The Organisation
Ward Rider Solicitors have been established in Coventry for over 60 years providing legal services in the areas of Personal Injury, Employment Law, Conveyancing, Family Law, Wills and Probate. They have 75 staff, 30 lawyers and 45 support staff, 26 of which are secretaries.
The Challenge
The firm's mission is to provide excellent client service. They have clear goals and objectives to achieve this, which includes a commitment to the development of its staff. In a society where the client has high expectations both in terms of the quality of the work being carried out on their behalf, but also the accessibility and affability of the staff, excellent customer service is paramount.
Manager of HR and Facilities, Lin Elshaw identified a training need for telephone techniques, and found an appropriate course for their organisation, within a Charterhouse Training brochure. After attending the training with a colleague they decided to offer it to their group of secretaries.
"We attended the course at Charterhouse Training and felt that with a bit of tweaking it would be ideal for our secretarial staff. We gave the trainer, Angela Lamb, a brief overview of the firm and she came back to us with a wholly appropriate programme that fitted perfectly with our training needs and our objectives. The course: Opportunities not Obstacles Enhancing Telephone Techniques was born."
"The secretaries do not undertake many courses because they are well established in their posts and have a great deal of experience. It had been difficult to find something relevant to match their collective needs. For that reason we felt it important to locate the training off site at the Law Society Offices in order to give them the whole 'training experience.'"
"We were mindful that they may feel apprehensive in a group environment in terms of speaking out or be involved with role-play but Angela's approach was so supportive that the group's engagement with each other and the trainer was comprehensive. The group wasn't 'talked-at'. Angela used a number of techniques to suit all including facilitating discussion between colleagues which staff found extremely beneficial.
The Outcome
As the outcome was resoundingly positive they have decided to roll the programme out to the lawyers at Ward Rider.
Lin is also looking to develop an annual programme for the secretarial staff and will be working on developing a suitable set of courses with Charterhouse Training staff.
Lin said, "We feel it is important to invest in the development of our staff as it makes for a happy and effective workforce. This approach has ensured an excellent retention rate of staff, with a large proportion of colleagues having worked here for over ten years. Colleagues have pride in the firm and an interest in their jobs."
If you are interested in how Charterhouse Training can help you develop and retain your staff please call one of our Business Managers on (024) 7679 1700.