We specialise in supporting the Boards and senior management of growing businesses to keep pace with their ambitions and in supporting the development of their brands.

Summary

St Pancras International’s Customer Service Programme is a visible expression of the new ‘Destination Brand’.

A joint team of external consultants and internal staff recruited, inducted, trained 130 staff including 64 existing staff within 5 months.

• Staff moved seamlessly from building site to full operation within weeks

• Station users receive proactive customer service support with ‘meet and help’ airline style service

• Skills of new and existing staff were cross stitched in a skillshare programme of courses and buddying arrangements

• Innovative methodologies have been captured in detailed user guides and mobile learning tools Mobile Learning so the process can be sustained.

Why was this intervention required?

London and Continental Railways (builders of UK’s first high speed line) undertook the £800 million restoration and extension of St Pancras International and new terminal for Eurostar. LCSP aimed to define a 21^st Century railway experience. A unique retail mix with new levels of customer service, combine in this magnificent setting to make St Pancras International ‘the place to meet in London.’

LCR undertook unprecedented levels of research to define the destination brand visiting places like Amsterdam's Schipol airport and Grand Central Station, New York. 44 million people will pass through the station every year, the station has 82,000 square feet of prestigious retail and hospitality space including the longest Champagne bar in Europe, shops such as Hamleys and Foyles and opening in 2008 a farmers’ market and fine dining brasserie.

The challenge was to select and train 130+ customer service officers in under 5 months to deliver this promise and work the 21^st century communication infrastructure. This included assessing and training existing staff (the Security Officers for the building site).

Learning needs analysis

The role was developed from extensive global and local research for the brand values, staff competencies and attitudes. This ‘destination brand’ was modelled partly on Amsterdam's Schipol airport and Grand Central Station NY, research revealed that customers are more likely to shop (3 times more in the case of GCS) if they can find their way around quickly.

Specific research found that the ‘wayfinding’, approachability and product knowledge of CSO’s was an essential component for retail success and customer satisfaction. The concept of a ‘destination brand’ required a competency framework for the selection and training of staff.

Destination brand values were embedded in a competency framework.

These included important safety and security responsibilities for working in a high risk location; security competencies were researched with staff on duty during the July 7 bombings.

Other competencies included tourist guiding; acting as a source of knowledge about the LCR stations’ history and redevelopment and advising on London sights

A bespoke attitude profile was developed to assess the initiative, stamina, enthusiasm and adaptability required for shift working, security, dealing with crowds and providing personal service.

Competencies were benchmarked against leading service providers to attract suitable applicants.

This framework and attitude profile underpinned the recruitment, assessment and training process for new and existing staff.

Implementation of the programme

The Customer Service Officer [CSO] role needed to

1. Deliver exceptional service to demanding Euro travellers and regular commuters, greeting people on arrival, providing directions, offering specialised support to disabled and advising (on anything from travel plans, station architecture, London landmarks to retail advice for the 70+ outlets) whilst also dealing with personal emergencies and offering support to contractors and suppliers.

2. Work a 3 shift system in a multi-functional team to ensure the safety and security of large groups in this complex high profile.

3. Be technically proficient and responsive in operational situations and work with complex IT in the Station Control Room and via PDA devices.

Identifying candidates to deliver these competencies required careful design.

Screening prospects - In May a branded website advertised in newspapers, station posters and recruitment agencies attracted 1570 prospects that were automatically screened for eligibility; 600 were invited to apply online.

Actors, skilled at assessing verbal nuance and style and trained as telephone interviewers recommended 400 for the

Assessment process

Half day Interview Forums held at the prestigious Emirates Stadium showcased the brands up beat intentions. External assessors ensured right selection whilst internal assessors supported candidates to ensure accepting the job was an informed choice.

Each competence was assessed 3 ways during 4 activities.

1. Group Forum Theatre event facilitated by actors tested group working and individual responses to customer demands.

2. Individual criteria based interview conducted by external assessors

3. Visual observation of hazards and mitigating actions

4. Verbal story and written incident report.

Appropriate assessment was assured by, individual marking, assessor debrief/decisions, management verification - resulting in 130 recommendations; ensuring the right people were selected not just the best people.

Development Centres were held for existing staff. These comprised identical activities plus computer simulation assessing competence for Station Control Room duties. Security staff received personal feedback and development plans from an external assessor.

A Group Development Plan enabled LCR to select future supervisors and target training needs.

Induction- New CSOs were assimilated in cohorts. Each Monday a dozen new intakes commenced their assimilation period to meet the senior team, share the vision and engage in orientation customer facing activity.

Fast track job induction put CSOs in customer shoes, taking journeys, testing disabled access and facilities. Each worked with a buddy drawn from earlier intakes to integrate cohorts fast.

Existing and new staff completed 10 training modules provided by external consultants covering the range of job competencies, outcomes have been:

• existing staff assimilating new service behaviours and absorbing best practice from experience of the new recruits and acquiring buddying and coaching skills to ensure reinforcement of technical and safety aspects. The mobile learning tools accessed via PDA’s will offer continuing support in the application of new learning.

• new staff disseminating their experience of leading edge service skills into the team with several people moving quickly into Team Leader positions.

The results

Assessment and evaluation of Interview Forums (new staff)

Web enabled candidate evaluation facilitated appropriate skill/attribute mix, for example

• a more diverse workforce appropriate to deliver leading edge service; existing staff being predominantly male

• minimising transport disruptions affecting duty rostas, staff chosen from different areas but within a suitable radius.

Interview Forum Outcomes

Excellent staff retention – 10.8% turnover compared to an 18.1% national rate; as most new staff come from retail/leisure sectors with average turnover of 22.6% this is pleasing.

Sustaining the methodology- Trained internal assessors work from a detailed user guide (with actor sessions recorded on DVD) enabling the organisation to continue with Interview Forums at marginal cost.

Assessment and evaluation of Development Centres (existing staff)

The competency framework and individual feedback received following Development Centres supports:

• Targeted PDP’s and Station Development Plans

• Hidden talents for example, a particularly high scorer was a maintenance worker (now undertaking a professional qualification)

• Work based learning tools for new staff using feedback from existing staff.

Identified needs were:

1. Specific re-training. This was identified by job type and location, for example:

• Stations differed - staff from one station received the highest scores on ‘individual customer focus,’ ‘observation’ ‘brand and image’ and ‘auditory salience’, whilst another received highest scores on ‘visual acuity’, problem solving’, ‘prioritising and decision making’ and ‘written communication.’

2. As a result of development centres -4 mentors, 9 effective role models, 11 talented coaches, 5 work based trainers and 9 useful buddies were identified (and subsequently supported with development).

Evaluation of training outcomes

All staff complete a written training evaluation at the end of each course, findings have been:

• New staff identified where training overlapped with training previously received

• The importance of focussing on personal development and team building for these new mixed teams

• The value of work based support in the application of the learning; buddying and mobile learning tools have offered real applied help to new staff who can find themselves facing urgent and demanding situations.

Ensuing consultancy support

Echelon have used feedback offered from staff during Development Centre ‘debriefs’ to develop a suite of 12 mobile learning tools accessible from PDA’s. These support new staff to apply newly acquired knowledge, for example tips on ‘How to control a crowd’ and support existing staff to try out new skills at work for example, ‘How to coach in a hurry’.

Customer comment

Customers comment positively on staff helpfulness and caring; IPSOS Mori will report on quantitative findings in Spring 2008 but current qualitative comment focuses on staff going out of their way to help customers.

Examples

‘I asked her (one of our CSO’s) to help and she was on her break but still help me to check my tickets, brought me a trolley and took me to my train’.

‘We both wanted to write to you to praise this service and in particular the patience, kindness and generosity of the staff who take part.  Staff play a key part in this (station experience) and those involved are a credit to the organisation.’