ATA Awards
2006 National Winners Comments
TEAM LEADER OF THE YEAR
LYNDA LAM - AUSTRALIAN HEALTH MANAGEMENT
"Well I'm not sure where to begin; I'm still pinching myself to see if it really happened.
Winning the award for Team Leader of the Year has been an absolute honour. Although I enjoy what I do and the people I work with to be recognised for all the hard work and effort has been the icing on the cake. The impact the award has had on my team has been exciting to watch. They take credit for it (deservedly so) and it certainly had a positive effect on statistical performance and energy in the team. They know how important their role is in the company but now the contact centre and especially my team are getting accolades and recognition from all parts of the company. Even being photographed for the annual report for all our members to see.
For me personally, the award has created opportunities that I could only dream about. I was nominated to participate on a pilot training program for managers which has been challenging. I also got to attend the ATA conference on the Gold Coast and also the ATA (America) conference in Florida Disney World as part of reward and recognition from ahm. My feet are starting to hit the ground again but the confidence I have gained in knowing the way I work and manage my team are highly regarded in the industry keeps me determined to constantly keep setting new goals and targets. Thank you ATA."
TELESERVICE CHAMPION OF THE YEAR
MARNIE WEST, Contact Centre Scheduler, ING DIRECT
Winning the Contact Centre Champion NSW award this year was a great personal and professional achievement. Not only did I receive recognition within the ING DIRECT Contact Centre, but also within the organisation. It certainly lifted my profile and gave me further exposure to other areas, which can only be seen as a positive in terms of my career growth here.
Industry recognition is rare, and to also be recognised on a state and nation level was a great accomplishment. It?s great that the ATA recognises the Contact Centre Industry, and with its great membership base, winning this award was an honour.
This award also provides a great addition to my resume!
CONTACT CENTRE MANAGER OF THE YEAR
TINA DOUGHERTY, Head of the National Contact Centre, Employer Super Group, ING AUSTRALIA
Winning the NSW Contact Centre Manager of the Year, and being recognised by the industry body the Australian Teleservices Association that governs my chosen career was the proudest moment in my working life. It was made even more special by our Contact Centre achieving top 3 in the Contact Centre of the year (50 -120 seats)
The award has been a culmination of 17 years of grafting a career focusing on being passionate about Customer Service and believing that Customer Service and Staff engagement will be the differentiator in driving customer loyalty and business and company growth and profits.
INGA is a company with the credo First! Think Customer, it has allowed me to embody my passion and has sponsored many customer focusing initiatives. e.g. Process re-engineering, implementation of Knowledge Management (IMC-livepro).
The award was not only recognition of my personal achievement, most importantly recognition of my team of Customer Service Managers, Customer Service Specialists, Trainers, knowledge experts that make up our National Contact Centre, and the ING business that work as one to ensure we deliver exceptional service. As a team we are all very proud and the awards take pride of place in our hall of fame in Head office and Tuggerah sites, and have generated recognition and celebration across ING. I was very humbled by the attention and exposure, and excited by the enthusiasm of my team to win the award for Contact Centre of the Year in 2007.
CONTACT CENTRE WITH UNDER 50 FTE
JAMES SAYERS, Customer Service Manager, CEREBOS
Winning the NSW award for <50 FTE from such a prestigious industry body has driven all of our Customer Service team members to strive even harder for excellence.
Their smiles not only appear on their faces, it is demonstrated via their individual voices and actions.
All of us were so thrilled to win, to which the importance of the win was highlighted when our CEO stated to the entire business that our Customer Service team are the "jewel in the crown"
CONTACT CENTRE 50-120 FTE
MELINDA CHARLESWORTH, Operations Manager, AHM
Winning the ATA Award for Contact Centres 50-120 seats has, for ahm, been an amazing experience.
Firstly, when we won the NSW Award the rest of the company really stood up and took notice! The CEO, Dan Hook, and the Chairman of the Board, Michael McMahon were so excited they declared they were coming to the National Awards with us because they "knew we would win".
It was great for the morale in the centre to know we were getting such recognition. An email was sent to the whole company congratulating us on our efforts and for weeks afterwards people from all over the company were congratulating us, we felt really special. Our website was updated to advertise our win to our customers and the local paper did a story on us.
Then it came time for the Nationals, we were terrified but excited at the prospect.
The CEO could not have been prouder of us when we won and when he and the chairman went to the next board meeting, the entire board passed on their congratulations to us for our outstanding effort. The board doesn't normally get to hear about the call centre, so it was great to be brought to their attention for such a positive reason.
The company threw a breakfast for the staff so we could all celebrate our win, and the local paper ran an update informing everyone of our win. We made shrine to the award and all the staff were excited to touch it and see our name engraved on the trophy.
We have always thought we did a pretty good job, but this award gives us the recognition that we do it better than most. The company is designing some advertising featuring the call centre and our award, it great that we will truly be the "face" of the company.
The internal recognition in the company has been fantastic, but it has also been recognised widely by the outside world.
I received many emails congratulating my team on their efforts and it has really given us a lift. Our customers have noticed too, and this is being reflected in our growth, we have increased our member numbers to the largest number of members in the history of the fund since receiving the trophy.
Overall it has been a really positive experience, we learnt a lot from the process, we had entered for five years before winning, and each year we would take the feedback from the judges on board and make changes to our business to ensure we were providing the best service possible and treating our staff as we should. It's so great to get recognition for our efforts.
Thanks ATA for giving us the opportunity!
CONTACT CENTRE OVER 120 FTE
ANTOINE CASGRAIN, General Manager Contact Centres, ST GEORGE BANK
Winning the 'Call Centre of the year' was 'jewel in the crown' for what has been a fantastic year for the St. George Customer Contact Centre. We celebrated winning the award in grand style with all consultants receiving 'thank you' certificates, champagne and recognition for each staff member with their name being placed on large 'Thank you' boards at the entrance way to each of the Contact Centres. Our consultants, have mentioned they certainly love the visual reminder that they are working for the 'best of the best' each day.
Winning the award was the culmination of a 3 year journey for us, where in 2003 we set an Objective to win in 2006. Throughout this period, we managed our 'numbers' and engaged our people to ensure our strategic direction and goals were known by all. Despite there being plenty of organisational distractions we remained focused on the end prize!
The award has had the greatest impact on our staff engagement. For the second consecutive year, the Contact Centre has not only increased our overall engagement, but scored higher than the overall Retail division and St. George as a whole. Our consultants have demonstrated they have renewed pride in their work and in their workplace. This has been seen in our strong financial results for the year in which the Contact Centre received a strong mention in the MD's address to Market analysts on our results.
On a more personal note, it certainly was a very proud moment to accept the award, knowing the achievements of the Contact Centre team were being recognised and rewarded by our peers.
GREENFIELD SITE 2006
SARAH WADE, Executive Manager, PEOPLECONNECT - CBA
PeopleConnect is the central resource for ?people? information in the Commonwealth Bank, providing advice to staff via telephone (inbound and outbound), intranet, email and fax. On average, the centre receives 4,000 contacts per week.
For the past two years, PeopleConnect has been awarded the ?NSW Greenfield Site of the Year? by the Australian Teleservices Association (ATA). This success has now been trumped by nationwide industry recognition, with PeopleConnect taking out the national ?Greenfield Site of the Year? award in September 2006.
What does this success mean to PeopleConnect?
The team is now more inspired to ?add value? than ever before. The awards process has allowed PeopleConnect to be benchmarked against other industries, enabling them to measure their performance standards and identify opportunities to improve.
Being recognised for this achievement by Commonwealth Bank CEO Ralph Norris and other senior executives has also helped to build PeopleConnect?s reputation within the Bank - as that of a team setting an example of providing exceptional customer service.
On a more personal note, the events were incredibly exciting and a terrific opportunity for all team members to build stronger relationships with each other and celebrate their contribution to a great team.
And finally, the team members can proudly include these successes on their resumes. They close each email with - National Greenfield Site of the Year 2006 and NSW Greenfield Site of the Year 2005 and 2006.
Where to from here for PeopleConnect?
This is the last year PeopleConnect is eligible for the ?greenfield? category. The team now has the challenge of maintaining its high standards of professionalism and customer service, and aims to achieve recognition in the ?Call Centre < 50 FTE? category in 2007.
Standards & Accreditation