When It Came to Recruiting Customer Assistants for the New

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

When It Came to Recruiting Customer Assistants for the New Recruitment | Psychology When it came to recruiting Customer Assistants for the New Routemasters, London United opted to bring in psychologists to help identify candidates with good customer skills. OPC Assessment helped with psychometric tests, an approach that could grow Selecting the right people is a vital assessment centre was working. The deciding factor for the success of any psychologists took a closer look at organisation. For many industries, how applicants performed on each teaming up with psychologists to assessment tool at the assessment design a recruitment process is centre, and how they performed on second nature; however, this is not the job. commonplace in the bus industry. The analysis revealed that those London United Busways has who performed really well on the shaken things up by teaming up with assessment tools equally performed a leading provider of psychometric really well on the job, including tests, OPC Assessment, to help punctuality and customer service. It recruit its Customer Assistants for the became apparent that through this New Routemaster buses in London. combination of customer-specific The Customer Assistants’ role on psychometric tests, a customer- the New Routemaster is like no other. orientated group exercise and Their role is not to check tickets, but a competency-based interview, rather assist tourists around London. London United was able to run A great deal of travel knowledge on an efficient and effective selection tourist sights and transport links process and recruit high-performing around London is necessary, but to employees. make sure it is a pleasant journey for all also requires great customer service Leading the way forward skills. London United has been really This is where the psychologists impressed with its assessment centre. come in. OPC Assessment “With so many applicants for the role, Psychologists helped London it really helped us identify candidates United select some off-the-shelf practical and reliable measure of with outstanding customer skills,” psychometric tests to match the how someone would respond and says the company. requirements of the new Customer interact when dealing with a range of It has also received recognition Assistant role, which were then used customer interactions. from Transport for London (TfL) for as part of an ‘assessment centre’. ‘Those who The in-house group exercise was selecting quality Customer Assistants. performed used to give applicants a chance to The innovative approach has given Assessment centre well on the express themselves. This was followed London United an effective tool for Great customer service on the New assessment by a competency-based interview recruiting the right people for the Routemaster would involve the performed well designed to give additional insight role. Customer Assistant dealing with on the job’ into particular competencies around London United was so pleased novel and unexpected situations every customer orientation – essential to with the success of its selection day. To measure how they would the Customer Assistant role. The process that earlier this year it used respond in such situations, applicants first series of assessment centres were the same assessment centre to recruit first completed two customer-based run by London United in-house, 48 more Customer Assistants for psychometric tools, then an in- drawing on the expert skills of its own another New Routemaster route. house group exercise, and finally a assessors and managers. Running formal assessment centres competency-based interview. From these centres, more than 50 for employees in the bus industry The two psychometric exercises Customer Assistants were recruited is not the norm. However, London were developed by OPC Assessment in 2013. United, with support from OPC primarily for customer service roles: Assessment has shown that these the Customer Service Situations It really worked can work really effectively in the bus (CSS) and Customer Service Role Once the new recruits were in place, industry. This promising move is just Play (CSRP) exercise. These exercises OPC Assessment worked with the beginning for London United’s allowed London United to gain a London United to find out if the future recruitment efforts. www.route-one.net Wednesday 26 November 2014 | 35.
Recommended publications
  • Thomas Heatherwick, Architecture's Showman
    Thomas Heatherwick, Architecture’s Showman His giant new structure aims to be an Eiffel Tower for New York. Is it genius or folly? February 26, 2018 | By IAN PARKER Stephen Ross, the seventy-seven-year-old billionaire property developer and the owner of the Miami Dolphins, has a winningly informal, old-school conversational style. On a recent morning in Manhattan, he spoke of the moment, several years ago, when he decided that the plaza of one of his projects, Hudson Yards—a Doha-like cluster of towers on Manhattan’s West Side—needed a magnificent object at its center. He recalled telling him- self, “It has to be big. It has to be monumental.” He went on, “Then I said, ‘O.K. Who are the great sculptors?’ ” (Ross pronounced the word “sculptures.”) Before long, he met with Thomas Heatherwick, the acclaimed British designer of ingenious, if sometimes unworkable, things. Ross told me that there was a presentation, and that he was very impressed by Heatherwick’s “what do you call it—Television? Internet?” An adviser softly said, “PowerPoint?” Ross was in a meeting room at the Time Warner Center, which his company, Related, built and partly owns, and where he lives and works. We had a view of Columbus Circle and Central Park. The room was filled with models of Hudson Yards, which is a mile and a half southwest, between Thirtieth and Thirty-third Streets, and between Tenth Avenue and the West Side Highway. There, Related and its partner, Oxford Properties Group, are partway through erecting the complex, which includes residential space, office space, and a mall—with such stores as Neiman Marcus, Cartier, and Urban Decay, and a Thomas Keller restaurant designed to evoke “Mad Men”—most of it on a platform built over active rail lines.
    [Show full text]
  • Russell Bailey Employment
    Russell Bailey Employment The majority of Russell’s practice involves employment law and employment related issues including: All types of claims brought in the employment tribunal; unfair dismissal, TUPE issues, discrimination claims. Claims for wrongful termination. Injunctive relief arising from the enforcement of restrictive covenants. Year of Call: 1985 Claims for damages, accounts of profits and equitable relief arising from Clerks breaches of covenants and of confidentiality. Senior Practice Manager Claims by and against directors for breach of fiduciary obligations. James Parks Shareholder disputes including minority shareholder remedies. Practice Manager Martin Ellis Disputes arising under the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003. Practice Group Clerk Adam Mountford Disputes about matters ancillary to the employment relationship such as James Ashford pensions and references. William Theaker Employee stress claims: Practice Director Claims by and against commercial agents under the 1993 Regulations. Tony McDaid Russell has been involved in advising and representing employers and Contact a Clerk employees for many years and, as appears from the list of reported Tel: +44 (0) 845 210 5555 cases below, he has a close involvement with the London transport Fax: +44 (0) 121 606 1501 industry. He has business experience independent of the Bar and is [email protected] adept at combining business acumen with legal expertise. RECOMMENDATIONS 'Russell Bailey’s broad practice includes stress at work and
    [Show full text]
  • UNECE Tram and Metro Statistics Metadata Introduction File Structure
    UNECE Tram and Metro Statistics Metadata Introduction This file gives detailed country notes on the UNECE tram and metro statistics dataset. These metadata describe how countries have compiled tram and metro statistics, what the data cover, and where possible how passenger numbers and passenger-km have been determined. Whether data are based on ticket sales, on-board sensors or another method may well affect the comparability of passenger numbers across systems and countries, hence it being documented here. Most of the data are at the system level, allowing comparisons across cities and systems. However, not every country could provide this, sometimes due to confidentiality reasons. In these cases, sometimes either a regional figure (e.g. the Provinces of Canada, which mix tram and metro figures with bus and ferry numbers) or a national figure (e.g. Czechia trams, which excludes the Prague tram system) have been given to maximise the utility of the dataset. File Structure The disseminated file is structured into seven different columns, as follows: Countrycode: These are United Nations standard country codes for statistical use, based on M49. The codes together with the country names, region and other information are given here https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/overview/ (and can be downloaded as a CSV directly here https://unstats.un.org/unsd/methodology/m49/overview/#). City: This column gives the name of the city or region where the metro or tram system operates. In many cases, this is sufficient to identify the system. In some cases, non-roman character names have been converted to roman characters for convenience.
    [Show full text]
  • London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
    London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham SUBMISSION LOCAL PLAN REGULATION 22 (1) (c) STATEMENT FEBRUARY 2017 Hammersmith and Fulham Council London Borough Hammersmith & Fulham: Consultation Statement (Regulation 22(1)(c)) HAMMERSMITH & FULHAM’S SUBMISSION LOCAL PLAN REGULATION 22 (1) (c) STATEMENT Purpose This Consultation Statement describes how the Council has undertaken community participation and stakeholder involvement in the production of the Local Plan, setting out how such efforts have shaped the Plan and the main issues raised by consultation / representations. It is produced to respond to and therefore fulfil requirements set out in the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012, and specifically Regulation 22(1) part (c). This requires the submission to the Secretary of State of a statement setting out: which bodies and persons the local planning authority invited to make representations under Regulation 18; how those bodies and persons were invited to make representations under Regulation 18; a summary of the main issues raised by the representations made pursuant to Regulation 18; how any representations made pursuant to Regulation 18 have been taken into account; if representations were made pursuant to Regulation 20, the number of representations made and a summary of the main issues raised in those representations; and if no representations were made in Regulation 20, that no such representations were made. The statement should be read alongside the council’s Proposed Submission Local Plan Consultation Statement September 2016 (see Appendix 1) which sets out, amongst other things, which bodies and persons were invited to make representations under Regulation 18 and 19 and provides a summary and actions in response to representations to the Draft Local Plan 2015 (Regulation 18).
    [Show full text]
  • A Green Bus for Every Journey
    A Green Bus For Every Journey Case studies showing the range of low emission bus technologies in use throughout the UK European engine Bus operators have invested legislation culminating significant sums of money and in the latest Euro VI requirements has seen committed time and resources the air quality impact of in working through the early new buses dramatically challenges on the path to improve but, to date, carbon emissions have not been successful introduction. addressed in bus legislation. Here in Britain, low carbon Investment has been made in new bus technologies and emission buses have been under refuelling infrastructure, and even routing and scheduling development for two decades or have been reviewed in some cases to allow trials and more, driven by strong Government learning of the most advanced potential solutions. policy. Manufacturers, bus operators A number of large bus operators have shown clear and fuel suppliers are embracing leadership by embedding low carbon emission buses into the change, aware that to maintain their sustainability agenda to drive improvements into the their viability, buses must be amongst environmental performance of their bus fleet. the cleanest and most carbon-efficient vehicles on the road. Almost 4,000 There have, of course, been plenty of hurdles along the Low Carbon Emission Buses (LCEB) are way; early hybrid and electric buses experienced initial now operating across the UK, with 40% of reliability issues like any brand new technology, but buses sold in 2015 meeting the low carbon through open collaboration the technology has rapidly requirements. These buses have saved over advanced and is now achieving similar levels of reliability 55,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions as that employed in gas buses and conventional diesel (GHG) per annum compared with the equivalent buses, with warranties extending and new business number of conventional diesel buses.
    [Show full text]
  • Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme – Open List
    Delivered in partnership with Supported by Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme – Open List CVRAS approved companies and emission reduction systems - Version: 34 Date: 13.04.2021 This listing contains details of companies and their systems approved under the scheme requirements, along with their contact information (where available) and the categories of vehicle to which their systems can be applied in order to make the vehicle Clean Air Zone compliant. Company information Technology Product Application status Vehicle Approved vehicle applications Category Eminox Ltd Retrofit exhaust Eminox Approved Bus Double Deck Buses Single Deck Buses (Gainsborough, UK) after-treatment SCRT® system (SCRT) (DPF+SCR • Cummins ISBe 6.7 • Scania DC901 9.0 litre [email protected] with urea litre Euro IV & V Euro III, IV and V Tel: +44(0)1427 810088 Adblue) powered powered • Volvo D5F 4.8 litre • Cummins ISBe 5.9 www.eminox.com Euro IV & V litre Euro III powered powered • Cummins ISBe 4.5 • Volvo D9B 9.4 litre litre Euro IV and V Euro IV & V powered powered • Volvo D7C 7.3 litre • Scania DC901 9.0 Euro III and IV litre Euro III, IV and powered V powered • Volvo D7E 7.1 litre • Volvo D7C 7.3 litre Euro IV and V Euro III powered powered • Volvo D7E 7.1 litre • Mercedes Benz Euro IV & V OM904LA 4.25 litre powered Euro IV & V powered (e.g. Optare Solo) Page 1 of 10 Version: 34 Date: 13.04.2021 Delivered in partnership with Supported by Retrofit exhaust Eminox Approved Refuse • Dennis Eagle Elite with Volvo D7C 7litre Euro V after-treatment SCRT® Collection
    [Show full text]
  • The Londons New Routemaster Free
    FREE THE LONDONS NEW ROUTEMASTER PDF Tony Lewin,Thomas Heatherwick | 160 pages | 12 May 2014 | Merrell Publishers Ltd | 9781858946245 | English | London, United Kingdom Heatherwick Studio | Design & Architecture | New Routemaster Looks like The Londons New Routemaster article is a bit old. Be aware that information may have changed since it was published. Earlier this year, as he was stepping off the back of a New Routemaster, a friend of mine had his knee twatted by a door mechanism that was channeling the till from Open All Hours. Reeling from the pain, he wondered whether it was the The Londons New Routemaster or the bus that was to blame. Actually, it was Boris Johnson's fault. According to a promise Johnson had made to Londoners, that door was never going to be there in the first place. In his former guise as Mayor of London back inJohnson had pledged — as a flagship part of his manifesto, mind — that every New Routemaster would have a 'hop on, hop off' option, each vehicle manned by a conductor. It was going to be just like in the good old days. If that sounded too good financially reckless to be true, it was. Bythe open platform, and accompanying The Londons New Routemaster, were consigned The Londons New Routemaster the scrapheap. The conductors' job, by the way, had never been to sell tickets, which they couldn't. It was, presumably, to ensure that the mayor's encouragement for Londoners to leap at moving vehicles with Flynn-esque derring-do, didn't end up in a flurry of law suits.
    [Show full text]
  • Thomas Heatherwick Presentation March 2021
    Thomas Heatherwick Designing the Extraordinary Hazel Frith March 2021 UK Pavilion Shanghai 2010 • Born 17 February 1970, now 51 • Attended Sevenoaks School • Studied what was then ‘Wood, Metal, Glass and Ceramics’, now Three-Dimensional Design, at Manchester Polytechnic • Followed by MA Royal College of Art • Mother jeweller, grandmother textile designer, great grandfather owned Jaeger Heatherwick Studio philosophy ‘The discipline of ideas’ Please note all images copyright Heatherwick Studio unless stated Three dimensional design - not multidisciplinary architecture, sculpture, furniture, metalwork, fashion Early Work Kiosk/Pavilion 1991-2 • Now owned by Cass Foundation Goodwood Sculpture Park Early Work Gazebo 1994 • RCA final project • Sponsored by Terence Conran, built in his garden • Tilting stacks of birch ply support each other structurally • 18 feet high Heatherwick Studio Founded 1994 Harvey Nichols Facade 1997 London Fashion Week • First major public design project • Ribbon of laminated birch ply winding in and out of shop frontage • ‘Playful urban surrealism’ - The Architectural Review • Won a D&AD Gold Award Materials House 1998-9 Materials Gallery, Science Museum, London • Lottery funded commission • Combines 213 different materials built up in undulating layers • Intended to be exploratory and tactile • Library describing the materials adjacent Photographs Science Museum Chandelier - Bleigiessen 2002 Wellcome Trust • 42,000 droplets of glass suspended on 27,000 high tensile wires • Hanging down through 8 floors Photography Wellcome
    [Show full text]
  • Rapport RSE – Déclaration De Performance Extra-Financière Au 31 Décembre 2020
    Rapport RSE Déclaration de performance extra-financière au 31 décembre 2020 ÉDITO 04 QUI NOUS SOMMES 06 À L’INTERNATIONAL 07 CHIFFRES-CLÉS 08 NOTRE MISSION 09 2020, UNE ANNÉE « HORS NORMES » 12 Déclaration de performance extra-financière SOMMAIRE NOS ENJEUX RSE 14 2020, UNE ANNÉE MARQUÉE PAR LA PANDÉMIE DE COVID-19 18 NOS ENGAGEMENTS 22 Sécurité avant tout 24 Mobilité durable 28 Mobilité innovante 32 Mobilité pour tous 36 Acteur solidaire 40 L’excellence en partage 44 DROITS DE L’HOMME ET ÉTHIQUE 48 NOTRE MÉTHODOLOGIE 50 PLAN DE VIGILANCE 56 LAURENCE BATLLE Présidente du Directoire de RATP Dev L’année 2020 a, sans conteste, été une année hors du commun, bouleversée par la pandémie de Covid-19. Partout, nos opérations ont été touchées, entraînant une baisse sans précédent de notre activité dès le mois de mars : pour répondre aux évolutions des contextes locaux et des directives gouvernementales, certaines de nos activités comme le Sightseeing, ont été mises à l’arrêt, d’autres ont dû continuellement adapter leurs offres de services. Fidèles à" notre priorité absolue de sécurité, nous avons dès le début de cette crise mis en œuvre les mesures nécessaires à la protection de nos collaborateurs et de nos voyageurs. Durant cette année écoulée, les équipes de RATP Dev ont démontré quotidiennement une mobilisation et un engagement sans faille au service de leur mission de transport public, encore plus essentielle en ces temps de crise. Mise en œuvre efficace et responsable des mesures sanitaires, développement et déploiement accélérés de l’innovation pour des transports toujours plus sûrs et ÉDITO performants, démonstration d’une solidarité remarquable, nous avons su nous adapter et servir l’intérêt général avec détermination.
    [Show full text]
  • Urban Guidance: Detailed Coverage for Supported Transit Systems
    Urban Guidance: Detailed coverage for supported transit systems Andorra .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Argentina ............................................................................................................................................... 4 Australia ................................................................................................................................................. 5 Austria .................................................................................................................................................... 7 Belgium .................................................................................................................................................. 8 Brazil ...................................................................................................................................................... 9 Canada ................................................................................................................................................ 10 Chile ..................................................................................................................................................... 11 Colombia .............................................................................................................................................. 12 Croatia .................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Tfl Commissioner's Report
    Commissioner’s Report 18 March 2020 About Transport for London (TfL) Part of the Greater London Authority We are moving ahead with many of (GLA) family led by Mayor of London Sadiq London’s most significant infrastructure Khan, we are the integrated transport projects, using transport to unlock growth. authority responsible for delivering the We are working with partners on major Mayor’s aims for transport. projects like Crossrail 2 and the Bakerloo Line Extension that will deliver the new We have a key role in shaping what life is homes and jobs London and the UK need. like in London, helping to realise the We are in the final phases of completing Mayor’s vision for a ‘City for All the Elizabeth line which, when open, will Londoners’. We are committed to creating add 10 per cent to central London’s rail a fairer, greener, healthier and more capacity. prosperous city. The Mayor’s Transport Strategy sets a target for 80 per cent of all Supporting the delivery of high-density, journeys to be made on foot, by cycle or mixed-use developments that are planned using public transport by 2041. To make around active and sustainable travel will this a reality, we prioritise health and the ensure that London’s growth is good quality of people’s experience in growth. We also use our own land to everything we do. provide thousands of new affordable homes and our own supply chain creates We manage the city’s red route strategic tens of thousands of jobs and roads and, through collaboration with the apprenticeships across the country.
    [Show full text]
  • Transport Committee
    Transport Committee Value added? The Transport Committee’s assessment of whether the bus contracts issued by London Buses represent value for money March 2006 The Transport Committee Roger Evans - Chairman (Conservative) Geoff Pope - Deputy Chair (Liberal Democrat) John Biggs - Labour Angie Bray - Conservative Elizabeth Howlett - Conservative Peter Hulme Cross - One London Darren Johnson - Green Murad Qureshi - Labour Graham Tope - Liberal Democrat The Transport Committee’s general terms of reference are to examine and report on transport matters of importance to Greater London and the transport strategies, policies and actions of the Mayor, Transport for London, and the other Functional Bodies where appropriate. In particular, the Transport Committee is also required to examine and report to the Assembly from time to time on the Mayor’s Transport Strategy, in particular its implementation and revision. The terms of reference as agreed by the Transport Committee on 20th October 2005 for the bus contracts scrutiny were: • To examine the value for money secured by the Quality Incentive Contracts issued by London Buses to bus operators. This will include o An examination of the penalty/bonus element to the Quality Incentive Contracts o An examination of operator rate of return and operator market share o An examination of the criteria by which the subsidy’s value for money is judged • To compare all of the above with other contracting arrangements within the UK and other international major cities Please contact Danny Myers on either 020 7983 4394 or on e-mail via [email protected] if you have any comments on this report the Committee would welcome any feedback.
    [Show full text]