The young people enjoyed the programme; it proved to be a good way to engage business people with the school and
benefited the town by encouraging the next generation of shoppers (and staff) in to take a look at how it works.
Wallingford School students Victoria Hillier and Megan Park, who were part of the winning team in 2009, said:
"We are really pleased to have won; we had a great time and really learnt a lot. It made us realise how important
good customer service skills are."
A business view
Sarah Heaps, Department Manager Customer Services at Waitrose in Wallingford who was one of the panel of judges in 2009,
says: "Customer service is something we are passionate about in Waitrose so it was with great enthusiasm we volunteered
to be one of the local businesses that judged the final presentations. All groups impressed the panel with their
knowledge of customer service, how they had applied this to the local area and the maturity and professionalism with
which they presented their findings. A massive well done to all of the students who took part in the project."
Project co-ordinator, Karyn Buck, says: "The idea of the project is to give students a grounding in customer service
skills before they get into the workplace. It gives them something extra they can offer to potential employers and
means a shop, hospitality venue or other business that takes them on knows that they’ve already been though a course.
The project has been welcomed by the school, the students and local businesspeople and OTCN is keen to roll it out."
A "really worthwhile" venture for the school
Feedback from the school for the pilot programme has been excellent, so much so that it has run the programme for a
second year. The lead teacher on the programme said: "Our students thoroughly enjoyed the experience. They all felt
that the training would be really helpful when applying for either part time or full time work and they could prove
they had been trained with their certificate. Putting together the presentation was challenging but working as a
team was a positive experience and they supported each other well. They automatically judge the level of customer
service when they shop in different areas now and find themselves thinking what could be improved and recognise what
is good service. This was a new venture for the school but a really worthwhile one and something we will be looking
to repeat next year, again with a year 10 group. Our thanks to the OTCN Ltd Team."
Sharing the cost?
The programme cost £2,400 + VAT with 40 students taking part (to include design and engagement, delivery, materials
and delegate handouts, organising the panel/presentations, assessment and marking, certification and evaluation).
For our pilot the cost was shared between OTCN (thanks to funding from Oxfordshire County Council) and the school.
In year two, the school part-funded the project and OTCN secured funding support from South Oxfordshire District Council.
A rewarding experience
Students get a certificate to show that they have been part of the project which they can take to future employers if
customer service is part of any job they apply for. The team that did the best presentation to judges won vouchers to
spend in the town (see picture). In 2009, the winning team will also spend a day in Waitrose to look at how the company
recruits staff with the potential to provide great customer service, and how staff are trained and follow up their
customer service performance.
|
