Our clients tell us that expectations from their customers, staff and wider stakeholders have been reset over the last couple of years and there’s one common thread that holds it all together – organisational culture.
We are delighted to announce that Torina Leihal will be promoted to the role of 'Research Consultant' within the research team.
We are delighted to have supported Richard Stone and his team at The AIC in developing and implementing a new set of values. Seeing our work have a real impact upon an organisation is always a true honour and we look forward to the next chapter with The AIC.
In the latest edition of our newsletter, our Senior Training Consultant and Mental Health Ambassador Nina Maan shares her powerful journey on embracing vulnerability as her superpower.
At Accelerator, we're proud to announce our support for the Mental Health First Aid England campaign – Happy "Bring Your Whole Self to Work Day"!
We are proud to support the MHFAiders campaign for positive culture change. Fostering an inclusive and supportive workplace culture is more crucial than ever.
Happy International Women's Day from Accelerator Solutions!
Congratulations to our Marketing Consultant Rachel Dugdale, who is representing Northern Ireland on international duty over the next few days in the Nations League!
Wishing her the best of luck in today's match against Montenegro! Go smash it, Rachel!
Exciting News! We've hit a milestone!
We’re thrilled to announce that we've reached 1500 followers on LinkedIn! Thank you to each and every one of you for your incredible support and engagement.
We look forward to sharing more valuable insights and updates with you on topics such as training, leadership development, customer experience and our own research! Stay tuned for exciting developments ahead!
Over the last year or so we've done an extensive amount of training & development work within social housing and other public services organisations to help them provide real help to vulnerable customers whilst operating in a heavily regulated industry.
From this experience, we've found four key insights that have made a significant impact.
Celebrating 10 years of dedicated service with us at Accelerator, we extend our congratulations to Natalie, our Accounts Co-ordinator!
We are proudly joining Samaritans in supporting #BrewMonday instead of #BlueMonday this year. We agree that every year the Blue Monday trend is getting us down, so instead we encouraged our team to have a BREW and a chat to those nearest to them.
To bring a bit of fun we asked our colleagues to send in a picture of their 'BEST BREW'.
In 2023 our team at Accelerator worked with a record number of clients to develop and define the internal values that shape their culture.
Tuesday saw the publication of ‘Customer Trends and Predictions 2024’ from The Institute of Customer Service, with some interesting thoughts on what will be critical if we are to enter a new era in which service is redefined as a powerful brand differentiator:
Striking the right balance between achieving Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and making the ‘right’ customer service decision on a human level is undoubtedly challenging, especially in public services. How do you ensure your teams can still provide a helpful, responsive and personal service in an environment full of KPIs and compliance obligations?
Reflecting on an incredible night at the The WOW! Awards : Employee Recognition Programmes 2023 Ceremony in London last night!
Our Associate Director Steve Farmer worked with Alison Izzo from Berkeley Oxford & Chiltern to build a team talent development programme. Staff recruitment and retention has been a challenge across the sector since COVID. As a result, retaining and developing staff has become a priority for Berkeley Oxford & Chiltern. After completing the project and seeing some fantastic improvement we were delighted to receive such glowing feedback about Steve. “Steve is very good. I liked the fact that Steve listened to us and adapted the programme as we went along to address the needs that arose.
The transition to remote working, spurred by the pandemic, has reshaped the way we work, ushering in an era of flexibility in working practices. However, as organisations adapt to this new normal, an unexpected challenge of ‘proximity bias’ is emerging. This refers to organisations seeming to favour employees who are physically close to management, potentially jeopardising the career progression of remote workers.
Startling Survey Reveals Alarming Impact of Bad Management on UK Workers.
Our research team have often found that companies spend thousands of pounds on customer and stakeholder surveys but can then struggle to turn feedback data into action and make the changes their business needs.
Last week our co-founder Heidi Daniell had the privilege to judge the finalists from over 34,000 nominations for the The WOW! Awards 2023. Results will be announced at the Gala Ceremony in London on 28 November – the first to take place in five years.
Our research team are usually the ones gathering, analysing and reporting on client experience feedback programmes.
We practice what we preach and following important customer experience research we carried out for Craig Mills and Sam Mardon at Landmark, the tables were turned, and our research team received feedback about themselves!
Edition two of the Service Leadership newsletter is about closing the empathy gap between leaders and teams
Our Emotional Intelligence specialist, Richard Harvey helps to explain... What is empathy? What is the empathy gap, why does it exist and how do we close it?
There is nothing more rewarding than when our training has a really clear and instant impact on business...
Sarah recently delivered an engaging course on managing change at IMServ. Here’s what some of the managers at IMServ Europe Ltd had to say about the training...
We asked our followers what their biggest business challenges are at the moment and what topics they’d like us to cover here. Customer retention was the issue of greatest concern and interest. Whether in retail or business, people are feeling more vulnerable and less financially secure, meaning that new customers are in short supply and existing customers are quick to jump ship for the cheapest deal or better service.
"We're not machines and we need time"
Come inside Accelerator and meet our Training Support Administrator, Bryony Tebbutt.
Bryony is a Actor alongside her work with Accelerator. Hear about her unique perspective on flexible working from her experience of dual career.
Come inside Accelerator and meet our Support Team Manager, Samantha Gough!
Find out how she thinks you can keep employee engagement high when times are tough.
Today we’re humbled to share the story of Kerry Randle, a senior project manager at Berkeley Group IT, who went into one of our management training programmes thinking ‘I don’t have time for this’ and ‘I’m a bit too old for this’ and came out the other side really wanting to share the life-changing impact it’s had, not only on her work life but her personal life too.
All of us at Accelerator would like to show our support and celebrate Pride Month.
Do you have external providers delivering service on your behalf to your customers?
It makes commercial sense for a lot of organisations. But how about the customer experience? How can you ensure that others understand and deliver YOUR service culture?
Our Research Analyst, Torina Leihal, draws upon her work within the Public Transport and Serviced Office industries to navigate through the changing face of collaboration and working patterns to give a unique account of the wider workforce trends at play.
She highlights key lessons in how organisations can adapt to meet demands for a more collaborative working environment whilst stressing the importance of proactive and regularly temperature checking how these trends are impacting your industry.
Congratulations to our specialist training leader Nina Maan who is one of the first people in the country to complete the internationally recognised RSPH Level 3 Award in Mental Health First Aid.
We’re delighted to announce that we’ve reached 1,000 followers on LinkedIn!
We asked you... SHOULD ALL CUSTOMERS BE TREATED EQUALLY?
Intriguingly, the answers were split almost evenly between yes, no and it depends!
It seems the social housing sector is at a critical point, particularly given the introduction of the new Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSM) regime this week.
It is always great to receive such positive feedback from our clients, affirming the powerful work that our Research & Insights team consistently provide here at Accelerator.Thank you Polly Bryan and Orega for your kind words!
A hilarious interview with two of our very experienced training consultants Nina Maan and Steven Farmer. Together they have a combined total of 15 years at Accelerator and after often partnering up to deliver creative and engaging training they've become known as 'work husband and wife'.
A fantastic, high-energy session last week presenting at Rochdale Boroughwide Housing all company event to more than 500 people!
Happy International Women's Day!
Follow the Accelerator Curve...
After over 20 years helping businesses stand out from the rest, we’ve seen what’s really made the difference in accelerating the cultural change needed.
Three words: Clarity, Consistency and Confidence.
Whether you’re creating the best customer experience or developing your people and leaders, addressing these three simple words, in that order, can really bring pace to things.
SOCIAL HOUSING: TURNING THE TIDEThe social housing sector started with a clear purpose to give those in need the quality and dignity that insecure and unaffordable private renting could not. We’ve been fortunate to work with several social housing organisations recently and experienced first-hand how employees and managers can get caught up in internal process and procedure, losing sight of the core purpose of the organisation. For the last 12 years the English social housing sector has seen little scrutiny in the services it provides to residents.
There is nothing we like more than our amazing Training & Development Consultants getting such complimentary feedback from customers, well done Naomi Jones.
“Having started less than a week ago, I’ve already jumped straight into interesting and challenging data analysis. It’s great that Accelerator has trusted me and encourages an autonomous way of working. I look forward to being able to provide some great insights and also hopefully a fresh perspective!”
Huge congratulations to Accelerator consultants Samantha Gough and Jacqueline Regan who have recently become qualified as Lumina Learning Practitioners. This increases our practitioner team to four and reinforces our growing partnership with Lumina Learning
How does the whole country of Japan gain absolute buy-in to this strong cultural belief in cleanliness? And how can we relate that to getting cultural buy-in within an organisation?
Assuming they’d be disappointed and a bit annoyed after re-arranging appointments and holding dresses back, she was pleasantly surprised by all four companies! Every single one of them simply said …
GamCare was founded in 1997 and is the leading provider of information, advice and support for anyone affected by gambling harms, including the National Gambling Helpline. It’s grown significantly from a small charity to an extensive team who have supported over 100,000 people in the UK to date. GamCare’s leaders and managers are critical to success, empowered with the skills to motivate and engage their teams, in turn reducing absence levels, building confidence and enhancing performance. Previous leadership training had had been seen as too theoretical and lacking practical skills, so they turned to Accelerator for help.
INCREASING DEMAND FOR MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID TRAININGMental Health First Aiders are crucial in helping boost employee wellbeing as we adjust to the profoundly changed workplace environment.Demand for certification is increasing and our upcoming MHFAider® Online Mental Health First Aid course next month is already fully booked! To help meet the increasing demand, we’ve set new dates for January 2023 and we’re holding the price at £300 + VAT (£25 reduction from MHFA England recommended cost).
One of Accelerator’s senior coaches recently worked with a company that were experiencing real tension within their executive leadership team due to one individual’s behaviour. Our involvement really was the last chance to turn things around. Our intervention consisted of a single 60-minute coaching session. During this, it became apparent that everything up to that point had only been based on vague comments and feedback from colleagues had not successfully pinpointed the problem. This ‘laser coaching’ identified the actual behaviour that was creating such tension and led to a true mindset shift that was immediately noticed and welcomed by senior colleagues.
Naomi Jones joins us at Accelerator as a Training and Development Consultant and has had experience in Consumer Goods and NHS. She has been involved in a great variety of projects and programmes including Employee Experience, Early Careers and Team Effectiveness. "I’ve had a great first week at Accelerator and excited to jump into the journey ahead! Looking forward to working with Accelerator’s diverse range of clients and supporting their growth through their people." As you can see, Naomi is adventurous and up for a challenge!Welcome to the team Naomi!
Lessons in leadership from our co -founder, Heidi Daniell!
If the bizarre weather this summer has reminded us of anything, it’s that our environment is highly unpredictable, and change is inevitable. And that goes for the business environment as much as the natural world. The vital component is to have agile leaders who can adapt their style and approach. People are inherently averse to change, so how do you navigate unexpected change that will impact your business? And how do you bring people with you on the change journey? At Accelerator we’ve seen a big uptake in leadership programmes with clients who recognise that change seems to be the only certainty these days.
Customers are now 29% more likely to leave feedback – good or bad – than before the pandemic (Feefo). Roughly half of UK customers say they will switch suppliers after just one bad experience and for multiple disappointments this number rockets to 80% (Zendesk). Customers expect considerably better experiences compared to pre-pandemic times. Organisations that continue to blame Covid for poor customer experience will lose business to competitors who have been able to transform their service to match customer expectations.
As the dust is settling post-pandemic, the traditional approach of ‘bums on seats, five days a week’, seems to be a thing of the past, as hybrid working is the new normal.Recent research from the Office of National Statistics found that, while productivity and work-life balance are reported to have increased with hybrid working, it is not without its challenges:1. 30% of employees report an increase in hours worked as a result of being unable to detach work from home life, resulting in chronic burnout.2.
Holding on to your top talent has never been so crucial. Employees are redefining what’s important to them and rival organisations are equally keen to get their hands on your people.Recent research conducted by Gallup and Workman shows that employee recognition is one of the biggest driving factors in people feeling valued, empowered and productive. Most importantly, it can also boost loyalty three-fold.So why do 81% of leaders say employee recognition is not a strategic priority and 73% say there is no appropriate training for managers?In the world of hybrid working, the human element happens much less organically and managers are often not equipped with the skills to show genuine, meaningful recognition for individuals or teams.
AuthenticOne thing Leah is most conscious of is not changing who she is. “I’d be devastated if somebody told me, ‘You’ve changed’. Instead of maybe trying to apply myself to the role, it’s about trying not to be any different.”England team-mate Demi Stokes said: “She’s very cool, very calm and most importantly she’s Leah and she just brings herself”.Humble“It’s the way she interacts with people. She’s just easy-going, has that understanding that it’s not all about her.
Customer expectation is increasing pressure on businesses to put service back at the heart of decision making. Join us in this interactive workshop to learn how to create a thriving service culture, against a backdrop of hybrid working, supply chain challenges and skills shortages. Feel confident & inspired for the year ahead. In this workshop, you will:-
Identify areas of focus for your service culture learn how to improve customer loyalty and how to measure success Feel more confident & inspired to shape your customer strategy for 2022 The workshop will be a blend of presentation, case studies and active participation in facilitated break out rooms.
Customer expectation is increasing pressure on businesses to put service back at the heart of decision making. Join us in this interactive workshop to learn how to create a thriving service culture, against a backdrop of hybrid working, supply chain challenges and skills shortages. Feel confident & inspired for the year ahead. In this workshop, you will:-
Identify areas of focus for your service culture learn how to improve customer loyalty and how to measure success Feel more confident & inspired to shape your customer strategy for 2022 The workshop will be a blend of presentation, case studies and active participation in facilitated break out rooms.
Our co-founder Henry Hopkins features on Episode 74 of The Leadership Enigma podcast. Hosted by the esteemed Adam Pacifico, in this episode, you will learn:-1. How you must carefully decide what your service is and is not2. If you can delight your customers all the time versus the need to deliver consistently whilst occasionally delighting customers along the way?3. To have the correct listening systems in place in order to hear and action the customer 'moments of truth'Henry also outlines the three critical ingredients for creating customer trust; clarity, consistency and confidence.Driving a real service culture will require every single person within your organisation to be aligned and committed.
Join this engaging, live discussion with Accelerator’s Research Team as they share their experience in gathering and using feedback in a changing world.
The Accelerator PCA Showcase Awards recognise innovation in Service Excellence, Employee Wellbeing and Human-centred Leadership during the uncertainties of the pandemic in 2020
Please join us for a special webinar with The WOW! Awards on 'Kindness & Gratitude' on 9th February 2021, register your place today.
Please join our team for a three-part webinar series on 'The Empathy Factor' starting Thursday 15th October 2020, register your place today.
In partnership with Investor In Customers (IIC), we’re excited to announce the IIC Ambassador Award - a brand new customer experience development programme and recognition award for individuals.
Please join our team for a one-hour preview webinar on the new award. Places are limited, so please book your place now.
During these very uncertain and stressful times, the Accelerator team is here to help. We’re pleased to be supporting Mental Health Awareness Week which takes place from 18-24 May 2020. We’re providing a series of free webinars throughout the week, co-hosted by our Senior Consultant Steve Farmer and Mental Health First Aid specialist Nina Maan. This year’s theme is KINDNESS – a simple but powerful aspect of our communication that has such a positive impact when it comes to emotional resilience, managing stress and personal confidence.
As we become more aware of mental health issues and the serious impact they can have in the workplace, more companies are seeking out effective solutions to improve the mental wellbeing of their employees. Mental Health First Aid is one of these solutions, and in this article we will try to answer some common questions about the subject.
This article will provide you with all the reasons why putting forward your promising managers for an Accelerator Solutions leadership course can be cost-effective, improve morale and retention and ultimately benefit your business.
Did you know: 89% of consumers began doing business with a competitor following a poor customer experience? (Oracle) Additionally, a customer who has had a bad experience is likely to tell 9-15 people about it! (Reputation Refinery)
According to UK hospitality statistics for 2017, the hospitality industry accounts for 3.2m jobs through direct employment and is the 3rd biggest employer in the UK. This is bigger than automotive, pharmaceuticals and aerospace combined, and twice as big as financial services. Significantly, the industry generated over £72bn of gross value directly to the UK economy, and a further £86bn indirectly. As a result, it wouldn’t be unfair to say that hospitality is thriving.
Angel Trains, one of Britain's leading train leasing companies, has re-appointed Accelerator to manage its Stakeholder Feedback Programme until 2021...
According to the Office for National Statistics, 5.34 million people across the United Kingdom work in the public sector (as of June 2018). If you’re one of these employees and aiming to improve the customer service delivered within your department, the information in this article will outline a number of basic customer service tips. However, Accelerator Solutions believes that in order to achieve maximum results, customer service training should be tailored to the context of an organisation. As a result, our training courses and workshops are aligned with the specific needs of your team.
We are very proud to say that Accelerator has been appointed by the House of Commons to deliver...
Did you know, according to Tom Rath's and Dr. Donald Clifton’s book ‘How Full Is Your Bucket’, the number one reason individuals leave their job is that they don’t feel appreciated. Recognition is one of the most important things you can do to increase retention and lower turnover. What is employee recognition? In the simplest way possible, employee recognition is the acknowledgement of a job well done. See, that’s it. It’s just about showing them that you notice and appreciate all the hard work they’re doing.
We are excited to announce that, in partnership with The Gym Group, we have been shortlisted as a finalist at the UK Customer Experience Awards 2018 for ‘Best customer experience training - Programme/Project’!
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