Staff are treated like schoolchildren and targets are more important than customer service
- A Serco employee Guardian Professional,
Customer service is
repeatedly ignored due to 'targets' being of primary importance, says a
Serco employee. Photograph: Jim Wileman
Having been employed by Serco and its predecessor for around five years, I am only too aware of what goes on in government-awarded contracts.
Even though civil servants are paid some £4,500 more than us, we are expected to complete work too complex for their systems.
Anyone from team manager level upwards constantly repeats the mantra that "commercial targets must be met", leaving customer service by the wayside. We are fully aware that profits must be made, so why are the individuals who carry out this complex work treated as schoolchildren? It is common knowledge among the lower ranks that the work we produce is only to enable Serco to be paid. Customer service is a secondary requirement. Staff fear being "managed out of the door" if they fail to comply.
Case workers are set impossible targets to satisfy the terms of our contract with our government body, which leads to unrealistic expectations that cannot be met. Many of these contracts put out to tender are ripe for abuse. Customer service is repeatedly ignored because targets are seen as the biggest single priority. We fully understand that productivity is necessary but, at the cost of customer services, is this really the ideal way? The target culture means individuals often find it impossible to complete all their assigned work within given deadlines.
We feel we are paying for the folly of top executives, who are well-paid, while we have received a 2% wage increase after a three-year pay freeze. A proposed 5% bonus scheme was negotiated away in the face of the threat of more than 1,000 staff being laid off from the company.
Little of this reality gets through to those in government, otherwise they might well take a very different view. When government ministers or Serco top brass are expected on site, all staff are expected to give a positive impression and this includes any wipe boards to be filled with positive results!
The impression is always one of great customer relations and attention to the customer journey. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We soldier on in the knowledge that we make a difference … to the profits.
• Want your say? Email us at public.leaders@theguardian.com.
Join the Public Leaders Network for more comment, analysis and job opportunities, direct to your inbox. Follow us on twitter via @Guardianpublic.
Even though civil servants are paid some £4,500 more than us, we are expected to complete work too complex for their systems.
Anyone from team manager level upwards constantly repeats the mantra that "commercial targets must be met", leaving customer service by the wayside. We are fully aware that profits must be made, so why are the individuals who carry out this complex work treated as schoolchildren? It is common knowledge among the lower ranks that the work we produce is only to enable Serco to be paid. Customer service is a secondary requirement. Staff fear being "managed out of the door" if they fail to comply.
Case workers are set impossible targets to satisfy the terms of our contract with our government body, which leads to unrealistic expectations that cannot be met. Many of these contracts put out to tender are ripe for abuse. Customer service is repeatedly ignored because targets are seen as the biggest single priority. We fully understand that productivity is necessary but, at the cost of customer services, is this really the ideal way? The target culture means individuals often find it impossible to complete all their assigned work within given deadlines.
We feel we are paying for the folly of top executives, who are well-paid, while we have received a 2% wage increase after a three-year pay freeze. A proposed 5% bonus scheme was negotiated away in the face of the threat of more than 1,000 staff being laid off from the company.
Little of this reality gets through to those in government, otherwise they might well take a very different view. When government ministers or Serco top brass are expected on site, all staff are expected to give a positive impression and this includes any wipe boards to be filled with positive results!
The impression is always one of great customer relations and attention to the customer journey. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We soldier on in the knowledge that we make a difference … to the profits.
• Want your say? Email us at public.leaders@theguardian.com.
Join the Public Leaders Network for more comment, analysis and job opportunities, direct to your inbox. Follow us on twitter via @Guardianpublic.
http://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2014/apr/10/serco-employees-targets-treated-children-contracts
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