Jobs
Head of Customer Service Job at The British Council, Lagos
The British Council is the world's leading cultural relations
organization and creates opportunities for people in the UK and
worldwide to understand each other, to work together and learn from one
another. We see this as crucial to building secure, more prosperous and
sustainable futures for us all. We build trust and understanding
between different countries and cultures and develop strong
international links that are of benefit to people in Britain and the
rest of the world.
The British Council is recruiting to fill the below position of:
Job Title: Head of Customer Service
Location: Lagos
Region: Sub Saharan Africa
Department: English & Exams
Job Category: Customer Services
Pay Band: 7
Purpose of Job
- Ensure the highest quality British Council Customer Experience is delivered consistently across Nigeria.
- Regularly evaluate the quality of service provided through customer feedback, recommend and make improvements accordingly.
- Lead the Customer Services Team, demonstrating the values, behaviours and knowledge required by Customer Service Professionals.
The following are particularly important in the way we work:
- We integrate all aspects of our work regardless of how they are funded
- We are entrepreneurial in seeking and exploiting new opportunities;
- We are clear and confident about our offer to partners and
customers: access to UK excellence; our reputation as a trusted partner
and provider; our ability to work across sectors; our access to
international networks;
- We put our values - people, creativity, mutuality,
professionalism, integrity - at the heart of our work. We are committed
to equal opportunity and to the celebration and promotion of diversity
and inclusion.
- We focus on delivering excellence to the customer in order to achieve maximum impact;
- We work with and through partners to ensure that our work is relevant and to increase impact and sustainability;
- We are forward-thinking in our use of new technologies to communicate with our audiences;
Responsibilities
- The post holder will be responsible for evaluating existing and
new models of customer service provision in light of the Nigeria exams
doubling ambition and various British Council operational and financial
change programmes.
- The Customer Service team handles approx. 2, 500 enquiries per
month and is expected to meet a range of demanding mystery shopping,
enquiries into sales, and quality monitoring targets.
- The CSM manages a team of 3 Customer Service Officers and 2
Customer Service Assistants located at the Front Office Lagos as well as
one in Kano.
- The role will also have a working relationship with 3 Customer Service staff in Abuja.
Accountabilities, Responsibilities and Main Duties
Strategy and Planning:
- Create a culture of continuous improvement in Customer Services
through the development, implementation and communication of a clear
strategy.
- Use the Customer Management Framework self-assessment, the
Customer Service Strategy and the Customer Service Management Toolkit to
improve service quality.
- Work with Head of Marketing and Communications and Exams
management team to agree an annual promotional plan and contribute to
the development and delivery of the annual Marketing Action Plan.
- Manage data collection for the purpose of understanding our
customers and competitors and to provide an evidential basis for
critical business decisions.
- Assist the English and Exams department in adhering to Exams and
Teaching Centre Quality Standards and achieving targets by considering
these requirements in the Customer Service Strategy and service
improvement decisions.
- Refer to guidance from the SSA Regional Customer Management Lead
and the UK Customer Management Team when planning and to report back to
the Lagos office and the Customer Management team on progress to these.
Team Leadership and Management:
- Lead the Customer Service and the cross-SBU Customer Service project team.
- Effectively lead, engage and line manage Customer Service
Officers and Customer Service Assistants by providing regular and timely
feedback on performance in compliance with all aspects of British
Council performance management as set out by HR policies.
- Recruit for excellence in accordance with corporate recruitment standards and employment law.
- To contribute to Nigeria Exams team objectives by attending and contributing to staff meetings.
- To substitute for management team members.
Service Delivery and Improvement:
- Lead on the implementation of a customer service improvement plan for the Nigeria Directorate.
- Regularly evaluate the level of customer service being provided
and use the results to implement improvements for British Council
customers. Evaluate through: Scorecard, customer satisfaction
questionnaires, Customer Comments, Net Promoter questionnaires, Mystery
Shopping results, customer focus groups EQS and TQS results and
conversations with customers.
- Continuously improve the level of service by monitoring the
quantity and quality of calls, face to face and email enquiries,
registrations and conversion to sales rates and missed calls. Use this
data to inform ambitious targets in the Customer Services Strategy and
CS staff development initiatives.
- Communicate improvements and success stories to customers and all staff.
- To feedback customer insights and comments into the Exams,
MARCOMMS and other commercial services groups customer and advise on
channels for maintaining and reaching new markets.
- Manage internal stakeholder relations including implementation
of Service Level Agreements with key departments, review and revision of
these as appropriate. Agreed standards are met and stakeholders are
kept up to date through regular reports and/or meetings.
- Day to day running of British Council Customer Services but responsible directly for the Lagos hub.
- Manage the team to ensure appropriate staffing levels are maintained at all times in line with customer needs.
- Act as a central contact point for departments within the office
to ensure British Council objectives are delivered effectively through
the CS team and regularly update the Service Level Agreement
accordingly.
- Ensure the CS team deliver the British Council branded Customer
Experience consistently and in accordance with British Council Corporate
Customer Services Standards and Policies.
- Map the Customer Journey, measuring the Customer Experience regularly to make improvements.
- Communicate the branded Customer Experience to British Council
Nigeria as a whole. Evaluating service performance and continuous
service improvement.
Continuous Professional Development and Performance Management:
- Recognise learning gaps and address these with training,
coaching or shadowing and address performance issues quickly,
effectively and in line with HR policy.
- Line manage up to 6 members of staff according to essential HR standards.
- Manage overtime, time in lieu and annual leave in line with financial control standards and in order to minimise cost.
- Ensure the continual professional development of Customer
Service Officers and Assistants by putting development plans in place
and offering quality and CS specific induction, training and coaching
required allowing them to fulfil their duties to the highest standards.
- Ensure that own professional development and training is continued
Staff Management
- Direct: Customer Services Team
- Indirect: Customer Service Improvement Project team and other relevant working groups
Key Relationships
This list is not exclusive but demonstrates that the range of internal relationships reflects the range of external ones.
Key Internal Relationships include:
- Nigeria Senior Leadership Team
- Examinations Managers
- SBU leads
- Examinations Services staff
- Marketing and Communications Manager
- The UK Customer Management Team and the Regional Customer Management Lead.
Key External relationships include:
- Exams Board representatives in the UK and SSA region;
- Staff from DFID, FCO
- Candidates
- Global and regional SBU external stakeholders
- CS peers in analogous organisations in Nigeria and worldwide
- ICS.
- Senior staff from educational institutions
- Venue staff
- Enquirers
Person Specification
Behaviours
Essential:
- Working together (more demanding)
- Connecting with others (more demanding)
- Being Accountable (more demanding)
- Making it happen (more demanding)
- Shaping the future (more demanding)
- Creating shared purpose (more demanding)
Skills and Knowledge
Essential:
- Business Management and Development - Level 1
- Computer Skills - Level 1
- Marketing and Customer Service - Level 2
- Presentation skills.
- Strong Attention to Detail.
- Strong Organisation Skills.
- Dealing with Conflict.
- Stakeholder Management
- Change Management.
- English Language proficiency to IELTS band 8.0 in all areas (or equivalent).
- Good presentation skills.
- Knowledge of the education and qualification systems in the UK and Nigeria.
- Analysing data and formulating recommendations.
Experience
Essential:
- Line management and leading a customer service team to meet challenging targets.
- Monitoring service to quality standards; devising and implementing improvements to these.
- Three years' work experience in a customer service management role.
- Track record of working across departments to drive customer service improvements
Desirable:
- Experience of managing a call centre.
Qualifications
Essential:
- Education to Degree level or equivalent.
Desirable:
- A business-related degree.
- A qualification in Customer Service.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply
Click here to download job details (MS Word)
Click here to download BC Behaviour (pdf)
Application Deadline 5th February, 2016.
Start Date As Soon As Possible (ASAP).