Service Desk Excellence White Paper October 2013With special
thanks to the individuals from the organisations below that took
the time to contribute and share their ideas.@cranfordsol0113 251
2208 [email protected]
OFFICE: Building 3, City West One, Offce Park, Gelderd Road, Leeds,
West Yorkshire LS12 6LXLONDON OFFICE: Building 3 Chiswick Park, 566
Chiswick High RoadChiswick, London W4 5YAIntroductionService Desks
are the face of the IT department. No longer providing simple
technical support, they now offer an array of services to the
customer, managing expectations and meeting their every need.About
Our SurveyThe questions asked by Cranford Solutions were aimed to
identify what makes an effective and excellent Service Desk and the
challenges they face each day.They were targeted at both private
and public sector, with an aim of focusing on the Leadership,
People and Culture side of Service Desks. We particularly
targeted:Individuality & UniquenessMotivation &
RewardAppraisal & Staff SatisfactionDevelopment and
ProgressionCulture & EnvironmentCommunication & Customer
Satisfaction Although the questionnaire covered many points towards
what make an excellent Service Desk, there was a great deal of
information fed back regarding the team of great people who make up
the Service Desk and provide the outstanding levels of support for
their customers.As this was a key point across all the responses,
this frst White Paper on Service Desk Excellence will mainly focus
on the people and the team.A later paper will be developed to
discuss environment, the way the Service Desk is promoted and how
you communicate with your customers about the excellent service you
provide.@cranfordsol0113 251 2208
[email protected] OFFICE:
Building 3, City West One, Offce Park, Gelderd Road, Leeds, West
Yorkshire LS12 6LXLONDON OFFICE: Building 3 Chiswick Park, 566
Chiswick High RoadChiswick, London W4 5YAShown throughout the
results of the Cranford Solutions questionnaire, the people are the
most important aspect of delivering a great customer experience.
More than ever now, Service Desk Managers are recruiting front line
analysts who have those key personal skills, the ability to go the
extra mile to ensure that the immediate support provided to the
customer is natural and an instinctive element of what they
deliver.When we recruit people we are looking for more than
technical competence. We are looking for those people who can wow
Robin Goldsbro, DLA Piper.Response to our survey showed that
Managers look for people with a desire to learn, to help solve
problems and to share their knowledge for the better of the Service
Desk, the customers and the organisation as a whole. Knowing more
than just about technology the people on the desk need to know
about the organisation they are working for and the people they are
supporting so they can be reactive to differing needs and
circumstances.Having Business knowledge & in-house systems
knowledge Russell Noblett, O2 Telefonica, is essential to creating
a successful Service Desk.We work hard to ensure the team
understand how the end user feels when they ring the Service Desk,
this way we are able to provide a professional but personal service
to our user base Karen Taylor, Cheshire Shared ServicesMatrices are
no longer based simply on number and time of calls but on customer
satisfaction.This data can be gathered in a number of ways
including User Groups and meetings, forums, communication with the
business on a formal or ad-hoc basis, satisfaction surveys,
praise/complaint processes, service reviews with managers and very
often a gut feel!Our vision is to provide exceptional customer
service as well as the technical frst line resolutions Sally
Comley, ArqivaThe Service Desk is the hub of all IT support for the
customer and an ability to communicate well with the customer is
crucial to not only be an effective analyst, but it is what the
customer is going to judge the professionalism of the whole
department on. I am never satisfed with where we are, always
looking for opportunities for improvements Louise Upton, Triumph
Motorcycles Ltd. And this can only be achieved by having the right,
supportive team in place.Having supportive management and
colleagues helps with creating an atmosphere on the desk that
allows individuals to develop and gives confdence when dealing with
more diffcult customers.Making analysts feel empowered and believe
they are doing the right thing will create a good atmosphere in the
offce.Thinking pointsWhen was the last time you reviewed your
recruitment criteria? Are you looking for the skills that align to
your customer expectations?@cranfordsol0113 251 2208
[email protected] PeopleNo
longer is recruitment of a Service Desk Analyst all about their
technical abilities, everyone is expecting much, much more.LEEDS
OFFICE: Building 3, City West One, Offce Park, Gelderd Road, Leeds,
West Yorkshire LS12 6LXLONDON OFFICE: Building 3 Chiswick Park, 566
Chiswick High RoadChiswick, London W4 5YAMotivation & RewardSo
you have recruited the right person for the role, how are you going
to keep them? Much of what keeps a person motivated each day comes
from their own drive and personality and with the right leadership
and encouragement will continue to strive forward delivering their
best. Motivation is intrinsic to the individual & ultimately
people are self motivated Jason Lloyd, iSAMS. But, that said, we
all need something to keep us going and it appears that the little
things matter. Keep communicating with the team; everyone needs to
understand what is valuable to the business right now, what the
priorities are and what activities are best to expend effort
on.Getting people to buy into a clearly articulated, shared vision
of where we want to get to as a team and mapping out a path of how
we are going to get there of course rousing speeches, dazzling them
with my charisma, occasional trips to the pub and generally leading
by example all help too said Dean Archer, Zodiak Media Doing
positive work & being able to understand and see the positive
effect of that work on others is extremely satisfying and is highly
motivationalMatt Turner, Network RailIt appears that it is
extremely important to set goals, both personal and departmental
and keep communications open.It is often the bigger company picture
that needs regular communication as desks are usually in a constant
state of change but can be unaware of changes happening within the
business. People generally respond better when fully in the know so
keep priorities clear and goals simple.Involve staff in the
projects and larger tasks being implemented to provide a break from
the monotony at timesPaul Brockbank, Elior UK. The ability to
engage with customers is paramount and initiatives allowing service
desk personnel to work on projects off the desk increases
knowledge.In addition it helps to develop skills in dealing with
customers more effectively as some users are highly IT literate and
some require more handholding.It helps to create a more
business-aligned service and provides education to the user
community. Encourage innovation and look to the team for ideas on
improvements and effciency. We provide meaningful work in an
engaging environment Robin Goldsbro, DLA PiperGoodness me, if all
the ideas came from me, Id be a quivering ball of stress!Matt
Turner, Network RailYou have a team of people with very individual
skills and experiences; use that knowledge to the teams advantage.
Positive reinforcement about an individuals abilities can increase
their performance and motivation, also, knowing that our work helps
others may increase our unconscious motivation.People have tried a
number of ways to keep motivation high including personal career
planning, rotation of expert roles, setting up team mentors in
different areas and allowing people to take responsibility without
micro-managing.@cranfordsol0113 251 2208
[email protected] OFFICE:
Building 3, City West One, Offce Park, Gelderd Road, Leeds, West
Yorkshire LS12 6LXLONDON OFFICE: Building 3 Chiswick Park, 566
Chiswick High RoadChiswick, London W4 5YADuring the tougher
fnancial periods which affect all businesses, the chance of pay
rises and bonus payments become limited and although the majority
of companies do have formal recognition and reward schemes, many
Service Desk Managers are now offering simple informal rewards to
their team towards work well done. They are also using a
collaborative approach with their team so they are getting the
rewards that will really motivate them and not something the
company thinks they might like. Matt Turner at Network Rail has
implemented a Kanban board so the ideas provided are visual and can
be seen progressing by the staff.Celebrating success is a key
behaviour in our company cultureKeith Barber, Severn Trent
WaterHere are is a small sample of motivational ideas currently
being used:Dress down FridayGeek of Week awardGift VouchersFree
Days awayCake!Early fnishChocolates/alcoholXbox dayTeam mealsFriday
treatsBacon buttiesTrophiesCooking competitionsThe frst person to
close 20 calls, for example, can have the afternoon off Karen
Taylor, Cheshire Shared ServicesIt is often diffcult to be able to
offer much in the way of reward, but something simple can go a long
way in to recognising someone who has given excellent performance
or attained high targets. There are many totally free ways of
rewarding your staff too and a simple thank-you is underestimated
in the workplace now. Feedback catching people doing things and
thanking them for it! Geraint Jones, CallcreditHowever you chose to
implement it the idea of rewards will certainly motivate a team and
go towards the overall retention of staff.Interestingly many
companies, teams and individuals are now involved in charity work
in the community, sometimes this is sponsored at a corporate level
but often not and appears to really help with team building.Asking
for corporate sponsorship for a charity activity, putting it in
newsletters or asking for individual sponsorship all helps raise
the profle of the Service Desk.@cranfordsol0113 251 2208
[email protected] OFFICE:
Building 3, City West One, Offce Park, Gelderd Road, Leeds, West
Yorkshire LS12 6LXLONDON OFFICE: Building 3 Chiswick Park, 566
Chiswick High RoadChiswick, London W4 5YAA little Thank You goes a
long wayKaren Washburn, IMD Media LtdTrainingDo you have control of
your training budget? The majority of Service Desk Managers state
they have no control over their training budget, often having to
bid to a centrally controlled budget holder for the training
requirements for their team.However, it is acknowledged that having
training in line with a personal development plan gives the Service
Desk Analysts a focus to their work and has value beyond the
training itself.It is often used to give Analysts a view of the
bigger picture within the organisation and can open up ideas for
career progression.Understanding the skills and knowledge you
currently have within your team will allow for improved management,
control of the workload and the ability to meet targets.Make a
study of what skills your team possess, use a simple process such
as a skill matrix to list who has what abilities, this should lead
to a quick conclusion of what is missing.Compare the skills and
knowledge in the team to your service catalogue or the list of
services you are supporting, are there any gaps? If so, how can the
team provide a service to the customer, when you have no-one
profcient?Finding a gap means you can now do something about it and
this may well lead to a bid or submission for external training.
Having a skilled Service Desk will ensure better, faster service
for customers. It will also motivate the team to see their skills
and, in turn, progress their career. The Service Desk is many
peoples route into IT and by providing as much opportunity for
training and development as possible you will ensure they are
satisfed and see their future with your organisation.I basically
help my team build their future CV Damian Bowen, NTT dataWhat else
can you do about the training gaps?Many Service Desks are using the
knowledge within the departments around them to up skill their
staff, creating a Champions Scheme where each member of the team is
linked directly with another of the technical teams to bring
knowledge and information back to the Service Desk and to act as a
point of contact for that team in the future. For example, one of
the Service Desk Analysts spends 30 minutes a week with the Network
team for a small number of weeks. During that time, they learn
about the Network team, the services they support and the systems
in use. The knowledge they gain is then taken back to the Service
Desk and peer to peer coaching populates the knowledge around the
team. This leads to improvements in call quality, increased frst
time fxes for the customers and reductions in loss of service. The
Network team now have someone they can discuss issues with, a link
back to the customer facing team and a better understanding of the
impact an issue has to the business. Defnitely a win-win
situation!Extensive training & spending their frst week in the
company in other departments means that the team has a unique
insight into the issues faced by other teams and we know everyone
individually Karen Washburn, IMD MediaNo 80%Yes 20%@cranfordsol0113
251 2208 [email protected]
OFFICE: Building 3, City West One, Offce Park, Gelderd Road, Leeds,
West Yorkshire LS12 6LXLONDON OFFICE: Building 3 Chiswick Park, 566
Chiswick High RoadChiswick, London W4 5YAMultiply this across the
Service Desk with the other support teams around and you have
increased team knowledge, improved service for the customer and
broken down those barriers between the teams. In addition you have
createdSubject Matter Experts on the desk and provided people with
extra responsibility.Importantly you have up skilled your team and
the costs are down to a few hours away from the Service Desk,
something that could be scheduled and managed as part of an
individuals working week. The majority of Service Desks are looking
at methods of training, which are low cost and have little impact
to the working week, with online and in-house training the most
popular. The use of on-line learning is expanding with the
recognition that this, again, minimises down time from the desk, is
often cheaper than classroom style courses and gives people freedom
to develop at their own speed.Some form of Customer Service
training is now becoming an essential requirement for Service Desk
roles with most including it in their job descriptions. Each member
of the Service Desk team agreed to join an initiative to study for
and gain an NVQ Level 2 qualifcation in Customer Service Basim
Zaidi, Vaultex. Some teams are also adding skills that
traditionally have not been required for Service Desk staff, but
add strengthand capability, such as creative writing, assertiveness
and language skills - abilities that will provide an
improvedcustomer experience.@cranfordsol0113 251 2208
[email protected] OFFICE:
Building 3, City West One, Offce Park, Gelderd Road, Leeds, West
Yorkshire LS12 6LXLONDON OFFICE: Building 3 Chiswick Park, 566
Chiswick High RoadChiswick, London W4 5YAAppraisalsMany also carry
out mid-year or additional reviews, showing that companies are
investing in their people and aim to develop and retain those
staff. Most important of all is what happens to the appraisals,
that they are not just fled away, but used to drive an individuals
development plan for the following year.Annual reviews have their
place but most people recognise that these need to be backed up
with regular (fortnightly/monthly) 121 sessions.Some are linking
the appraisals and taking the personal development plans into the
more regular 121 conversations. Reviewing an individuals
performance yearly is not enough to ensure that they remain
focussed, motivated and follow their development plans. Sally
Comley, at Arqiva, is using Gallup Q12 to get her team to think
about how satisfed they are in their role. As a manager it shows
her how engaged her team are compared against the company.Recording
individual plaudits and/or negative comments from users is a really
useful way of measuring how happy and successful staff are in their
role. The Service Desks aim is for happy customers so if a team
member has a strong record of plaudits or negatives against their
name these can be used to assess them during appraisals.Sharing
staff plaudits can also be motivational, A spreadsheet called
positive praise is published to our employees MyNet page Nicky
Stanley, Arvato UK & Ireland. Service Birmingham has a
dedicated page on their monthly bulletin called compliments corner,
Yvonne Batchelor.Several companies are now using SMART targets in
their personal plans for the year Specifc Measurable Attainable
Relevant Timescales In addition to various surveys and tools it is
important to monitor confict on the desk and keep a note of
habitual lateness or sickness and these are often indicators of
problems.Most people do this on a formal or informal basis with a
couple of organisations using the Bradford factor.Keeping abreast
of issues on the desk helps in appraisals and 121 sessions, as
there are no surprises for either side.Think about how you have
personal development plans linked into your mission or vision,
developing your staff to support your current services and taking a
proactive approach, looking forward into those skills and abilities
you need across the team for the coming year. As previously stated
many individuals use the Service Desk as their frst stepping stone
into a career in IT, building a solid foundation of knowledge
before going on to specialise. When the Managers were asked if they
expected their staff to progress to other roles with the company
was a resolute Yes at Callcredit Everyone is encouraged to seek
their next opportunity & spend time learning about the teams
they are most interested in Geraint Jones, Callcredit.I expect and
encourage this. Its a win/win situation Sally Comley, Arqiva.I also
expect that not everyone is motivated to do so and that is OK too
Matt Turner, Network Rail@cranfordsol0113 251 2208
[email protected] OFFICE:
Building 3, City West One, Offce Park, Gelderd Road, Leeds, West
Yorkshire LS12 6LXLONDON OFFICE: Building 3 Chiswick Park, 566
Chiswick High RoadChiswick, London W4 5YA98%of all responding
companies have annual appraisals.It would be foolish of me to
expect them to progress because other people do Jason Lloyd,
iSAMSHowever, some individuals enjoy the work of the Service Desk
and the direct interaction with customers and have no desire to
move away from the Desk.Evidence provided in the questionnaires
indicates that companies do have a small number of staff that chose
to remain on the Service Desk. It is common for a Service Desk to
have a foundation of core staff with an excellent level of business
knowledge and experience. The Service Desk can receive a call about
any element of your business, with a customer expecting support;
the analyst needs to know everything about every service in your
business.Without this level of knowledge, how can they be expected
to help? Thinking pointsDo you have some of the most experienced
staff in your business working on the Service Desk? If not, do you
have the foundations you need for an excellent Service
Desk?ConclusionThe outcomes from the questionnaire are a clear
indication that a successful and focussed Service Desk, providing
excellent customer service, is directly linked to the people who
make up the team. Service Desks now have to offer much more in the
way of a service. Customers have an expectation that their needs
will be met and that they will have a great interactive
experience.The majority of Service Desk Managers are now recruiting
staff that have the right skills and personality for the role,
ahead of any technical abilities or qualifcations.When recruiting,
either directly or through an agency, ensure that the requirements
are clear and that those skills and abilities are part of the job
description.Retaining the right people will always be challenging,
but with some original thinking, there are many ways of rewarding
your team for the great work they have done. Training and
developing not only helps in the increase of ability of the team,
but also goes a long way in motivating and retaining your staff. As
do rewards and an occasional thank you but the diffcult part is
fnding what works for your team!So you have a great team, what
next?Watch out for the next Cranford White Paper Promoting Your
Service Desk.@cranfordsol0113 251 2208
[email protected] OFFICE:
Building 3, City West One, Offce Park, Gelderd Road, Leeds, West
Yorkshire LS12 6LXLONDON OFFICE: Building 3 Chiswick Park, 566
Chiswick High RoadChiswick, London W4 5YAAbout Cranford
SolutionsCranford Solutions are a specialist Service Desk provider.
Our framework is designed to Improve, Support and Educate your
Service Desk. We provide fexible,on-demand resource solutions,
industry white papers & networking events, bespoke recruitment
solutions and consultancy modules.Consultancy modules are available
as 2-3 day packages and include Promoting the Service Desk,
Customer Satisfaction, Major Incident Management, Customer Self
Help, Tool Selection & Set up, Best Practice, Resource
Provision.@cranfordsol0113 251 2208
[email protected] PLUS
SUPPORT PLUSSERVICE PLUS KNOWLEDGE PLUSAchieve Service Desk
Excellence Flexible On-Demand ResourceBespoke Recruitment Solutions
Shared ExperienceReviews & Health checksTool selection,
implementation & confgurationFully Project Managed
SolutionsResource & Recruitment strategyBench of high quality
Service Desk Resource1st, 2nd, 3rd line, Team Leaders &
Managers Fully Managed by Client Services Director Short and long
term solutions Flexible, reliable & responsive Cost effective
No more hassle reviewing CVs and shortlistingAll face to face
interviewsSecondary interview with our Client Services DirectorFREE
Replacements for 6 months All Service Desk Resource covered White
Papers generated from industry leading Service DesksNetworking
events to share experiences and ideasKnowledge base of articles
Complete Service Desk Solutions YOUR SERVICE DESK Are we as good as
we could be?Where canimprovementsbe made?How do we achieve
ServiceExcellence?How do I manage risk when hiring resource?Time
spent with poor recruitment companiesUnreliablecontract staff
Recruitment is time consuming & frustrating High rates
ofattrition High costs with minimal guarantee What are other
companies doing?Share experience and learnMeet up &
NetworkImprovement Resource Education Recruitment The face of
ITImprove Support Recruit Educate@cranfordsol0113 251 2208
[email protected] OFFICE:
Building 3, City West One, Offce Park, Gelderd Road, Leeds, West
Yorkshire LS12 6LXLONDON OFFICE: Building 3 Chiswick Park, 566
Chiswick High RoadChiswick, London W4 5YA
