At Last! Be Recognised for your Performance with the CCNNZ Awards
With Katy Langridge, Team Leader at ACC New Zealand
Show Notes
Katy Langridge is a Team Leader for ACC New Zealand. She’s responsible for the annual CCNNZ (Customer Contact Network of New Zealand) Awards being held in September.
In 2018, she won the CCNNZ National Contact Centre Team Leader of the Year.
She shares details about the Awards - including how you can enter - and the secret to her success as a Team Leader.
Katy’s Top Tips:
Don’t be afraid to enter. If you believe you’re doing a great job, put yourself forward. Even if you don’t win, you’ll get feedback from the judges which can help with your development.
Give specific examples in your application.
Talk about your application with your manager. They may have ideas which could help your entry.
You'll Learn:
The 7 Awards which are up for grabs (02:51).
About the $500 professional development grant for each Award winner (05:11).
The dates for registration (06:59)
The coaching approach Katy uses which has turned her people from good to great, and strengthen employee engagement (09:05).
The quote from Angela Ahrendts (Senior Vice President of Retail at Apple) which guides Katy in how she manages her team (12:50).
What Katy does at least twice a day which she credits for her success (14:04).
Download the CCNNZ Awards Pack here: https://ccnnz.org.nz/event-directory/awards/
Email CCNNZ: info@ccnnz.org.nz
Connect with Katy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-langridge-b06723149/
If your priorities include strengthening employee engagement and boosting customer experience, I can help you out with a few ideas that you can steal. Send me an email (at blairs@bravatrak.com) and we can organize a 15-minute call over Zoom or Teams.
Transcript
Blair Stevenson (00:00)
Welcome to the Secrets to Contact Center Success podcast, connecting you with the latest and greatest tips from the best and the brightest minds in the industry.
I am Blair Stevenson, founder of BravaTrak. We enable Contact Center Leaders to measure and improve their managers' coaching conversations, so they strengthen employee engagement and boost customer experience.
I'm joined today by Katy Langridge, who's a Team Leader for ACC in Christchurch. Katy won the CCNNZ National Contact Centre Team Leader of the Year Award in 2018, when she was with the Christchurch City Council.
This year, she's a committee member for the Customer Contact Network of New Zealand, and is responsible for the annual Awards being held in September of this year.
Today, Katy is going to tell us about this year's CCNNZ Awards, and also share with you the secret to her success as a Team Leader.
So Katy, welcome along. It's great to have you. So just as a starting point, tell us a little bit about your background and your expertise.
Katy Langridge (01:10)
Of course. I've been in the customer service industry for 19 years now, roughly. Starting off in retail, and in the last 10 years I've moved into a leadership position, which I've been really fortunate in. It's been across three different organizations, all local government or public sector.
In 2018, I put myself forward for an Award and was lucky enough to win Team Leader of the Year. And that was recognizing my people-focused leadership, on my behavioural-based coaching for performance results. It was made up of quite a few different aspects, but all based around people focused leadership, and behaviour based coaching.
I'm really passionate about those things, and I try and deliver those in all aspects of my leadership journey. And I was really lucky to learn those quite early on, which has meant that through the different organizations, I've been able to bring that through.
Blair Stevenson (02:24)
Fantastic. I'm keen to hear about your take on behaviour-based coaching a little later on.
Just as a starting point though, I just want to have a chat about the CCNNZ Awards. And I know that you're keen to get recognition for people out there who are the achievers in the contact center industry, who may not be well known.
So if you could just remind us of how those Awards are structured.
Katy Langridge (02:51)
We have seven Awards, previously six. We've got a new one this year. And we have changed the name slightly to 'Customer Contact' (from 'Contact Centre') and that's to recognize all the different channels in which customers communicate with us, and that contact centers are the basis of all of those channels.
We have the National Customer Contact Manager of the Year, and that is a leader who's contributions have resulted in high performance teams who shine within the organizations and the industry, and their leadership is vital for that centre thriving.
We then have Customer Contact Support Professional the Year, the Customer Contact Team Leader of the Year, and the Customer Contact Trainer of the Year. And they are all recognized as key supporting roles that are accountable for core activities like service delivery, training, coaching, workforce management, people leadership, and capability.
And then we have the three Agents of the Year Awards. One is the Customer Contact Agent of the Year, which is predominantly the phone-based role. Then we have the Multimedia Agent of the Year, which is online chat or emails - basically virtual communication. And we have our new one, which is the Face-to-Face Channel Agent of the Year.
Blair Stevenson (04:15)
Cool. Because it's new, tell us a bit about that Face-to-Face Agent of the Year Award.
Katy Langridge (04:23)
It's recognising that frontline Agents are the heart of our business, right? And a lot of organisations communicate with more than just the phone and email and chat channel. And so it's a new Award to recognize those people who deliver that face-to-face service.
And they can be Agents in a retail sector. They can be ones who are providing the same service as our phone colleagues, but in the face-to-face environment. They could be director of first impressions, receptionists, anyone who's dealing with people face-to-face, and recognising the contribution that they give to the customer experience industry.
Blair Stevenson (05:02)
Very cool. Now I know there's something new for category winners that hasn't been done before. So just tell us about that.
Katy Langridge (05:11)
We are really proud this year that we are in a position to be able to offer a professional development grant to our Award winners. We don't have to provide a prize; being able to receive that Award, what I know from experience is just recognition in itself, and it is a nice thing to be able to have and share and know that what you're doing is great.
But this year, we're offering a $500 professional development grant for each Award winner, and that can be used for further educational development. It might be used to be put towards purchasing a tool for your job. Whatever you can attribute to professional development.
And I think that that's recognizing that these people are high achievers in their industry, right? And it's just a little token gesture of appreciation for what they do.
Blair Stevenson (06:03)
That's awesome. So for anyone who's listening, who would to find out more about entering this year's Awards, what do they need to do?
Katy Langridge (06:15)
Our Awards pack is live on our website from the 30th of April and that will have all of the entry criteria, all of the application forms (download it here https://ccnnz.org.nz/event-directory/awards/). You can also touch base through our social media channels or email us to ask any questions (at info@ccnnz.org.nz).
Get in touch with any of the committee members they're able to help in any way, or you can get in touch with me directly. I'm happy to answer any questions.
Blair Stevenson (06:41)
So that website is https://ccnnz.org.nz where people can go. And just a quick reminder, what's the timeline you've got for the Awards in terms of application and judging?
Katy Langridge (06:59)
Registrations open from the 3rd of May. They close on the 25th of June. So that's a six week period in order to get your application and send something in. From the 30th of July, the finalists will be announced. What that means is that the judges go through and have a look and create a shortlist.
Our finalists will be announced on the 30th of July, and from Monday the 2nd of August until Friday the 27th of August, the finalists will be being judged. And that includes a chat on Teams or Zoom - whatever communication channel is best for the finalist - with a panel of judges in order to best represent themselves.
And then Awards night is the 17th of September, a chance to really celebrate as a team. And we hope that a lot of people can come along. It makes for a great night, a great environment.
And then in October, for a first time this year as well, we are committing to provide the finalists, whether they win or are a runner-up, with feedback which can help with their development as well.
Blair Stevenson (08:12)
Those Award nights, they are fantastic.
Katy Langridge (08:18)
I'm really excited this year, It's the Mardi Gras theme and I just think, "Oh, what a party" after not being able to have them last year, having to have it virtually. What a time to get involved.
Blair Stevenson (08:31)
On another note, we mentioned that you won the CCNNZ Team Leader of the Year Award in 2018, which is a fantastic accomplishment.
You mentioned earlier about your use of behaviour-based coaching, which you thought was kind of one of the main factors in you winning that Award. And just for the sake of listeners, how would you describe the essence of behaviour-based coaching?
Katy Langridge (09:05)
Yeah. So it's focusing on the things that people have the ability to be able to change, or continue doing, in order to drive their performance.
It's focusing on the actual behaviours that are part of their role, and are fundamental to them doing a great job every day. And so whether someone is already doing those, and reinforcing those behaviours so that they are really clear on what to continue doing, or for those who perhaps need to work on something.
And then again, it's being really clear on what is is that I have to do to come to work every day and do a great job.
Blair Stevenson (09:39)
Fantastic. I agree. It's getting clear about the stuff that people have control over. What have you found to be the advantages of taking that approach?
Katy Langridge (09:51)
It's built up a really good relationship with my team members, because they are really clear when they leave the coaching session about what it is that they can do to get better. Or go from good to great. They're clear on what it is that they need to do to improve their performance.
I think when you're clear like that, it's really good open communication - and it's fair, right? - you're not expecting them to climb mountains. It's little things each day that they can do to do a great job.
Blair Stevenson (10:31)
Brilliant. The key to behaviour-based coaching is to heavily weight your conversations to the use of positive feedback. What psychologists call 'positive reinforcement'.
You talked about reinforcing behaviour earlier. What have you found to be the benefits of predominantly focusing on positive feedback, as opposed to predominantly corrective?
Katy Langridge (10:59)
It changes your relationship with the team. So they look forward to seeing you, they look forward to having those conversations with you. Because they're not thinking "Oh my gosh, what is she going to say now, what have I done wrong today?" They look forward to having those conversations and hearing from you, which I think was a real turning point for me.
It wasn't that the team weren't looking forward to it, it's just that it takes away that dread. That if you're working on a more positive ratio, it takes away the dread of having that communication.
Blair Stevenson (11:30)
Agreed. What have you noticed that doing in terms of engagement, resilience and so on.
Katy Langridge (11:39)
When I won my Award, there were definitely clear results that it had driven engagement within the team.
We were using a product called Officevibe to measure team engagement. And you could see really clear results from when I had started putting a conscious effort to that behavioural based coaching and that focus on team engagement. We were reaching eight and a half, nine out of ten, for our engagement results, fortnightly, on and on and on.
To see that as a tangible result is quite incredible. And that's really rewarding as a people leader, to see that your people love coming to work each day, and they're willing to provide that feedback to say that.
Blair Stevenson (12:25)
I totally agree. And, of course, you've got a whole bunch of knock-on effects around that in terms of the team culture, people enjoying their work. And then I see knock-on effects, around less unplanned leave, better retention as well.
Katy Langridge (12:50)
There's a quote that I often think about, and it's "Everyone talks about building a relationship with your customer, but I think you need to build one with your employees first". And that came from the vice-president of Apple.
And I sit on that regularly, because if you don't have a focus on your people - as a leader - then your customers are going to have that as an impact. And you will be amazed at when you build up the performance of your team through behavioural based coaching, you'll be amazed at how that flows on to your customer. People first, absolutely.
Blair Stevenson (13:23)
Yeah. Reminds me of the name of a book I believe was written by Hal Rosenbluth who ran one of the largest travel companies in the US. He wrote a book called 'The Customer Comes Second'. And his philosophy was, if he didn't treat his people well, they wouldn't treat customers well. Exactly what you're saying.
So how do you structure your day to make sure that you're having those positive conversations, and enough of them?
Katy Langridge (14:04)
I like to do a couple of rounds of the team, little check-ins. And I like to do it in the morning and in the afternoon. I also do it again at the end of the week. That's a different type of check-in of "How was the week? Enjoy your weekend".
If I do those check-ins at least twice a day, I know that I'm creating an opportunity to check-in to see how they are, what's their wellbeing like, are they having any troubles or struggles, to reinforce the positive things that I'm seeing that they do every day. It gives me a chance to maybe hear some conversations that they're having with a customer, or see some of the work that they're putting out and delivering.
Being able to provide that praise at the time, that's again focusing on that behavioural based leadership, right? Because you're reinforcing those behaviours that you see. And I think that my team now have an expectation. They're like, "Oh yeah, Katy will come around again this afternoon. I might talk to her about it then".
Blair Stevenson (15:02)
Great tips for people who are interested in that approach. Unfortunately it is time to wrap up. I know you've committed yourself to a huge task this year in terms of organizing CCNNZ Awards.
As both the organizer and as a past winner, what are your top three tips for anyone contemplating entering one of the categories?
Katy Langridge (15:31)
First of all, don't be afraid to enter. Don't be afraid to put yourself first, if you believe that you are doing a great job in what you do. If anything, you're going to get the feedback on what you're contributing, and how you're contributing. And I think that that's really valuable in itself.
Give really good examples in your application. And have support from your leader as well.
The biggest thing for me is just, don't be afraid to put your name for it, get in there. And let's get our team members to recognize some of their contribution as well. Let's start to recognize our good and great performers.
Blair Stevenson (16:11)
Awesome. I totally agree. That's all we've got time for today. Thank you, Katy, for providing the details on the Customer Contact Network of New Zealand Awards, and also for sharing your secret to success as a Team Leader.
Now for listeners, you'll find a link to the show notes in the episode description below.
And of course, if you'd like to connect with Katy on LinkedIn, you'll also find the link to her LinkedIn profile in that description too (https://www.linkedin.com/in/katy-langridge-b06723149/), along with the link to the CCNNZ LinkedIn page and website.
Now, if your priorities this year include strengthening employee engagement and boosting customer experience, I can help you out with a few ideas you can steal.
Send me an email (at blairs@bravatrak.com), and we can organize a 15-minute call over Zoom or Teams. My contact details are also in the episode description below.
Well, that's it from us today. Have a productive week.