NTA Regional Award Winner, Partnership and Collaboration;
North Country Leisure Ltd.
Customers Rate the Results of Staff Training

Customers using leisure facilities run by Northumberland company North Country Leisure (NCL) have seen improvements in the service they receive, following training that aimed to build on already high standards of customer care.

Research carried out by the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) found customers perceived staff at the not-for-profit organisation, which runs sites across Northumberland and Cumbria, as friendlier, more helpful and more knowledgeable following the initiative.  The training was designed and delivered by NCL´s training partner The Jackson Curtis Partnership.

APSE´s independent survey rated customer perception on a five point scale. It found staff friendliness rose from 4.4 before the training to 4.5 afterwards. Helpfulness improved from 4.3 to 4.5 and knowledge rose from 4.3 to 4.4. Customers were more satisfied with the public information on display (from 4.0 to 4.25) and the clear display of prices (3.5 to 3.8). Further feedback came from the company´s internal quality auditor, whose average quality scores rose from 73 in the three months leading up to the training to 79.5 in the three months following.

John Maude, chief executive of Hexham based NCL, says the training has had a “positive and beneficial effect”. For example, changes have been made across the organisation to help frontline staff deliver better customer satisfaction. He adds: “I was pleasantly surprised at the immediate improvement in customer satisfaction ratings and a dramatic improvement in our internal quality inspections which look at our sites through the customer´s eyes. This could only be achieved by an extra effort and awareness throughout our staff.”

External audits had already rated as excellent the quality of customer service at the sites before the training started, but NCL set out to achieve even higher standards. Mr Maude said: “The tough economic situation gave an extra emphasis to the need to promote excellence in customer care and judging by the staff feedback, the staff response has been excellent.”

The training programme highlighted to staff the importance of welcoming customers while offering clean and safe facilities. It raised awareness of its customer care policies and its customer promise, while marketing materials were improved in response to feedback from the sessions. Managers judge that staff now better understand what customers´ priorities are and how to deal with their queries and comments. The one-day course ran 10 times between September and November 2008, involving a total of 136 trainees. The first workshop was used as a pilot, and changes were made in response to feedback. The training was scheduled to complete in July 2009 and was made mandatory for all of the organisation´s 240 employees. Government agency Business Link contributed £4‚500 towards the cost of designing and delivering the training.

Mr Maude comments: “In unusually uncertain times for our charity, the training has given a boost to morale and to knowledge.”

NCL was founded in 1998 as a charitable leisure management organisation with the stated aim of providing “excellent sport and leisure for all”. The Jackson Curtis Partnership is based in Consett. It was set up in 1996 and delivers management development as well as bespoke training programmes.

Both NCL and The Jackson Curtis Partnership are Investors in People accredited.