Utilizing employee innovation at Kwik‐Fit Financial Services
| Pages | 12-13 |
| Published date | 01 November 2004 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14754390480000573 |
| Date | 01 November 2004 |
| Author | Keren Edwards |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
12 Volume 4 Issue 1 November/December 2004
REWARDS
,
Short case studies that demonstrate best practice in rewards
Utilizing employee innovation
at Kwik-Fit Financial Services
K
wik-Fit Financial Services (KFFS)
was established in 1995 and now
has over a quarter of a million
motor insurance customers. The call
center business, based in Glasgow, UK,
has undergone a significant
transformation in the last three years.
A commitment to employee
involvement and feedback has led to
innovative ideas and practices that
resulted in extraordinary profits,
improved staff morale and a number of
external awards.
A time for change
When I joined KFFS as HR director three
years ago, it was facing a raft of
problems. Its management style was
over-assertive and employee turnover
was 52 percent – high even in an
industry that’s notorious for its high
level of employee turnover. And this
was already an improvement from a
few years previously when it had been
over 100 percent.
KFFS also had trouble filling
vacancies for a number of reasons. The
local demand for call center staff had
grown rapidly as, since 1995, a number
of other call centers had opened within
a few miles of the KFFS building. The
company didn’t have a consistent
employer brand or a good reputation
locally and its extremely stringent
recruitment process meant that only
one in 10 potential recruits was hired.
When I joined in 2001, the company
had over 100 unfilled vacancies.
Although there had been employee
surveys, little action was taken on
feedback and, as a result, people
thought their opinions meant nothing.
Unsurprisingly, in the October 2002
survey only 40 percent of employees
participated and only two-thirds of
respondents said they would recommend
the organization as a place to work to
friends or family. Action had to be taken
immediately to start a turnaround.
“Kwik” wins
Although we focused on some initial
quick wins, this didn’t necessarily mean
low-cost measures. KFFS was behind
market in salary and since 2002 we’ve
increased salaries by 19 percent as well
as introducing flexible benefits and
staff discount schemes.
The lengthy recruitment process was
streamlined and made consistent and a
PR agency employed to boost our
reputation in the local press. We
launched the GEM scheme (Going the
Extra Mile) and Martin’s Winners
awards where the MD, Martin Oliver,
personally congratulates employees
with a bottle of champagne. Although
we had rewards in place before they
were for sales employees. Support staff
didn’t get much recognition and often
felt left out as a consequence.
Another problem was that KFFS
often made changes to the way people
worked with little notice or
involvement – a rule has now been put
in place that employees must be given
30 days notice of any change. It was
from this initial work that a project
named Making KFFS A Fantastic Place
to Work was born.
Starting the journey
Although championed by HR, the key to
the project was to involve employees
directly. The only way to find out what
people think is to ask them – and we
wanted to ask every single person and
tap into the creative talent of the whole
company. During December 2002, all 650
employees – in groups of 20 at a time –
spent a day away from the call center
considering the question, “What would
make KFFS a fantastic place to work?”
A local organization that specializes
in creativity and innovation trained
around 10 KFFS employees to facilitate
these day-long sessions. It was important
to us that this process was internally
owned – that’s why we selected high
Kwik-Fit Financial Services was launched
in 1995 and has grown to become one of
the UK’s leading motor insurance
distributors. Its call center now employs
over 800 people, handling 10 million calls
every year.
KWIK-FIT FINANCIAL SERVICES
Keren Edwards,HR director at Kwik-Fit Financial Services, explains how the call center company has turned its
business around through a simple strategy – asking employees what would improve their workplace.
© Melcrum Publishing Ltd. 2004. For more information, go to www.melcrum.com or e-mail info@melcrum.com
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