Resident standards:
Putting residents at the heart of our business – listening to them and taking action to deliver the type of service they want from us.
Our priority this year:
Create an excellent customer service culture throughout ccha.
Customer strategy
Over the past year we have been developing our Customer Strategy. From the resident consultation, it was clear we needed some direction and structure to ensure we can deliver the level of customer service we strive for. The strategy has been broken down into key areas: customer service, resident satisfaction, complaints, resident involvement and engagement, and communications. These allow us to look at resident feedback and what the government and regulator require from us.
Customer service standards
Since our last report, we have been developing new Customer Service Standards as part of our commitment to improve the service residents receive. Our 2019 consultation with residents showed that residents felt we needed to improve our customer service and communication.
We held workshops with staff to find out what they believe good customer service is and how we can improve ours. Following these workshops, we created some standards, and the teams gave feedback on how realistic they were. In 2021 we spoke to 162 residents to gain their feedback on these new standards, which the majority agreed with.
Some of these standards have already been implemented, with the rest introduced in April 2022. We will be reporting on how we are meeting these standards each quarter. To read more about the Customer Service Standards introduced, please visit our website.
“I feel like this is a good step for the company to take and I am pleased with the review that has been done.”
ccha resident
Staff training
We have continued to train new staff with customer service training tailored to residents’ needs while ensuring lessons learnt from training are implemented in any new processes. We introduced a script for reception staff to use with residents to improve their experience and ensured other methods of communication are consistent, such as telephone messages and out of office messages.
In year 3 of the business plan we are looking to link the standards to recruitment. We continue to incorporate our CARE values when interviewing to ensure we hire staff who share our commitment to providing a great service to residents and take ownership of the service we provide.
“I found the customer service training really beneficial and worthwhile. I have always worked in customer facing roles and I've never had this kind of in-depth training or looked into the psychology or techniques before.”
ccha staff member
Going the extra mile
As part of our objective to provide value for money and a great service to residents, our Welfare and Debt Advice Officer has been supporting residents who are struggling to make ends meet. Jane has been providing help and advice with financial support, helping residents claim the right benefits, completing forms, getting occupational therapy referrals, seeking counselling referrals and more. It’s an invaluable service and we are pleased to say we have raised over £400,000 by helping around 200 residents maximise their benefits.
“Great outcome on some casework today. A pensioner saw her fuel bills rise from £33 a month to £150! Error on part of the energy company who have agreed to refund her while they investigate the issue. Thank you to @Officialccha Debt & Welfare Advice Team.”
Stuart King, Labour Councillor