Customer Service Advisor Review

My role as a Customer Service Advisor within the Pensions Department has been enjoyable from a number of perspectives. First and foremost it was given me the opportunity to realise how much the working world differs from academic studies. Secondly, it has given the perfect opportunity to put my previous skills into use whilst extending on them in greater depth. Perhaps the most enjoyable experience for me was the fact that I got to see exactly how Pensions can have an effect on a persons life, whereas before I was totally oblivious of the importance such monetary contingencies for the future.

I felt valued by my colleagues, everyone helped me to settle in from the moment I entered the Royal Mail Human Resource Shared Centre on day 1 of my placement. This continued right up until my leaving date. I was never once left out of team meetings, training sessions or after work activities and nights out which contributed greatly to my enjoyment of my time at Royal Mail.

I could not have asked for a better management or team to have worked with. Everyone I had contact with on a daily basis provided their full support and guidance on both a professional and personal level. Even now my placement has ended I still have regular contact with many of my placement work colleagues.

My daily workload depended on the day of the week and the months. Work would differ significantly with the arrival/ending of product campaigns and pay days. At times when work schedules were not as hectic I would participate in training regimes for new recruits of The Helpline. Quite a vast majority of the time spent as a CSA is spent waiting for incoming calls.

A majority of responsibility involved giving correct advice and information to each customer. Giving incorrect information can have a serious impact on one of their life’s most important decisions during/after work – their pension, not to mention the financial stance it can have on Royal Mail if compensation has to be paid. I volunteered to action emails that have been sent directly to The Pension’s Helpline Inbox. This in itself carried a large amount of responsibility, especially when at times some of the queries were complex. It was important to tailor each email to a standard that was understandable as well as providing the information required. One of my main weaknesses was my ability to analyse data, so in order to work on the issue my manager handed me a monthly analysis project which would allowed me to focus on turning my weakness into a strength; whilst giving me more responsibility. The Customer Satisfaction & Perception Index project allows me to gain customer feedback on the service provided by the helpline. From here I was then responsible for identifying any problem areas to my manager. After doing this I then suggested and implemented improvement opportunities for both The Pensions Helpline and The Pensions Service Centre in Chesterfield. The project carried a huge amount of responsibility and proved challenging as my manger used my analysis and report in order to feed back to the Pensions Service Manager during meetings.

Being somewhat shy and lacking in confidence my role as a Customer Service Advisor has meant that I have been able to expand and elaborate on any previous communication and team working skills learnt within my first two years studying at University. Being constantly on the phone and set within a tight knit team environment forced me to communicate with a wide range of internal and external parties, thus giving me the opportunity to be able to identify the most appropriate method/style to handle the said query. These skills will come in particularly useful within my final year of studying where group work and seminar activities will be ever more so prominent to my final degree.

The general atmosphere was different depending on the campaigns. With more busier campaigns you find the their is a real motivational work ethic as the team strives to answer 100% of incoming calls which are significantly greater during campaigns.Overall the atmosphere in the office was friendly with people from different teams all socialising.

The placement was well set up in the fact that a complete training regime and examination was reviewed upon my arrival to ensure I had the required knowledge. The placement flowed nicely, however once I had had all of my training to an advanced standard I did feel as though I was not reaching my potential. It would be good for future reference for the business to think about other potential opportunities that they could give to placement students such as shadowing managerial staff or team leaders. Visiting other offices could also be a major learning point for students to get a real feel for the business rather than seeing things from just the one business department like I did.

Over the months I was given a personal training regime that was trained out by the Knowledge Advisor who was eventually given the responsibility of becoming my Mentor. The training programme stretched out over a number of weeks at the end of which I had to take an examination to ensure that I carried the knowledge expected of a CSA.

Luckily for me I study in Sheffield and so I have been given a part time job which I intend to fit around my academic studies. I am also aware that the company have a graduate scheme which looks fairly interesting and may be something that I may seek further information on.

At Royal Mail there were 4 placement students including myself. We would often spend dinner breaks together if we were allocated the same time slots. Being based on different floors meant that at times it was difficult to speak to each other, however from time to time we would email and organise meals and drinks after work.

As most of you know, prices tend to be alot steeper down south and so living as socialising in Sheffield is perhaps one of the more budget friendly places to work in.

Being based in Sheffield there are a large number of different activities for people of all ages. As my team was made up of people from a wide range of backgrounds, ages and preferences I got to experience traditional pubs and cuisine as well as the many trendy bars and clubs that the city has to offer.

Birthdays and team nights out are often frequent, this means that usually there are team nights out/meals or quiet drinks after work.