Excellence
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EmailCentral Homeless Team focus on Training
After one of their BEST workshops the Central Homeless Team, based in Housing and Constituencies, BEST Leader Khushpinder Bhullar decided as a team they wanted to focus one of their actions on improving the customer service that they deliver.
The team looked at training and used the core value of Excellence as a stepping-stone for this improvement. They were concerned with the quality and volume of phone calls the team received and wanted to make sure that all customers received a consistent level of advice and support.
The Housing Training Team were called in and after some onsite visits and mystery shopping exercises, the key areas for improvement were identified and a tailor made training course was designed.
The course was also rolled out to the Temporary Accommodation Team and front-line staff based at the Small Heath branch who deal with customers face to face.
Some of the aims of the course are outlined below:
- Realising the impact your voice can have on your customer relationships
- Identifying the types of difficult caller you may have to deal with
- Applying practical solutions for dealing with difficult customers
- Identifying the right question to ask in order to gain the information that you need to help your caller most effectively
Several training sessions were arranged starting in January 2008 to maximise the amount of staff able to attend.
The outcomes of this training have been that customers have seen vast improvements in the quality of their service and staff have found the training useful and effective.
May ‘Living It’ Award Winners
Congratulations to the BEST “Living It” Award Leader of the Month - Hayley Keeble a Care Worker from Adults & Communities, she was nominated by her manager John Wilkins for her commitment to BEST which enhanced the team working ethos and has provided an environment that all staff and service users comment on being warm and welcoming. Hayley has developed herself personally through the process of being a BEST Leader and has managed to keep the team focused on the outcomes for service as well as developing the staff group.
May was a successful month for Managers as it saw both Kevin Duffy a District Librarian from Housing and Constituencies and Simon Cooper, the Constituency Parks Manager from Development and Culture nominated by their teams to become joint winners of May’s BEST “Living It” Manager of the Month Award.
Kevin was nominated by his team because they felt that when the going gets tough he is always behind his team to make sure they get the best support available. His team admire his innovative ideas and passion in leading the Library Service forward.
Simon’s team felt that he is a ‘can do’ manager always ready to find solutions not problems and is always positive and helpful. The team also felt that his calm and confident manner inspired confidence in others.
The Team monthly “Living It” Award went to Erdington Home Care Team from Adults & Communities who were nominated by their manager, Caroline Rhoden. Caroline said: “My team of care assistants are the best in Birmingham; they are dedicated, co-operative and very supportive to each other”. She was especially proud that her team are always willing to take on board any training opportunities that will enable them to become more effective in their role as carers . She believes they understand the importance of working in partnership to ensure that the needs of service users are met at all levels, and the need to offer rights and choices to all the service users that they visit. The team often go the extra mile to ensure that the service users are happy.
Congratulations to all of Mays winners for truly demonstrating the value of excellence!
