BLOG: The Big Freeze – A Test of Staff Commitment

The white stuff is back and it’s been wreaking havoc across the country once again.

According to Royal Sun Alliance, the cold snap is set to cost the economy up to £6bn with many businesses likely to feel the pinch in the run up to Christmas.

It’s a testing time for outsourcers too, especially those who work on behalf of companies in the transport industry. With local services grinding to a halt, staff are coming under increasing pressure to uphold brand reputation and give clients a competitive edge, not to mention the near insurmountable obstacles some of them have to overcome just to make it into the office.

At times like these, we must support each other and go the extra mile. Companies are invariably judged on their ability to adapt and react in a crisis. Far from burying our heads in the sand, or indeed the snow, we must stand up and be counted.

Customer Service Advisers are charged with the task of appeasing irritable commuters amidst escalating call volumes and are obliged to demonstrate patience, sympathy and diplomacy during these interactions – valuable skills in any working environment.

These are core requirements but we must endeavour to go above and beyond and pull together as a community. That could mean deployment of extra staff on projects experiencing extra traffic or helping one another get into the office. These are qualities that can’t be bought. They develop organically over time and are a by-product of the overriding culture of a company.   

As the winter tightens its icy grip on the UK, there are sure to be tough times ahead. So how are we going to cope? Magic wands are in short supply so it seems we’ll all have to muck in, work hard and dig deep – quite literally in some cases.

by Neville Upton, Dec 07 2010, 01:16 PM