Percepta Australia is pleased to announce that it has been selected as a finalist for the 2013 AHRI Diversity Awards.
Percepta has been selected for the Inclusive Workplace of the Year category. The category rewards organisations that prioritise diversity and recognise the value of an inclusive workplace for individuals and the organisation.
The winner will be announced on 27 June at The Ivy in Sydney at an official AHRI luncheon.
Today, Percepta announced that The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice, in Glasgow city centre, will become the official charity of its regional headquarters until December 2014.
Employees from the office, also based in Glasgow, have committed to undertake a
series of events in support of the charity’s great work for those affected by life-limiting conditions.
Alan Bates, responsible for Percepta’s partnerships, says of the news “our employees already undertake a number of activities around the globe in support of good causes and our communities, with a specific focus on local initiatives where we work and live. So it makes sense that, as Glasgow has been our home for twelve years, we concentrate our efforts here to help another local organisation.”
The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice was founded in 1980 and was eventually gifted by Glasgow City Council to the then Prince & Princess of Wales. The majority of funding to operate the Hospice comes from voluntary contributions, estimated at £2.8m annually, which is further boosted by thousands of volunteer hours each year to help run the services.
Alan continued “At a time when The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice is launching a £15million fundraising campaign for a brand new Hospice, the team in Glasgow are looking forward to getting involved to help shape a future service.”
Cassie Oliver, Corporate Fundraiser at the Hospice added:
“We’re absolutely delighted that Percepta will be fundraising for the hospice over the next couple of years and want to thank Alan and the whole team for their support. With our new build appeal starting we really need the help of organisations all across Glasgow so if you think your company might be able to help then please get in contact.”
Find out more about the Hospice and their work, or offer your support, by visiting www.ppwh.org.uk
The Volvo Support Center is currently located in the Dearborn Support Center. The Dearborn Support Center, Percepta’s first dedicated site in Michigan, celebrated its grand opening on January 19th.
The Volvo Support Center went through a major transition when they officially completed the separation from Ford in the 3rd quarter of 2010. Volvo also migrated the support of several applications. All technical support was transitioned to Sweden. This was challenging and exciting for the team. During this transition contact volume tripled for the summer months in 2011.
Today, the Volvo Support Center provides both technical and administrative support for several applications such as Novell IDM and VRC2 which is the main web portal for retailers. The team also handles password resets for CIS, Parts and Warranty, TIE fax requests for access to web applications, configurations of Windows XP and Windows 7 and VIDA (Vehicle Information for Diagnostic Aftersales) which is a diagnostic tool with multiple functionalities.
While the team is small, (5 agents, 1 SBA and a Team Leader and a Manager), they definitely deliver when it comes to the metrics. The client is pleased with the team’s knowledge and the fact that they can consistently meet and exceed his high expectations when it comes to service level (which is 90% of all call answered within 60 seconds).
To see pictures of the event, please click the following link to go to our Facebook page.
Percepta, a leading global customer loyalty company and provider of contact center services, celebrated its 12th anniversary on April 20. Ron Chmara, Percepta CEO, marked the event by thanking the company’s worldwide employees for their contributions to Percepta’s growth and success.
Percepta was established in 2000 as a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and TeleTech Holdings, Inc., with locations in Toronto, Melbourne, Australia and Dearborn, Michigan. The company quickly increased its global reach by opening contact centers in Glasgow, Scotland and Melbourne, Florida.
Chmara noted that over the past 12 years, Percepta has expanded its global footprint from four to 13 countries across the globe and grown to over 1700 employees serving customers in nine languages.
“We’ve done well, but to further our success and help our clients succeed, we must continue to be innovators and experts,” Chmara said. “Every day we are challenged to demonstrate our value, deliver outstanding service, and design new and inventive services and processes to support our business partners and help them create and increase their customer loyalty.”
Chmara went on to point out that in the past year, Percepta had achieved ISO and COPC certifications while expanding services into China and Thailand.
“We’re very proud of the progress we’re making in North America and around the world,” he added. “We attribute much of our success to avoiding cookie-cutter solutions. Instead, we look at a client’s specific situation and evaluate what they need to reach their goals; then we tailor programs that are right for them. We’re also very cost-conscious and can return positive results at cost savings of up to 20 percent.”
Percepta’s expertise includes customer, dealer, and distributor relations and support in automotive, financial, retail, and specialty markets.
2012 saw the third year in a row that the South African office organised the Shavathon on site.
The Cancer Association of South Africa [CANSA] is the organiser of the event. The CANSA Shavathon is one of South Africa’s best-loved annual events in support of a worthy cause. People shave or spray their hair to show solidarity with cancer survivors or to remember loved ones lost to the disease. It also raises awareness and funds for the fight against cancer. As the shaving of heads can become a logistical nightmare [especially when it is not done indoors], the team opted for the spray-painting of hair or Spray-a-thon at a minimum donation of R20 per head.
The ‘old’ site, at the Customer Service Operations Canteen was manned by Percepta’s own Customer Relationship Centre staff with the assistance of Johnson, a Ford employee. Johnson remarked the following: I really enjoyed working here today. Percepta is like a family. The people come out to work and they joke with one another and one can feel the good vibe.2012 saw a first collaboration effort as the Ford Motor Company’s Wellness Coordinator offered to assist and organised an additional two sites where people could participate. One catered specifically for the parts warehouse staff. The second new site was situated next to the main canteen, an area with a lot of feet walking past. The high number of feet was evident in the R1 610 that was taken in that area.
Similar to 2011, most Percepta employees donated money to buy the paint needed for the day. As is the case with all volunteering efforts from small teams, every body contributed to the success of the day. The guys, who did not assist with the spraying, had to deal with all the incoming calls for the day.
2012 saw the team reach the target of hosting a bigger event. A whopping R2 750 was raised, far exceeding the R1 356.50 that was raised in 2011.
A big highlight of the day was the launch of the new branding with a banner masterminded by Christel Snyman, the Operations Manager.
For more info about the Shavathon, see the CANSA website at www.cansa.org.za or www.shavathon.org.za.
On the 11th of November this year, Percepta attended the Direct Marketing Association’s 17th Anniversary Ball, held in Edinburgh’s Prestonfield Hotel, located at the foot of Arthur’s Seat. The beautifully decorated stables adjacent to the hotel itself would host the event, providing guests with a spectacular setting for the evening’s festivities. Those attending were greeted to a champagne reception upon arrival, followed by a three course meal, ceilidh and late night disco, giving them the chance to chat and get to know other members of the DMA from throughout the UK.
The event also saw the welcome return of the Percepta sponsored “Groovy Booth”, where attendees could pose for photographs dressed in various comedy wigs, hats and oversized sunglasses (those of a nervous disposition have been warned). This year’s revellers did not disappoint, with queues for the booth stretching across the dance floor at times.
The highlight of the night was the ever popular Orcadian Strip the Willow, which got the majority of the crowd off their seats and onto the dance floor. As many of the attendees headed for the DMA after party, they were thankful that there was no repeat of last year’s weather (2010’s ball marked the beginning of the heavy snow, which lasted well into the New Year).
Overall, the night was a huge success, and the grandeur of the setting was matched only by the party atmosphere throughout the evening. Very much looking forward to next year!
For more than 33 years, the Gleaners Community Food Bank has been “nourishing communities by feeding hungry people.” Volunteers are an essential part of how Gleaners successfully distributes more than 36 million pounds of food in a year. Last year, Gleaners distributed emergency food to more than 484 partner soup kitchens, shelters, and pantries in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, and Monroe counties. Because of what Gleaners does on a daily basis for our communities, Kemba Bracy, executive assistant, Percepta North America, was inspired to get involved and assembled a team of 21 Percepta employees who were dedicated to making a difference in the fight against hunger.
The team discovered they could feed hungry people not just by donating canned goods, but by taking some time from their weekend to roll up their sleeves and help. Volunteers visited the Gleaners warehouse in Detroit, Saturday, September 10 and 14 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and helped pack food boxes, sort vegetables, organize children’s school supplies, and inspect food items for safe delivery to more than 300 families. Employees were delighted to bring their children to lend a helping hand.
We are proud of the Percepta team and their efforts to help feed families and make sure they don’t have to worry about when their next meal will come.
Special thanks to volunteers: Lynne Buckman, Lena Harris, Nicole Whitaker, DaVonya Lyons, Jiya Lyons, Christian Whitaker, Dorthy Williams, Pat Eicholtz, Christian Allen, Bill Eicholtz, Robin Tansil-Morse, Christopher Willis, NaDonna Taylor, LaSalle Swinson, Tim Aulph, Virginia VandenBergh, Erica Darthard and Kemba Bracy.
I’m sure nobody has escaped the recent freeze or if you have been lucky enough not to be affected you will not have missed the continued news reports on the chaos caused.
Many people haven’t made it into work, not because they can’t get there but because they cannot get their children to school. How prepared are we as businesses to support our employees in this predicament?
Would it be crazy to think about allowing employees to bring their children into work, find a quiet part of the office where they can continue with their homework or reading up other school books…? The productivity may not be 100% with the inevitable child interruptions but it’s still better to have a %age productivity than none at all.
Or should we be trying to make working from home on such days an easier option again with the same outcomes? There are many systems now like ‘Log Me In’ so the employee can access their own desktop from their home.
The stress, not to mention revenue loss, that is caused from both the business and the employer could be greatly reduced and employees are not forced to lose out on pay or take annual leave for a mini force majeure.
If you have been affected how would you like the situation to be handled? What do you think could be done to make this less of an impact for everyone involved?
During our annual management conference we were both entertained and enlightened by an excellent session from Rob Cram on ‘Preparing Our People for Growth’. Rob challenged us to identify the traits successful leaders have in common. He also gave us several principles of leadership to consider – The ultimate goal being to turn ourselves from managers into Strategic Leaders.
Although sport and business are often brought together to demonstrate various aspects of commercial behaviour, strategy and success, the fact that our nation is currently gripped (quite painfully) by football mania, got me to considering how many leadership traits the world’s football managers share in common and if they matched those my colleagues and I chose. The list we came up with was fairly long, so I’ve selected just a few for my little exercise of comparing Percepta leaders against those sporting ‘super leaders’.
We all agreed that ‘individuality’ is an important leadership trait – playing to our strengths and recognising our weaknesses, accepting that we, and our team, find strength through our individuality by learning how to deploy our talents to greatest effect. Arsene Wenger takes this idea one step further and adds a trait he believes is essential for success; that of ‘intelligence’, wisely challenging us with the question:
“Are you intelligent enough to understand what you can do with the talent you have?”
Perseverance also popped up as a key trait during our discussion. The biographies of all successful leaders tell of many, many failures before that significant breakthrough. Without the ability to act like a rubber ball, bouncing back after each trial or tribulation, we would have consigned ourselves to our beds long ago. Sir Alex Ferguson agrees:
“Next, you need perseverance because coaching at the top today is not an easy job. If you come in on a Monday after a defeat and you lack this quality, it will show and that will affect the players.”
On further discussion however, perseverance was also expressed as determination, stubbornness and shear bloody mindedness. This reminded me that there can be too much of a good thing and that a positive trait, expressed obsessively, can eventually become a negative constraint. For some reason this brought to mind Fabio Capello’s advice:
“You win by remaining concentrated, determined and disciplined.”
Perhaps Mr Capello would benefit from considering a couple more of the traits on our list – flexibility and willingness to try new things!
While analysing how a strategic leader should interact with their team, we came up with another timeless principle – subduing our own egos and putting our team first – in other words; selflessness. This was reflected in comments from several successful football managers. Agreed, this is selflessness with an edge – the need to focus on others rather than ourselves because we realise that it’s through them that we succeed – but I was still a little surprised that one of the football managers adding weight to this argument was Jose Mourhino:
“I try to control my emotions and to be what the team needs me to be.”
Our final conclusion was that, to continue developing and deploying these traits, we need time and space. Strategic leaders divide their time between company, customers and colleagues – Colleague time including empowering our team members and then delegating some of our daily “business as usual” tasks to them to allow us to “work at a higher level”. This means allowing ourselves to stand back, consider our options, identify our resources, set our targets and plan for success. This is a strategy successfully adopted by Sir Alex Ferguson, who cites ‘observation’ as a key leadership trait:
“As I progressed as a coach, I learnt that observation was vital. To coach and watch at the same time is difficult. If you are involved too much in the coaching, you miss many things. I started to delegate more things to my assistant and to stand back sometimes. Observation is definitely an important issue in order to make sure that the quality is high and that you get out of a training session what you want.”
With the time and space created we can build our vision and plan our route; we must also ensure our teams clearly understand and share our dreams. This requires both simple communication and positive action; so I’m giving the last word to Sir Alex:
“Keep it simple, be brief, but be decisive.”