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UTILITY WEEK | NOVEMBER 2020 | 25 Customers 150 full-time employees based in India aer lockdown restrictions in that country closed down their operations. This requirement necessitated intense scrutiny of which back office activities in the UK were of highest business value, as well as some accelerated process re-engineering to allow for the additional workload to be absorbed. It was a challenge that Henry said the business could never have risen to without the intelligence provided by a sophisticated work management solution rolled out prior to the pandemic, which provides detailed data on incoming back office workflows and "allows us to pull different levers to get dif- ferent business and customer outputs." Henry credits this technology not only with enabling RSA to accommodate the addi- tional work volume in its UK-based back office (currently operating with largely home- based staff) but also allowing the organisa- tion to free 40 per cent additional capacity thanks to some clever process re-engineering and smart allocation of work. While this example is very pronounced, Henry said it demonstrates the agility and flexibility that has been introduced into RSA's back office since its technology invest- ment. This visibility has been critical to sup- porting productive remote working in the back office during 2020, she says. "I was always a sceptic who believed quite strongly that certain business func- tions could not be performed effectively from home," Henry admits. "My perspective has been completely changed. I have every con- fidence that the back office teams where we have deployed Work Manager could continue working remotely, efficiently and in any flex- "Technology used as an enabler is the goal. The world we advocate is one that empowers – not cowers – its employees. " A key part of our webinar debate and discussion centred on the emergence of Covid demonstrat- ing that if people are treated like grown-ups, and given the opportunity to perform within the parameters that work for them, productivity and success is highly likely – for everyone. We all agreed that there really is no limit to what organisations can facilitate and how far they can go with the flexibility they can offer. Yet there was also an important caveat to this. Organisations that have the data to make informed decisions and understand their productivity will be able to go further and offer more choice than those that do not. Much has been made in the media recently of compa- nies installing soware to monitor employees, counting keystrokes and turning on cameras to catch"slackers". Let's be clear. The world we advocate, where a day's work can be just as efficiently apportioned into as many different slices and time slots as can be imagined, is a world that empowers – not cowers – its employees. Technology that is used as an enabler is the goal. Yes, there needs to be visibility and technology at play, but the type of visibility and tech which supports employees whilst ensuring organisations meet their financial goals and customer obligations. Recent government announcements have made it clear that workers will continue to face the conse- quences of local coronavirus lockdowns, increased restrictions and personal circumstances impacted by the pandemic and should, wherever they can, work from home. Much of the Covid-triggered journey towards flex- ibility has been embraced in front-facing customer functions and by organisations of every type. This is something to celebrate and congratulate, yet there is more to be done. Ask yourself, has your back office been le behind? As we begin to ride the second wave of the pandemic, the best way through is to affect posi- tive change for all and to embrace technologies that support workforce management for every aspect of your customer operations and people. You can listen to the webinar Optimising flexibility and productivity – the challenge for operations leaders post- Covid on demand at www.utilityweek.co.uk Column Chris Rainsforth Head of operational management best practice, Verint "I was always a sceptic who believed quite strongly that certain business functions could not be performed effectively from home. My perspective has been completely changed." REBECCA HENRY, OPERATIONS DIRECTOR, RSA INSURANCE "We used to be able to physically see that while one team member maybe wasn't picking up the phone as much, they were constantly providing support to others and lifting the performance of the team overall." LILY STEIN, OPERATIONS MANAGER, OCTOPUS ENERGY customer experience. She described how this is conducted under a closely monitored "fail- fast" system of experimentation in which ideas can be trialled and any negative results quickly contained. During her time as a team leader, she recalled an experiment in dispensing with a specified team schedule for answering customer calls, instead trialling the assumption that whichever team member was available would answer incoming calls. While the experi- ment was not a success, Stein said it was a useful learning experience for team members who went forward with a new appreciation of the value of call scheduling, not only from a customer experience perspective but also as a way to protect the team from unnecessary stress. continued overleaf in association with