New Charters Connections WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015 Pick up your FREE copy now www.newcharter.co.uk Great Homes, Great Neighbourhood, Great People Awards Edition Chris Bennett @NewCharterGroup J ulie Heywood, call centre manager for New Charter’s Connect has made a big impact since her appointment in February 2014. As a highly successful, very experienced cus- Call centre manager makes big waves in first year in post Julie’s Key Acheivements •Awarded 'significantly high' performance within first year of employment at New Charter •Improved Connect staff satisfaction -100% feel Con- nect is great place to work and 87% of team fairly or very happy with their job •Completed Insights Discov- ery Accreditation training on behalf of New Charter to complete profiling and 360 feedback reports tomer services and com- munity involvement man- ager, Julie has brought some big ideas to the team. From her back- ground in training and de- velopment as well as performance manage- ment, Julie has trans- formed the team, aligning them to fit better with the business need which has ultimately led to a higher call rate. Holding various contact centre roles in well- known companies such as Morrisons, the NHS and Bolton Council, Julie brought a wealth of expe- rience and knowledge to New Charter, encourag- ing them to broaden their scope and take on new services. Julie has proven to be a valuable asset to the team and the organisa- tion in the short time she has been in position. SEE PAGE 3 Connect Centre Manager adds more strings to her bow SEE PAGE 4 Connect: Call Centre Staff Special - Life in Pictures
Transcript
New Charters
ConnectionsWEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015Pick up your FREE copy now www.newcharter.co.uk
Great Homes, Great Neighbourhood, Great People
Awards Edition
Chris Bennett@NewCharterGroup
Julie Heywood, callcentre manager for
New Charter’s Connecthas made a big impactsince her appointment inFebruary 2014. As a highly successful,very experienced cus-
Call centre manager makes bigwaves in first year in post
Julie’s KeyAcheivements
•Awarded 'significantly high'performance within first yearof employment at New Charter
•Improved Connect staff satisfaction -100% feel Con-nect is great place to workand 87% of team fairly or veryhappy with their job
•Completed Insights Discov-ery Accreditation training onbehalf of New Charter tocomplete profiling and 360feedback reports
tomer services and com-munity involvement man-ager, Julie has broughtsome big ideas to theteam. From her back-ground in training and de-velopment as well asperformance manage-ment, Julie has trans-formed the team, aligning
them to fit better with thebusiness need which hasultimately led to a highercall rate. Holding various contactcentre roles in well-known companies suchas Morrisons, the NHSand Bolton Council, Juliebrought a wealth of expe-
rience and knowledge toNew Charter, encourag-ing them to broaden theirscope and take on newservices. Julie has proven to be avaluable asset to theteam and the organisa-tion in the short time shehas been in position.
SEE PAGE 3
Connect Centre Manager adds morestrings to her bow
SEE PAGE 4
Connect: Call CentreStaff Special - Life in
Pictures
Great Homes, Great Neighbourhood, Great People
@NewCharterGroup
New Charter’s callcentre, Connect has
seen a significant in-crease in performancefigures over the pasttwelve months, which hasultimately lead to bettercustomer service offered. This increase is due inpart to changes in the set-up of the team which isnow better aligned toNew Charter’s businessneeds to fit with the typesof calls received. This hasseen the call rate in-crease by 21.5% over thepast 12 months.
Call centre figures speak volumeswhen it comes to performance
Chris Bennett The team have alsobeen working on thecall answer rate and iscurrently performingabove their target of93%, with further im-provements coming byincreasing availabilitywithin the team by10%. Julie Heywood, centremanager has been thedriving force behindthese changes, confirm-ing her commitment toperformance. Her re-sults driven workingethos has come to thefore and the results areproof of the pudding.
Pictured: Julie Heywood
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Great Homes, Great Neighbourhood, Great People
@NewCharterGroup
Knowing there is alwaysroom for improvement;
Julie Heywood is more thana contact centre manager.Always striving for personaldevelopment, Julie goesabove and beyond her roleboth inside and outside theorganisation. Having completed an Insights Discovery course,Julie is now a fully qualifiedinsights discovery clientpractitioner meaning sheshares key message tocreate a real change withthe workforce through teamsessions and 1-2-1s. More recently, Julie alsobecame a community governor at St James HurstKnoll primary school inAshton-under-Lyne, allow-ing her to get into the heartof the communities sheprovides services to. This in
Connect Centre Manager addsmore strings to her bow
Tanya Edwards
turn has given her great insights to bring back to theteam to provide better customer service. When it comes to helpingcustomers, Julie knows noboundaries. Julie supported
New Charter’s EuropeanSocial Fund programme byoffering these customerswork experience place-ments. By doing this Julieprovided the first step toallow these customers to
get into the job market;something which they mayhave been struggling with. This experience is invalu-able to them as it increasestheir chances of gainingsustainable employment.
Pictured: Team Leader John O’Neill with customers
Staff are shining stars in New Charter’s contact centre
Understanding the needfor personal and pro-
fessional growth is one ofJulie Heywood’s strongpoints and this is no excep-tion when it comes to herteam. It starts at the recruitmentstage, where Julie has de-vised a centre dedicated tofinding the right teammembers that de-mon-
strate a thirst for excep-tional customer service.The four stage recruitmentassessment centre alsoprovides an opportunity forteam leaders to step up tothe plate and develop theirown skills in areas such asteam work, leadership, re-flection and compromise. And the developmentdoesn’t stop there. Julie is
committed to allowing herteam to flourish. Numerousmembers have gainedprofessional qualificationssuch as NVQs; somethingwhich Julie has actively en-couraged. Julie has also fully sup-ported the talent manage-ment of her team leaderswho are the next aspiringmanagers.
He comments, ‘Julie is very honestin her feedback andas a consequence Ihave been selected
for the Group’s Talent ManagementProgramme. Julie
always supports anytime out requiredand has ensured I
receive any supportthat is needed.
Great Homes, Great Neighbourhood, Great People
@NewCharterGroup
Call centre rates soar for internalsatisfaction rates
Paula Thomas
Connect, New Charter’sin-house call centre
has proved to be a huge hitamongst internal cus-tomers, according to a re-cent satisfaction survey. Over 73% of the internalcustomers rated Connectas ‘Excellent’ or ‘VeryGood’ in the first of its kind
survey to take place acrossthe New Charter Group. The aim of the surveywas to gain valuablefeedback in order to fur-ther improve servicesand raise the profile of theConnect team amongstthe wider business,showing how the teamare at the centre of the or-ganisation. Julie Heywood, Connect
Centre Manager was thebrains behind the survey andwanted to delve into how theorganisation viewed herteam in order to make valu-able changes.Julie wasaware there was room for improvement so felt that byconducting a survey shecould get to the heart of whatwas needed from a businessperspective. Feedback from the sur-
vey has been extremelypositive including com-ments such as, ‘All staff inConnect are positive andare always seeking to im-prove the services theyprovide’ and ‘Superb headof service who is preparedto see the bigger picture ofthe organisation and hasmade vast improvementsin working relationshipssince joining.’
On the phones
Picture Above: Staff having fun on a team day
Above: Julie Heywood (left) takes part in team selfie on fun day
Here’s a brief look at whatlife is like for Julie Hey-wood and her team in theConnect Call Centre.
Julie always makes sureshe joins in the fun withher team, being a veryhands-on manager.
Connect: Call Centre Staff Special - Life in Pictures
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@NewCharterGroup
It’s all about building new ‘Connect’-tions
Emma Birchall
The Connect team atNew Charter recently
integrated a number ofnew services, raising theprofile of the team todemonstrate how instru-mental they are in provid-ing valuable services. As well as being the firstpoint of contact for cus-tomers,Connect are nowwell equippedfor collect-ing revenue payments,as well as offering guid-ance and advice to cus-tomers. More recently the teamhave also become themain point of contact forGedling, a housing asso-ciation based in Notting-ham, and Threshold, a
housing advice and sup-port charity. Both of thesenow form part of the NewCharter Group. These transitions have
taken place whilst Juliehas headed up the team,with both proving to be ahuge success. Julie hasplayed a pivotal role along
with her team leaders tomake sure the move hasbeen as smooth as possi-ble for both customersand team members.
@NewCharterGroup
Connect team members pay tribute to their inspirational
leader through poetryKelly Whittam
Proving she’s a cutabove the rest, Julie
Heywood, Connect Cen-tre Manager has sparkedcreativity in her teamthrough her leadershipstyle, so much so theyhave put pen to paperand written her a poem.
The poem brings to lifeJulie’s infectious person-ality and drive to offer thebest customer servicepossible. It clearlydemonstrates how wellJulie is thought of by herteam as well as showingjust how ambitious Julieis. When asked to com-ment, Jean Phillips, Con-
nect Advisor said ‘Julie isapproachable and support-ive to all her team mem-bers. She has a greatsense of fun and encour-ages us to celebrate spe-cial occasions such asbirthdays and occasionalthemed days, which are awelcome relief from thedaily routine. We had ateam day to London for all
of Connect, which Julieorganised along with theTeam Leaders. Recentlyshe attended our teammeeting for a discussionwhere we were invited tooffer our opinions of anychanges to the depart-ment, which shows shewill be including ourthoughts & ideas in futureplans.’
Pictured above: Julie Heywood
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Inspirational leader poemHere is a copy of the full poem:
Julie arrived over a year agoWith many strings to her bow
Coaching, leading, a driving forceShe saw our vision on a different course
Quality, results, stats and staffingPerformance is key but we are still laughing
She strikes a balance between performance and funKPI’s have improved by a tonne
Julie’s got it all in handFrom Team Leaders to the awards stand
Behind the scenes with the IT TeamShe’s made calls function like a dream
She talks, she listens, supports and caresApprentices, Directors, her knowledge she shares
A mentor, a friend, with an open doorA GREAT person, we all adore
Julie works within the rulesProtecting the Business and giving us tools
From data protection and compliance“Be customer focused, it’s not a science”
Julie wanted to raise the barHer vision: recruits to jump this farAn assessment centre she devisedSuccess of which, was no surprise.
Culture changing, all down to her,Themed days, sing a longs, she does not deter
Always positive, fair and funOur Connect journey has just begun
The reason for this nominationIs to free us all from our frustration
For details, facts and things to knowJust ask Julie and watch her glow
@NewCharterGroup
Engagement drivesimprovements at
New CharterKaty Davison
The call centre at NewCharter housing asso-
ciation is a hub of activityfull of laughter. It is a centrewhere performance is keybut doesn’t lose sight of thefact that working is also fun. This is at the heart of thecall centre, being driven tothe fore by manager JulieHeywood. Julie under-stands that employee en-gagement is pivotal tohaving a happy workforce.Where ever possible, Julieencourages staff to comeup with ideas to better im-prove the team and makessure these ideas are seenthrough to fruition. Be-cause of this her staff be-lieve in her and look up toher position. Giving people responsi-bility when they show
potential is something Julieactively encourages. Re-cently, the introduction ofchampion roles has giventeam members the oppor-tunity to specialise and diversify in their roles. When it comes to tar-gets, Julie knows thatthese must be realistic inorder to keep the teamon-board and achievingtheir KPIs. After discus-sion and coaching ses-sions staff were setindividual objectives toimprove their call avail-ability on the telephones.All staff were set a targetto improve by 10%. Threemonths in overall staffhave already improvedtheir Unavailability Ratesfrom 50.98% (October –December 2014) to40.86% (April – June2015) = 10.12% improve-ment.
