We identified increase in real satisfaction of 60%
From 27% down to 1% in 6 months at one company
Change in ideas implemented in 4 hours, not 2 years; we helped one company improve SLA stats by 60%
In one organisation, we helped increase staff happiness from 43% to 92%
34% reduction in failure rates at one company
Increase in one case of 200%
We were the catalyst for all HR to be made redundant. Well no not really, but put to better use!
We demonstrated a reduction in waste of 65% at one organisation
Team empowerment in an SLA driven environment - for now and the futureDNA definitive works with the NOMS Contact Centre team and believes compliance, efficiency, cost-savings and staff happiness are not mutually exclusiveDept : National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Contact Centre |
The Ministry of Justice operates a dedicated service centre from offices in South Wales. Three service driven departments exist at the location, working alongside each other, supplying vital support for the needs of a 1200 strong workforce based over 4 locations. Services include HR, Finance Advice, Payroll Support and Legal.
With varying degrees of Service Level Agreements in place, the need for continual information sharing throughout the entire division, increasing volumes and types of services offered, each department faces its own challenges when it comes to compliance, efficiency and staff morale.
The Ministry of Justice is dedicated to continual service delivery improvement and efficient customer response at all times. The guidelines for each department are clear, and customer service satisfaction is at the heart of all targets and expectations set. As a progressive employer the MoJ contracted DNA Definitive to look at areas where management and delivery improvements could be made, whilst empowering staff and increasing employee job satisfaction.
Caroline, a Service Area Manager has headed up the contact centre for the NOMS division for three years, with a total of 6 years working for the Ministry of Justice. Her team of one hundred staff respond to the daily needs of the prison services employees across the UK. The setting of tasks and targets has always been clearly identified for the team and were continually referred to when assessing division success and customer satisfaction levels.
Targets for the team included:
The reality was that although staff were all performing well and with speed, the Work in Progress list wasn’t being dealt with fast enough due to the volume of new queries coming in on a daily basis, staff were being regularly asked to work overtime to deal with the backlog, increasing costs, and customer satisfaction surveys revealed that scores continually came in between 70-80%, below the target. In addition staff morale was low, and without the incentive options of a commercial contact centre environment, it was becoming increasingly difficult for Caroline to motivate and inspire her team.
DNA Definitive met with Caroline and her team and discussed the challenges they were facing, together and as individuals. They encouraged input and feedback on a group basis, and also held separate sessions with each team member over a period of two weeks. As part of these sessions they discussed things like removing targets, WIP posters, moving more experienced staff to sit by less experienced staff, having a floor walker to instantly deal with problems from customers etc. The biggest issue was, however, stopping Team Leaders from producing daily and hourly statistics on each member’s performance.
Caroline said:
“I have to be honest and say I was skeptical about the proposed changes at first. My team was already under pressure to deliver in the time they had available, and they kept being asked to engage with DNA and spent many hours talking with them and receiving coaching.â€
Within two weeks the team began to make some of their own decisions about the best way to approach the challenges they were facing. They began to question everything and asked themselves what they were doing, why they were doing it and what they could do to change it. The staff began to feel empowered and as if they really could effect changes that would make a significant and sustainable difference.
As the division of experience across the team was often unevenly stretched and training less experienced staff had become difficult to fit into the working day, the team came up with the idea of a daily floor-walker. This meant that at any one time there was an experienced person available to support the more junior members throughout the day, and could respond to queries on the fly as needed.
In addition to a happier, more empowered workforce the number results also speak volumes:
Improving frontline engagement and communication — catalyst for changeDNA Definitive works with Cornwall Council Community and Support Service (CaSS)Dept : Community and Support Service (CaSS) |
CaSS employs 300 staff across a number of divisions and locations, from support workers to drivers and business support staff. Providing safe and high quality opportunities to adults with learning disabilities is at the heart of CaSS engagement with people who use the service, and a continually changing market place presents consistent challenges.
A series of HR based surgeries with members of staff, to gauge feedback, concerns and challenges, highlighted some issues surrounding morale, lack of meaningful communication and future plans for the teams and service. The decision was made to get support for the next stage of engagement with staff, to enable an independent and impartial review, and to challenge current internal practices.
DNA Definitive was selected from knowledge of previous work carried out with Local Authorities, previous work in the local area and for their passionate commitment to working with frontline staff.
Communication between senior leaders and frontline staff and overall engagement was identified as requiring significant improvement. Staff morale was low with concerns about the future felt by many. There was a reliance on processes and administration, which many felt was placing heavier emphasis on paperwork and procedures than on the individuals who use the services, and indeed staff members themselves.
Staff felt decisions were being made without a democratic approach and there was a lack of consultation, discussion or debate with the people delivering services on the frontline.
DNA Definitive interviewed a large cross-section of the 300 strong team, as well as external stakeholders, other division members and some family members of people who use the service. The focus was on unearthing the concerns and challenges across the board, but particularly the staff taking ownership of finding solutions to the problems and issues they identified.
The Senior Team was faced with feedback, often negative, about processes, procedures and attitudes, with a lack of trust at the forefront, and for a month some processes, such as appraisal systems and other administrative management led activities were suspended.
The DNA Definitive approach is based on chaos first followed by autonomous solutions. A degree of turbulence was experienced across the entire division, as the issues and real challenges were unearthed, expressed and shared. There was some suspicion, worry and concern at the outset of the process as staff were introduced to the methods and opportunities for engagement.
Creating an environment where feedback, input and communication from all levels was encouraged and expected, frontline staff and first line managers were then challenged with devising new solutions and procedures moving forward, to alleviate objections and concerns about efficiencies and service delivery focus.
Connectivity and interdependence between divisions and individuals was recognised as vital for the service, to re-energise the team and improve service delivery, quality and safety.
DNA Definitive is viewed as the catalyst for a period of change at CaSS, with sustainable benefits for the Service. Communication has improved, particularly between the Senior Leadership Team and Team Leaders. Team Leaders are invited on rotation to meetings and a monthly-extended leadership team meeting is also now happening with minutes circulated to the Team Leader Group. Regular bulletins are now also circulated to the Service as a whole to keep teams up to date.
Increased face-to-face communication is happening and has helped people to re-connect and build higher levels of trust. There is less of a void felt between the senior team and the Service and staff feel they now have more opportunities to challenge and contribute to decisions. The team members have increased face to face contact and developed an understanding of the importance of conversations rather than e-mail or electronic exchanges of views.
Corporate Resources are used more efficiently and some systems and processes have been developed and amended to provide more responsive support to staff. A simplified internal performance management system has been introduced. Staff training and recruitment has been reviewed which has contributed to the development of shared values across the Service, which was a key element of the project objectives.
The input from DNA has brought new focus to the team and helped team members develop an environment that encourages and supports improved communication, discussion and staff engagement, whilst also placing expectations on all staff, at all levels to identify opportunities for ongoing change and improvement.
In an update meeting in March 2014, some 6 months on, the Senior Leadership Team were still realizing and experiencing the key benefits of a more engaged workforce with a clearer purpose and understanding of the values of the Service. Whilst there was still some turbulence in the system, the staff felt much more confident and positive about the longer term future of the Service and its position when it comes to supporting the people who use it.
Being DifferentDept : Gareth Jones, Regional Branch Manager, Manchester |
The ReThink Group was established eight years ago and has offices in Manchester, London, Bristol, Birmingham, Dubai and Singapore with an annual turnover of £110 million.
ReThink Recruitment is the IT and business recruitment division of the Group and is sole supplier of IT staff for companies such as Boots and Marks & Spencer.
Gareth Jones is the Regional Branch Manager in Manchester and previously had a successful career as a professional rugby player at premiership level.
“I took our staff training in-house in 2013 and wanted to introduce external consultants only when we felt they had something unique and a little left-field to offer us. As a professional sports player I was aware of some of the excellent leadership and motivational coaching that was being practiced with high-performing athletes and teams. I heard about Andy McCann of DNA Definitive via a reference I read from Shaun Edwards (former Rugby League Player) who sang his praises.”
The average age of the sales team members is 20-25 years and the challenge is to keep them engaged and motivated. Gareth was looking for training that would both inspire and energise them in a way that they could both relate to and translate into their daily tasks and challenges.
“In my opinion, the technical element of the job can often be overcomplicated. There’s no point in focusing on getting the sales technique right if the attitude is all wrong and the staff are demotivated.”
Gareth was keen to work with someone from a sporting background, following his own success and experience of motivational coaching and leadership development.
Andy McCann joined the ReThink Recruitment Manchester team for a day of training and development in July 2013.
When preparing the sessions in advance, Andy spoke with Gareth to ensure that the brief would be met and it was agreed to run two sessions. The first was for staff and their managers, while the second was just for the managers. As with all DNA Definitive sessions, the aim was to affirm good practice, introduce delegates to something new and to challenge them in a fun, interactive way.
In the first session, Andy utilised both sport and business examples to illustrate the characteristics of peak performance; to compare the similarities between meeting sales targets and the life of a professional athlete; to illustrate how the culture of competition can be a really positive thing; and to highlight the key components of mental toughness, and how they relate to us all, no matter the environment in which we work.
When extending these ideas for the managers in the second session, Andy introduced common leadership myths; compared the similarities between being a sales manager and an elite sports coach; challenged the delegates about what a team really is; introduced the idea of a ‘leadership attitude’; and what consistent leadership behaviours look like.
Following the training session in July the team had the two highest selling months of the year across the entire Group. They were also named the most successful branch in the Group for the entire 2013 financial year.
“The training day with Andy was both inspirational and thought provoking with all attendees feeling extremely positive about challenging themselves to improve performance. The results following were dramatic and I can directly attribute them to Andy’s visit. I would happily recommend Andy’s work to any individual, team or business that was passionate about winning and finding the extra edge.”
DNA Definitive support Children’s Services through a period of restructure and relocation
DNA Definitive support Children’s Services through a period of restructure and relocationDNA works with 100-strong team to support ‘children first’ policy alongside compliance and consistencyDept : Children’s Services |
Monmouthshire County Council Children's Services provides a multi-disciplinary service offering health and social care disciplines via a team of 100 people. Professionals include social workers, contact officers, youth offending officers, administrators, fostering services, and more.
In 2013 a restructure of the service took place within the Children's Services aspect of the department and in 2014 the majority of the team moved from two locations to one location at the Council offices in Magor.
"The very nature of working with children means that you have to carefully balance the needs of the client (which is at the heart of everything we do) alongside good practice and compliance."
— Tracy Jelfs, Head of Children's Services, Monmouthsire County Council
A team that was recovering from a restructure, which in some cases resulted in members hiding behind policies and procedures and avoiding levels of responsibility, meant that there was a general reluctance to embrace change and reassess existing procedures, systems and to think about their working practices differently.
Issues with IT, the amount of casework across the department and often over complicated procedures created barriers to delivering services that ensured the most efficient and effective outcomes.
"We wanted to encourage social workers to 'play and engage' again and to be focused completely on where they could best meet the needs of the children and families, not be bogged down with systems and hierarchies. We wanted staff to become leaders and move away from the micro-management of teams, ultimately with the aim of improving practice as well as motivation amongst staff."
DNA Definitive met with Tracy and many members of the entire service team. Staff were given the choice of speaking with DNA or not, and the sessions varied in length.
Questions were asked such as:
"What would need to change to make it fun and enjoyable for you to come to work?"
Working alongside Tracy, Paul identified areas where it was felt change was necessary and in many cases Tracy already had potential solutions in mind, but needed the independent and impartial support to instigate those changes.
The team structure charts were discarded in an effort to truly breakdown institutional barriers and improve practice and maturity across the board. A flatter structure meant that every team member had access to every other team member, without having to go through a hierarchy of contact and management.
Staff were discouraged from micro-managing teams, and to demonstrate her own commitment to change, Tracy decided not to respond to emails that weren't directly sent to her (i.e. not just CC'ed in) for a period of two weeks.
"As with any senior staff member, there are emails and information where you're copied in just as a fail-safe mechanism. I wanted to move away from that to encourage staff, who are extremely capable, to make the decisions themselves, and to come to me when they genuinely deemed it necessary and had exhausted their own skills and knowledge. This wasn't to avoid decision-making on my part, but to empower the workforce and encourage responsibility. I am always available for any staff member, but spreading both the skills and responsibility is vital for the sustainability of the team and also individual career progression."
As a result of only reading emails directly addressed to her, alongside a strategy of prioritization of all tasks and a focus on reducing meetings that were duplication or not aligned to the focus of the work Tracy cleared four extra days in her diary in the first month.
Simple solutions such as securing mobile phones for staff members who were out on the road and sometimes in difficult and challenging situations, was something that DNA also worked with the team to secure. Establishing a weekly work plan meeting and establishing a Service dedicated web page on the intranet has also worked towards improving internal communications and raising the profile of the good work the Service provides.
The department is still in a state of change and internal reassessment, but the building blocks of greater and wider responsibility and motivation have been established.
"We had previously worked with other methodologies, which focused on the idea that if you sort out the systems then the rest will follow and work as a result. I instinctively didn't buy into this practice and with people, specifically children, as our key focus, we had to ensure we were thinking in more 'human' terms and the ultimate unpredictability and chaos that accompanies this, along with changes to working cultures that were required.Â
We need our staff to be able to make decisions and take responsibility in what can often be quite challenging circumstances. Systems and procedures have a place in this but they are not the key and will not provide the ultimate answer.Â
Dr. Paul Thomas and the DNA Definitive team have encouraged and supported both myself and the staff to take a leap of faith in many circumstances, whilst absolutely capitalizing on the talent and expertise of the team.Â
The improvements in technology, internal communications and a flatter structure have gone a long way to improving vital communications and ensuring all staff have a wider knowledge of the successes and challenges of the Service as a whole."
DNA Definitive works with infrastructure solutions provider to breach the management/frontline gap
DNA Definitive works with infrastructure solutions provider to breach the management/frontline gapDept : Head Office |
The infrastructure solutions provider is one of the most highly regarded, trusted and well-known companies in the South West of England. It offers a diverse portfolio of services via a variety of divisions. Services include design, maintenance and management of grounds and public spaces to the construction and repair of infrastructure and highways and surfacing.
The company provides a complete solution service and helps local communities grow and thrive in a sustainable way.
At a conference for senior managers and directors Dr. Paul Thomas, DNA Definitive was the guest speaker, talking about Simplexity and the challenges facing 21st century organisations. The company attended the session and contacted Paul to learn more and subsequently invited him into the organisation to work with the team.
The company provides a complete solution service and helps local communities grow and thrive in a sustainable way. At a conference for senior managers and directors Dr. Paul Thomas, DNA Definitive was the guest speaker, talking about Simplexity and the challenges facing 21st century organisations. The company attended the session and contacted Paul to learn more and subsequently invited him into the organisation to work with the team.DNA Definitive interviewed and conducted research with people on the ground to discover the challenges being faced on a daily basis. One of the main teams, made up of 80 people, 50 operatives, 10 administrative staff and 20 supervisory staff members, were approached and questioned about their experiences, either in groups or individually.
Resistance to the process was initially experienced at Director level, excluding the MD, whilst the staff welcomed the opportunity to talk about their roles and challenges faced.
Specific tasks such as the onerous time sheet system, were scrutinized. The system used was detailed and time consuming and created pressure for many employees. Staff were asked for feedback and input of ideas for improvements and as a result significant changes were made to the way staff use and complete the forms
One of the leadership teams was reluctant to buy into the 'chaos' typically created by the DNA team and complained about lack of framework and structure of the approach used. The Head of Division who supported the process did experience challenge and resistance, but has since been able to delegate and empower others more often, and has changed some of the working practices used across the Division.
Throughout the process staff on the ground were initially engaged, but were frustrated when the senior team showed reluctance, ultimately slowing the process of change down.
The initial period of chaos and encouraging all team members to question themselves and everything they do at each stage resulted in process changes in some instances. A structure has now been put in place by the Head of Division that encourages the team to be more innovative and take more responsibility for what they do.
The new time recording system devised extricated a degree of process and has since made things more efficient at all levels.
When asked if they would either use them again or recommend DNA to other organisations, the response was:
"Without a doubt. In addition to the impact on our team, the team at DNA have learned lessons also from the experience. Engaging leadership in the change is key for buy-in across the board. Ultimately we have one young Division Director who didn't want DNA involved and still doesn't, and it's an ongoing issue for us. Because our organisation is different and also very traditional, like the industry it operates in, there were certainly challenges for all."