

We have been speaking with a number of business leaders, CEO’s, CCO’s, COO’s, and HR Directors about the resilience of their leadership team.

Having resilient leaders at the moment is critical for you to achieve success, to make money, save money, lead your teams and colleagues.

What if you do not feel you have enough resilience in your leadership team?

Maybe you are asking how do I recruit for resilience?

How do I measure resilience in our leadership team?

Recent business insight published by McKinsey states ‘To emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis, companies should start reskilling their workforce’s now’

‘Even before the crisis, 87 percent of executives said they were experiencing skill gaps in the workforce or expected them within a few years. But less than half of respondents had a clear sense of how to address the problem.’

The report goes on to state that ‘current trends are accelerating the need to enhance skills’ and ‘adapting employees’ skills and roles to the post-pandemic ways of working will be crucial to building operating-model resilience.’

The great news is that resilience can be taught.

It can improve with interventions.

As we know how important resilience, emotional intelligence, social intelligence and motivation is to our clients and customers at this time, we are able to offer our clients a comprehensive assessment process, insight and report which will help you measure the levels of resilience, EQ, SQ and motivation in your current leadership team.

A comprehensive assessment of your leaders, which will give them the chance to demonstrate personal excellence in the workplace.

The assessment helps you recruit and develop self-aware individuals who are able to self regulate and self-manage.

An assessment, insight and comprehensive report that can be used to develop better resilience in your leadership team.

Contact us to learn more and see if this tool and process will help you recruit and or develop a more resilient, more effective, more successful leadership team.  Contact Hannah Louise Cox, 01543 231072, or Michelle Ansell, 01543 231071, both of who are accredited interpreters of these reports and who can carry out a free no obligation audit of your situation.

Douglas Jackson help customer and employee led business leaders and HR Directors substantially improve the recruitment and retention of their new hires, saving you time and money.

Source: https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2020/08/24/how-you-and-your-leaders-can-emerge-stronger-and-more-successful/

Publish Date: August 24, 2020


Returning to the office…Covid Recovery for business…

If you are like many customer led business leaders you will be considering getting at least some of your team back to the office in the coming weeks, or months.

Are you thinking about the key considerations for getting your team back to the office?

As we knew this subject was something a number of leaders were considering and asking about in our Customer Director Network, a virtual collaboration platform where Customer Service Directors, Customer Experience Directors, COO’s and CCO’s come to share and collaborate with their peers on challenges and opportunities, Executive Search Consultant Hannah Louise Cox organised a video interview with Customer Experience Director at Vanarama Dan Eddie on ‘getting your people back to the office successfully’.

Click on the image which will take you to the full video.

In this video you can see:

How Dan and his teams effectively worked towards getting back to normal following the easing of lock-down.

How their communications had to go up a level.

How to keep employee engagement high.

How to get the premises and team ready for return.

Other great tips about enhancing teams and business performance.

If you would like to know more or have any questions we can help with, where we can share advice or insight, please do get in touch with Hannah at hannah@douglas-jackson.com or Tel: 01543 231072.

Hannah Louise Cox is an Executive Search Consultant at Douglas Jackson. We help customer led leaders and HR Directors substantially improve the success and retention of your new hires.

Source: https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2020/08/04/returning-to-the-office-covid-recovery-for-business/

Publish Date: August 4, 2020


Searching For Excellence and Geisha Recruiters???

I was recently lucky enough to visit Japan, a fascinating country with a diverse, rich and unique culture, much in contrast to the West.  I was particularly drawn to the tradition and history of Japan; the Geisha, the Samurai, the wonder of the bamboo forests, the might of Mount Fuji but I was also struck by how they strive for perfection and how they master their profession and or art.

Whether it be the fact that all their trains are on time.  They have the most 3* Michelin restaurants in the world. The lack of rubbish, or that a Maiko (Geisha apprentice), will train for 5 years to achieve the status of Geiko.  During this time, they will have no access to a TV, Facebook, or any other technology.  They receive no wage.  It is hard to imagine that such young women, Maiko are typically aged between 14 and 17, volunteer for this, mainly due to a sense of honour, to preserve and maintain such traditions. This apprenticeship and service to a trade is not unique, a Sushi Chef will also generally serve as an apprentice for 5 years, working with a master itamae before they are given their first job, preparation of the sushi rice and so it continues across professions. 

So back to the western world and yes, recruitment.  Our industry gets a good deal of bad press, in some cases quite rightly. The industry attracts many individuals through promises of big bucks, working with people and looses just as many through bad management, a lack of training, unprofessional practices etc.  However, like any other profession, to become great, takes a significant amount of time and experience, indeed, if you subscribe to Malcolm Gladwells bestseller Outliers, the magic number of greatness is 10,000 hours, or 6-10 years.

It reminded me of a post from Miles Jennings ‘Why Recruiting Looks Easy’, Miles talks about a children’s book 20 heartbeats. In it, a wealthy Chinese man asks a painter for a painting of his favourite horse, years go by and still no painting.  The wealthy man eventually goes to the painter wanting his money back. The painter pulls out a piece of parchment and paints the horse in less than the time of 20 heartbeats.  The wealthy man, initially perplexed, as he had paid so much money and waited so long for a painting that took so little time, soon realised that actually the painter had been practising his art for all this time to produce, what was now, a perfect image.

Many see recruitment as simple, easy even.  The reality is few really succeed and last for any time, for those of us who do, we dedicate our working life to becoming the best we can be across our specialist area, constantly crafting our trade.

In our search for excellence, time is a wise teacher, or, to quote Fred Astaire on his dancing:

‘If it doesn’ t look easy, it is that we have not tried hard enough yet”

To become an expert takes time.

If you want to work with a good recruiter, do your research, find an expert, a specialist, someone who has learnt their craft.  Ask them when was the last time and how many times have they successfully delivered a role like yours, or helped an individual like you. A Geisha we might not be, but some of us have spent years learning our craft and take great pride in the delivery of the service we provide.

We hope we can help and work with you in the future on our continued search for excellence.

Michelle Ansell is a founding partner of Douglas Jackson, working as a management consultant within talent acquisition, Michelle has been serving customer led business and leaders to recruit and retain the best talent for over 15 years.

Source: https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2020/06/03/searching-for-excellence-and-geisha-recruiters/

Publish Date: June 3, 2020


Is Customer Experience Really Dead?

This is a subject that I have been pondering on for a long while, and it is a subject that seems to really be at the forefront now in the face of our global crisis.

There is so much talk around what ‘Customer Experience’ means exactly. What actually does make up a Customer Experience leader? Is there need for ‘Customer Experience’ leadership or should all members of a leadership team embrace the customer and therefore drive customer centric values across each and every business function? As an industry, is this something that we are doing effectively?

The current global crisis has changed ‘Customer Experience’, potentially forever. What does the customers view of the world now look like with regards to expectations from product and service providers?

I was talking to a significant industry leader just yesterday about this specifically, and it was their view that ‘Customer Experience’ will be less important to customers post COVID19. Customers may not care about a ‘wow’ factor, as we go back to basics and provide products and services that provide value for money, with a service proposition that is top class. Cost will certainly be a factor, now and in the immediate future, post COVID19. How will our industry adapt to the differing customers views of the world? How will ‘Customer Experience’ as a function change to adapt to the new world?

Customer Experience has changed so much over the last decade, becoming much more sophisticated as a function, and becoming very popular for senior leaders and businesses to advocate. Customers have been really loyal to brands who have gone the extra mile and provided that ‘wow’ factor. Will customers now demand that the ‘bells and whistles’ are dropped, in favour of providing a more cost effective and basic customer service?

Also, it is the opinion of many individuals that the words ‘Customer Experience’ seem to have become ‘buzz words’ without any real meaning. Customer Experience Practitioners are popping up all over the place, without any real background in dealing with consumers. Businesses have been hiring Customer Experience leaders for a long while that actually have no real decision making capacity. Even hiring Customer Experience roles that have zero impact on making the ‘Customer Experience’ better at all.

I see both sides of the coin and there certainly are some businesses that have super slick Customer Experience functions, that do provide real value to the customer. Customers are becoming much more aware of companies social purposes and core ethics and values. Sustainability and the environment are becoming more and more important to customers, and businesses with good Customer Experience strategies are switched on to this. Still, many businesses do not use or harness data to their full potential, providing opportunity for Customer Experience leaders to really identify what matters to a customer and then make a business’ product and proposition more attractive to the customer. 

Is Customer Experience really dead? Or is it just changing? Customer satisfaction is at its lowest since July 2015, as per The Customer Satisfaction Index, January 2020. Is this an opportunity for businesses to again differentiate against their competitors? Or is providing the most cost effective product or service going to be the most important differentiator moving forward?

Interested to hear your thoughts on this, and what the words ‘Customer Experience’ really mean to you and your organisation.

Direct Dial: 01543 231072

E-mail: hannah@douglas-jackson.com

Connect with me on Linkedin

Follow me on Twitter

Hannah-Louise Cox is a Senior Recruitment Consultant and Executive Search Consultant at Douglas Jackson specialising in recruiting executive level, senior Director and management appointments across operations, strategy, transformation, Customer Contact, Digital and Customer Experience.

Source: https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2020/05/28/is-customer-experience-really-dead/

Publish Date: May 28, 2020


The New Customer and Employee Landscape

What a few months, outside of the movies, I don’t think the majority of us could have ever planned or thought the country would be in lockdown, or in the grip of pandemic as we are.

On the whole, we have coped admirably well, everyone is trying to be upbeat, positive, kinder, more helpful, but the future is likely to look and be very different to the past, especially across the customer, employee and contact landscape.

As we look beyond lockdown and a gradual return to work, of sorts, what sort of change are we likely to see in the world of customer led organisations, customer experience, employee engagement and contact centres:

Remote working

There has been a lot of talk about the increased use of remote working during this crisis, with uplifts in morale and productivity being experienced by many.  From the conversations we are having this will certainly feature in the future of customer service and contact centres.

Challenge: It takes a different type of person to effectively work from home, uplifts and efficiencies, productivity might not be as easy to find in more ‘normal times’.  The lock down has also shown that many would not want an option to work from home on an ongoing, continuous basis, regulation, health and safety and technology will also play a significant part in our ability to develop and benefit successfully in this area.

Opportunity: Flexible working options will no doubt benefit organisations moving forwards, as well as a previously underutilised, untapped talent pool of semi-retired, or part-time workers, could now be considered for more flexible, or home working opportunities, who previously might not have been a consideration for a full-time office position.  This opens a world of opportunity when we look at attracting and developing a more inclusive and diverse workforce.

A new type of leader

Organisations will no doubt be reflecting and rethinking their current structures; is there a need for as many leaders, or indeed a different type of leader as we move past the current crisis, how can we best serve our business, customer and employees?  Do our leaders and managers have the EQ required to survive and thrive post crisis?

Challenge: Our future leaders and managers will need to have as much if not more EQ (Emotional Intelligence), as they do IQ, their ability to read others signals and react appropriately has already caught out some, almost previously untouchable characters and business, the effects of which are still to be felt.

Opportunity: Emotional Intelligence can be learned and improved in all of us, it makes us better leaders, better people, leading more motivated, likely empowered employees, who in turn, will also be influenced to be more self-aware and interested in their own self development. These changes, done well, could have a far reaching impact on our customer experience, employee engagement and be truly transformative to our organsiations.

New technology

Despite talking about digitalisation, the omni-channel, AI, automation, for some years now, the crisis has exposed many a business, their technology, tools and contingency plans.

Challenge: Has the technology developed or, been tested to the level needed? If we look at remote working for instance, a change in management for these workers includes an ability to identify when intervention is required for coaching and or guidance, can AI step in to recognise and deliver coaching and training requirements per call on a daily and ongoing basis to the levels required?

Opportunity: If we can obtain a balance of remote recruitment, onboarding, training and self-development with a mix of automation, digital, AI and human interactions, it opens up a world of opportunity, with a more empowered workforce, needing less performance management, less management, offering more efficiencies, productivity and an improved CX or, service proposition.

Protection of our vulnerable employees

Beyond lockdown, those considered more vulnerable to the virus will need more protection in the workforce.  How can we as employers ensure a safe and working environment for all.

Challenge: Existing working contracts and structures, process, technology and automation, much of which has been swiftly mobilised in a short period of time will need improvements and large-scale transformation for the future, with teams all of a sudden split between office and home, flexible working, how will we continue to manage and engage this changing workforce?

Opportunity: Rotational shift patterns and more flexible working patterns, offer us an  opportunity to reduce the size of offices some of us currently need, a better work life balance, adaptable workforce and a rethink of the scope and use of technology beyond our usual thinking, with significant shifts in the development and opportunities available to our employees.

Lots to think about….

What do you think about each of the above, or do you have another idea or opportunity for the new customer and contact landscape?  Please do comment or get in touch with your thoughts.

Source: https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2020/05/04/the-new-customer-and-employee-landscape/

Publish Date: May 4, 2020


Accelerated Digital Transformations

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve had some interesting conversations with senior leaders particularly those operating in the digital transformation space.

A number of conversations have gravitated to the lack of ‘red tape’ during the latest digital transformation projects aimed to get teams working effectively but remotely.

A number of businesses have seen large scale transformation projects, expected to take months or years, accelerated to happen almost over night. The need for an increase in urgency when taking business from a BAU busy contact centre, to throwing all efforts (particularly from the IT teams) into directing a large volume of team members to work from home.

The most popular discussion piece, across business - both large and small has been the realisation that when business continuity relies on it, projects that would typically take 6 months of planning, sign off and preparation have all been conducted in less than two weeks, with two extreme cases that I’ve encountered taking just 48 hours.

What’s amazing, is that the transformation is truly adding value and keeping businesses contactable and compliant with the current nationwide lockdown restrictions.

Something that I have challenged the key stakeholders with that I have spoken to, is whether this sudden implementation of remote contact centres teams gives a true representation of what we can achieve post-crisis?

From my discussions, here are some key take-aways from this situation that I believe could improve “working life after COVID-19”:

  • Diversity and Inclusion - Could we open up the options for a diverse working culture i.e. people that are unable to travel to attend a regular place of work, perhaps due to a condition or, disability as they could operate functionally from the comfort of their own home?
  • The meeting that could have been a phone call - Could we replace meetings and travel expenses and key stakeholders time by holding meetings remotely to decrease downtime within a busy working environment?
  • Flexible working to control peak times out of core contact centre hours - The RAC are one example of a business that utilise home working agents to pick up additional call and digital contact out of hours by logging on remotely - is this something that could span new market sectors?
  • Decreasing dependent absence leave - Could we empower with the opportunity to work from home when dependants are ill? Typically, in this situation, businesses see their stakeholders required to take a leave of absence from work to cover this time - accounting for around 5% of absences within the corporate world.
  • Empowering key stakeholders to make decisions - This could alleviate the need to request permission to advance transformation projects, and for individuals to be accountable for project budgets and to make informed decisions to decrease project guidelines.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts. What impact do you believe COVID-19 will leave on the workforce within the contact centre space?

Holly Beeston is a Executive Search and Recruitment Consultant at Douglas Jackson.  Holly specialises in the Utilities, Telecomms and Technology – SAAS vertical markets. Contact Holly on holly@douglas-jackson.com  Tel: 01543 231074

Source: https://douglasjacksonrecruitment.wordpress.com/2020/04/06/accelerated-digital-transformations/

Publish Date: April 6, 2020

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