Implementing a customer‐focused strategy: Refining communication processes at The UK Environment Agency
| Pages | 20-23 |
| Published date | 01 January 2006 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14754390680000862 |
| Date | 01 January 2006 |
| Author | Clive Hicks,Rory Gear |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
20 Volume 5 Issue 2 January/February 2006
N 2002, THE UK ENVIRONMENT Agency
embarked on a five-year “communicating and
influencing change” program to overhaul its
internal communication and services.
The program aims to improve the Agency’s
reputation with customers, quality of work, staff
morale, working relationships, internal communication,
values and service standards and to create more trust in
the Agency’s advice and opinion. Once the program is
complete, it’s hoped that partner organizations will be
more willing to work with the Agency and funding
bodies will be more supportive.
To help meet these objectives, TMI and its sister
company, Summit-IMM, an intangibles measurement
and management specialist, were commissioned in early
2005 to review the Agency’s “customer focus” and
“customer engagement strategy.” To achieve this
objective, the Agency used the “intellectual capital value”
process (ICV processTM) – a methodology which
identifies and measures the intangible or intellectual
capital of an organization using the following indicators:
• Relationship capital: brand, networks, customers
and stakeholders.
• Structural capital: patents, know-how, licences,
research and development, processes and systems.
• Social capital: culture, values.
• Human capital: employees and leadership capabilities.
The focus of this particular process, however, would be
exclusively on “relationship capital” – network,
customers, brand and stakeholders.
Meeting the challenges
To achieve its mission, the Agency needed both staff
and the public to understand its purpose, recognize the
value of its work and develop trust in its ability to
deliver. This meant improving the customer/
stakeholder experience and the effectiveness of
communication.
The Agency’s directors committed to making
customer focus a much higher priority and a
prominent element of a new corporate scorecard.
Several systems and cultural changes were implemented
in support of the new service strategy. These included
an “external relations strategy” and the consideration of
a competency-based framework based on the Institute
of Customer Service’s1standards for customer service.
The Agency also measures customer satisfaction
through its annual market research program.
Engaging staff and stakeholders
All employees involved in both internal and external
customer service needed to be fully engaged with the
ICV processTM. It was essential for staff to understand
how the Agency operated and particularly how it
defines success and adds value to the stakeholders.
They needed to understand its objectives, related
by Clive Hicks and Rory Gear
Summit-IMM
Implementing
a customer-
focused
strategy
Refining communication processes at
The UK Environment Agency
I
The Environment Agency needed to identify key areas
of its communication processes for improvement in
order to engage employees in major change. Summit-
IMM senior consultants Clive Hicks and Rory Gear
explain how simplifying processes and introducing
workshops helped align service strategy with the wider
organizational focus.
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