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Council launches customer service training programme

Cambridgeshire County Council has launched a new programme that aims to encourage council employees to work as one customer-focused organisation.

Going under the banner of ‘Inspire!’, the programme is the second stage of the organisational development work that began last year with the Institute of Employment Studies’ review of existing culture within council offices. The study highlighted the issues that employees felt were barriers to efficiency, good customer service and job satisfaction - and revealed that many employees were keen to get involved in bringing down these barriers.

Project manager Anne Gee said: "Inspire! is the name of the campaign that explains how our new development programme is going to help employees deliver great customer service. A programme of workshops and activities for all staff that will help us all become better at delivering excellent service to our colleagues and the public."

The council selected training provider Masterclass to help design and deliver the series of workshops. The two organisations felt the training should start at the top and so, last month, the first to undergo a development workshop were Cambridgeshire County Council’s chief executive Ian Stewart and three deputy chief executives. The course included a 360-degree feedback from their direct reports and under the tutelage of Masterclass’s Isobel Rimmer each went on to create an individual development plan.

"We have been asked to run another 24-hour workshop for the corporate leadership team which takes place this month," said Rimmer. "Its aim is to define the personal and group strengths of the council members."

Heads of Service and senior managers, who heard about Inspire! at the most recent senior managers network event, will take part in one of seven workshops Masterclass have put together over the next two months. All managers will be given 360-degree assessments by their teams. In the next 12 to 18 months, Masterclass have been briefed to run a further series of events for Cambridgeshire County Council employees.

Ian Stewart said that the new programme was designed to shift attitudes. "Talk about changing our culture is just another way of saying that we need to change our attitudes to getting things done. The only way we can change attitudes and worn out practices across the council is to involve every single employee in the process. That’s why everyone will be involved in a workshop of some kind over the next year or so.

"Changing attitudes and bringing fresh thinking to the way we support and carry out our services is the single most important thing we can do to deliver better customer service across the board. We need to change as individuals, but we also have to change as teams. Working collaboratively across teams, departments and offices needs to become second nature."

One of the key messages that Inspire! aims to deliver is how everyone can take ownership and have accountability for their day-to-day work. Managers will be encouraged to manage their teams through influence rather than control, and teams should be involved in effective service planning and share ownership for their service’s aims, through linking their personal objectives to the organisation’s objectives.

"Over the next few months we’re going to be working with managers to help them learn to delegate effectively,” said Anne Gee. "We’ll also help them to develop a very clear framework, so that their employees know exactly what boundaries they are working within and can then operate with more confidence and independence."

Ian Stewart believes that there had never been a better time to move the organisation forward and eliminate the attitudes and behaviours that stand in the way of delivering excellent service.

"There’s great talent and ability among our employees; we have to put all of that to good use and let the people who know their jobs inside out have more influence over our operational activities," said Stewart. "My vision is to let our employees fly; the rewards will be greater personal satisfaction with our jobs, delighted customers and an excellent organisation that goes from strength to strength."

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