Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 12TH - 18TH APRIL 2019 | 23 Customers ees have completed the deaf awareness programme, which was co-designed with the Royal Association for Deaf People. BrowseAloud, a program that speaks website content, is available to visually impaired customers using UKPN's web- site. Literature is also provided in Braille and large print formats for those with poor sight. Customers with learning di - culties, meanwhile, have access to literature in an "easy-read" format, while focus groups were organised with Age Exchange to understand the needs of custom- ers with dementia. Sta… were provided with an autism awareness training pro- gramme, co-designed with the National Autistic Society. The training used virtual reality to help employees experience a power cut from the point of view of people with autism. What were the KPIs? There were several key perfor- mance indicators for the pro- gramme of inclusive customer care, including: • to improve customer satisfac- tion for customers on UKPN's priority service register (PSR). This duly increased from 8.08 out of 10 (in 2013) to 9.23 out of 10 (in 2018); • to improve customer satis- faction levels for those liv- ing with dementia, a• er a planned or unplanned power cut, to an average of 9.6 out of ten in 2018, up from 8.6 out of 10 the previous year; • to redesign the company's website and not go live until it consistently scored 9 out of 10 in trials with customer groups. What were the bene ts for business? UKPN says it wants to have the "most engaged employees, most satis— ed customers and provide best in class service" for all of its customers. The bene— ts for its business included maintaining its record in Ofgem's stakeholder engage- ment consumer vulnerability incentive scheme and retaining its British Standars Institute accreditation for inclusive ser- vice provision. UKPN surveys its employees each year on a wide range of questions as it applies for the Sunday Times' Top 25 Best Big Companies to Work For list and this includes a corporate social responsibility rating called "giv- ing something back". The network company says its score for "giving something back" increased from 60 out of 100 in 2017, to 64 out of 100 in¢2018. Furthermore, PSR customers scored the DNO 9.23 out of 10 for customer satisfaction. Customer Care Award Category sponsor: Capgemini Award winner: UKPN • Annual company turnover: £1.6¢million • Number of employees: 6,100 • Customers: 8.3 million properties Entry criteria: • Please provide a brief outline of how you have provided outstanding customer care, whether though a single initiative or on an ongoing basis • Please quantify the scale of ambition of your entry, in relation to your company size and size of customer base • What have been the quanti— able bene— ts for customers? • How have you measured the success of your changes and how is the measure veri— ed? • What has been the business bene— t and did it achieve its objectives? • How did this contribute to CSR goals and/or go "beyond business as usual"? The Utility Week Awards are held in association with Capgemini, CGI and Microso• What the judges said… The judges praised the work for o ering "much- needed support" to customers in vulnerable circumstances. UKPN on Awards night, with guest host Sue Perkins (left) and Utility Week acting editor Suzanne Heneghan (second from right) The 2019 Utility Week Awards will be opening soon. Sponsorship opportunities are available – contact Utility Week business development manager Ben Hammond on benhammond@ fav-house.com or 01342 332116 for more information.

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