So a year on how would you describe how the pandemic has affected your company and how you work? If you can add some notes about your business to help readers understand what your center and/or company does, please add them here.
Covid-19 opened many opportunities for our contact centre. We currently provide services to Singapore Government which led to requests to support Government on their Covid-19 support strategy. The initial request was met with an overnight commencement of 'Stay at Home Notice' support where we managed inbound/outbound queries. This was initially planned as a 6 month project which grew to over 150 FTE over' 9 months. Our delivery success also led to further new projects to support queries on 'Covid Relief Grant' and Safe Travel Office'.
If you operate a contact center how would you describe it today? 100% work from home? work in a socially distanced center ? hybrid? share some details
We have implemented various solutions from 100% working from home to 50% Office, 50% Home and 50% site 1 and 50% site 2
When the pandemic hit and if you had to adapt, what went well or better than expected in the change of the way you work??
We were able to meet all Government work & movement restrictions with no impact to Customer business operations. This was due to frequent review and testing of our DR/BCP plans. Our major challenge has been touch point to our staff. Team A or Team B have not met face to face at the workplace or outside workplace since April 2020. This has led to use of Skype, Zoom and Microsoft Teams as major means of agent contact and management.
Since the start of the pandemic has call, email, chat traffic increased, decreased or stayed the same? AND, how? share some details on what you have noticed
Depending on nature of business we have seen increase, decrease during certain periods and others which stayed same volume. Decrease was seen in our logistics support operations when strong lockdown went into affect in Asia Pacific countries such as India
Before the virus hit, did you have an emergency plan should something like this happen? and if so, did your plans work as expected?
Yes we have strong tried and tested DR/BCP plans in place. Everything worked as expected.
In the early days of the pandemic there were lots of ideas how to keep staff now working from motivated - what activities / things did you do that worked well?
This was our biggest challenge and constant on-line meetings were held to ensure we listened and acted on agent concerns.
If you could go back in time and could plan for a pandemic, what would you do differently and why?
We would not change anything
How often do you meet with your team / colleagues and how ? zoom? skype other ? and also how well does this work for everyone?
We meet every day using Skype, Zoom and Microsoft Teams. The concept works well but initially company bandwidth and security policies raised issues which were quickly addressed
Have you found colleagues are working harder, about the same as before or maybe a little less and why do you think that? please explain
I believe due to the agent isolation when working from home they have worked harder
Longer term do you think you may continue working like you do today or do you think you will get back to like it was before the pandemic hit us all?
We plan to revert back to pre pandemic
How do you now train staff? how is this method working?
Staff training has been a major challenge as 1 week in office, 1 week at home using online meeting tools or trainer frequently accessing different sites to conduct training when previously training was conducted at head office. Social restrictions have also limited any large number training sessions.
If you had to recruit new staff, how has this worked for you? Is it easier / harder? please explain
We have found hiring easier due to high number of local people who were made redundant. We also hired staff who were currently furloughed ie Airline staff for short contract periods
What have you noticed in terms of staff turnover since the pandemic? any changes? and why do you think there has been a change (if any)
No change
Do you think your company is now better prepared to deal with a crisis like this or any other crisis (flood, fire, earthquake, hurricane etc) if it happens in the future and if so why?
We have demonstrated we were well prepared and DHL as a company has very strong plans in place for crisis
Do you think the company you work for appreciates staff more and shows appreciation more now because of the pandemic or does it feel like you get the same or maybe even less appreciation?
Yes. Our organization has rewarded staff financially with special payments as a thank you. The organization also listened to the agent and updated plans based on these requests
If you manage a team - how have you coped with the change ?
More frequent online meetings
If you are part of a team that worked closely together face to face how do you feel now working in a different way? maybe more remotely?
No change
If you are a manager how do you help your team if they are struggling with personal issues at home or anxiety about the future?
Listen and make change if possible
Many people were concerned about security of information with remote agents - how have you handled this in your business so its not an issue?
Our agents all work from hone thru secure VPN which protected information
Lastly, any other comments or opinions you can share about the effects of this pandemic on your business or the people working in your company?
For my business the pandemic opened more opportunity to increase revenues and help build and sustain our reputation
About DHL Express (S) Pte Ltd:
DHL is the global market leader in the logistics industry. DHL commits its expertise in international parcel, express, air and ocean freight, road and rail transportation, contract logistics and international mail services to its customers.
Published: Tuesday, May 18, 2021
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