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Cordia highly impressed by Glasgow Welcomes initiative

21 Nov 2011

Cordia has started the of delivering the Glasgow Welcomes customer service workshops by prioritising sessions for staff working in major visitor attractions, for example catering staff. 
Lynn Norwood, Head of People Development at Cordia, says: “We have a workforce of some 7,500 so we have started in the departments where customer service is most relevant to staff. The Encore Division has been our first focus, before we start to roll out the course, perhaps in an adapted form, to other department.”
Lynn reveals the  “great experience” of delivering the Glasgow Welcome workshop to the Cordia team at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. She says: “The catering staff already took customer service very seriously but the participation of the staff  in the workshop, and the energy and enthusiasm they displayed, was a real credit to Cordia. 
“The Glasgow Welcomes programme shows that learning is continuous and the Kelvingrove staff have reported back that attending the programme made them feel empowered and motivated to go back to work and improve on what they were currently doing.”
Cordia does operate its own staff training programmes, but Lynn was keen to discover more about what the Glasgow Welcomes programme offered. 
She says: “I am extremely impressed with the Glasgow Welcomes initiative. It’s something the city has been needing since the ‘Scotland’s Best’ campaign. Creating the highest standard of customer service is vital to a growing tourism and hospitality economy, especially when we are all faced with so many financial struggles.
“I am over-the-moon that the Glasgow Welcomes initiative has been created and that Glasgow has an inclusive and highly focused programme for the training of al staff and at all levels.”
She adds: “It is so important that all businesses work to improve their customer experience and that this happens across the board and in all tourism and hospitality areas, so I am fully behind this programme.”
Lynn believes that Cordia staff are already benefitting from the training courses. She says: “While some staff may have been initially a little doubtful about the merits of the courses because they already believe that they know all about customer service and experience, I think that each and every one has gained a great deal from participating in the Glasgow Welcomes workshops.
“Sometimes we can forget how important customers are and simply do what is required in our jobs, but without thinking about the bigger picture. However, staff that interact with customers and share their knowledge will most definitely offer a good impression to customers, which will in turn give people a good feeling about a place and our city.
“The Glasgow Welcomes programme helps to provide a platform to aspire to in which the importance of customer service is re-emphasised and in particular from a Glasgow perspective.
“I feel that the Glasgow Welcomes courses genuinely offer staff a vital refresher in how to improve customer service and it helps to re-motivate and re-engage the concept of ensuring that the customer is always made to feel welcome and special.”
Lynn describes great customer service as a “gift” for businesses. She says: “If we can encourage staff to deliver improved customer service then we attract more customers and businesses will grow, so there will be more jobs and greater employee stability, and in turn staff will have better job satisfaction and security. It is a gift that all businesses can embrace.”
Although already very familiar with customer service training methods and materials, Lynn has been particularly impressed with the quality of Glasgow Welcomes training materials. The training is made so much easier thanks to the quality of the notes, handouts and presentation and the way that the course is designed to make the delegates think for themselves and put themselves in the customers’ shoes. The delegates enjoy this and therefore the facilitators benefit and have to work at pulling ideas together and controlling lengths of discussions as there is so much to get through. It can be exhausting but a real challenge.
“What is best is at the end of the programme the facilitators can see all the themes coming together and the delegates being so enthusiastic about getting back to their work and implementing all the ideas they have learned.
“With the involvement throughout the course the delegates leave with a greater level of confidence, pride and motivation to go back to their work locations and excel in customer service. The feedback has been amazing both during the course and through the post-course questionnaires.
“It’s our intention to continually extend the delivery to all areas of our business. This is a great opportunity for everyone to have the tools to examine our customers’ service journey and to identify where we can improve and can continue to improve.”

Cordia play a key role in Glasgow's visitor experience, delivering a quality catering service in a number of the city's high profile attractions, including Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, the Burrell Collection, and the new Riverside Museum. As one of Scotland’s leading facilities management and care providers, they are delighted by the “high standards”, “key messages” and “fantastic benefits” of the Glasgow Welcomes programme offered by Glasgow Service with Style. Following the qualification of five key staff members to deliver the Glasgow Welcomes: Delivering Service Excellence programme, more than 450 staff have benefitted from in-company customer service workshops.

Cordia has started delivering the Glasgow Welcomes customer service workshops by prioritising sessions for staff working in the major visitor attractions, for example catering staff. 

Lynn Norwood, Head of People Development at Cordia, says: “We have a workforce of some 7,500 so we have started in the departments where customer service is most relevant to staff. The Encore Division has been our first focus, before we start to roll out the course, perhaps in an adapted form, to other departments.”

Lynn reveals the  “great experience” of delivering the Glasgow Welcomes workshop to the Cordia team at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. She says: “The catering staff already took customer service very seriously but the participation of the staff in the workshops, and the energy and enthusiasm they displayed, was a real credit to Cordia. 

“The Glasgow Welcomes programme shows that learning is continuous and the Kelvingrove staff have reported back that attending the programme made them feel empowered and motivated to go back to work and improve on what they were currently doing.”

Cordia does operate its own staff training programmes, but Lynn was keen to discover more about what the Glasgow Welcomes programme offered. She says: “I am extremely impressed with the Glasgow Welcomes initiative. It’s something the city has been needing since the ‘Scotland’s Best’ campaign. Creating the highest standard of customer service is vital to a growing tourism and hospitality economy, especially when we are all faced with so many financial struggles. 

“I am over-the-moon that the Glasgow Welcomes initiative has been created and that Glasgow has an inclusive and highly focused programme for the training of all staff and at all levels.”

She adds: “It is so important that all businesses work to improve their customer experience and that this happens across the board in all tourism and hospitality areas, so I am fully behind this programme.”

Lynn believes that Cordia staff are already benefitting from the training courses. She says: “While some staff may have been initially a little doubtful about the merits of the courses because they believed that they already knew all about customer service and experience, I think that each and every one has gained a great deal from participating in the Glasgow Welcomes workshops.

“Sometimes we can forget how important customers are and simply do what is required in our jobs, but without thinking about the bigger picture. However, staff who interact with customers and share their knowledge will most definitely offer a good impression, which will in turn give customers a good feeling about a place and our city.

“The Glasgow Welcomes programme helps to provide a platform to aspire to in which the importance of customer service is re-emphasised particularly from a Glasgow perspective.

“I feel that the Glasgow Welcomes courses genuinely offer staff a vital refresher in how to improve customer service and help to re-motivate and re-engage the concept of ensuring that the customer is always made to feel welcome and special.”

Lynn describes great customer service as a “gift” for businesses. She says: “If we can encourage staff to deliver improved service then we attract more customers and businesses will grow, so there will be more jobs and greater employee stability, and in turn staff will have better job satisfaction and security. It is a gift that all businesses can embrace.”

Although already very familiar with customer service training methods, Lynn has been particularly impressed with the quality of Glasgow Welcomes training materials. She says: "The training is made so much easier thanks to the quality of the notes, handouts and presentation, and the way that the course is designed to make the delegates think for themselves and put themselves in the customers’ shoes. The delegates enjoy this, which is helpful to the facilitators who have to work at pulling their ideas together and controlling the discussions as there is so much to get through. It can be exhausting but a real challenge.

“What is so rewarding is that at the end of the programme the facilitators can see all the themes coming together, and the delegates so enthusiastic about getting back to work and implementing all the ideas they have learned.

“Following their involvement throughout the course,  the delegates leave with a greater level of confidence, pride and motivation to go back to their work locations and excel in customer service. The feedback has been amazing both during the course and through the post-course questionnaires.

“It’s our intention to continually extend the delivery to all areas of our business. This is a great opportunity for everyone to have the tools to examine our customers’ service journey and to identify where we can improve and can continue to improve.”

She adds: "What is also so exciting is that so many people in our industry, and outside the city, are talking about Glasgow Welcomes as a customer service initiative to aspire to."

* Click on this link to find out about the next Glasgow Welcomes: Training for In-house Trainers course