Libraries excel in Customer Service Excellence
Prestigious award recognises customer-focussed services at the heart of our Libraries.
The Libraries performed exceptionally well in a recent reassessment of customer service, surpassing assessment benchmarks by achieving 12 excellent or Compliance Plus results with zero partial or non-compliant results.
The Customer Service Excellence award is a prestigious accreditation measured against internationally agreed standards of service. The review covers areas such as staff attitude, delivery of service, customer insights and the culture of the organisation.
The assessor found that customer service is at the heart of the Libraries and that it directly informs policies and practice, writing in the report:
“Customer service excellence remains an explicit part of the strategy as both an enabling factor and an outcome in itself. This is more thorough and comprehensive than would normally be expected.”
The report emphasises the extraordinary levels of customer feedback and User Experience the libraries engage in to continually improve services
The review also states that customer service is embedded in all parts of the libraries across all teams and from front-facing staff to management.
University Librarian and Keeper of the Brotherton Collection Masud Khokhar praised staff for the outstanding result, saying he is, “proud and delighted” with the assessor’s highlighting of the “passion to keep our customers' needs at the core of service design and delivery.”
The report emphasises the extraordinary levels of customer feedback and User Experience the Libraries engage in to continually improve services. It highlights examples of service development such as extending the opening hours at the Laidlaw Library to 24-hours during term-time and the increased services available at reception points.
Staff were praised for their keen understanding of the importance and delivery of great service. The assessor was also impressed with the volume of praise and thanks that staff received from students, which was well above standard expectations.
The Customer Service Excellence award demonstrates that staff have the knowledge and skills to deliver exemplary service year in, year out.
“To win the accreditation means the world to the teams who work tirelessly,’ says Lorna Bastow, Head of Customer Services, ‘It is recognition of the hard work that goes on within all of our Library teams and absolutely motivates is to continue to deliver for University staff and students as we progress with our Libraries Forward Plan.”
But library staff are not resting on their laurels. The assessment is being used to fine tune policy and procedures to improve services even further. User experience is at the core of the Libraries vision, and the Customer Service Excellence award demonstrates that staff have the knowledge and skill to deliver exemplary service year in, year out.
If you want your experience to inform how we continue to improve our services, join the Libraries Advisory Panel.
