How TalkTalk played a key role in supporting Nightingale Hospitals - Mark Sellers

In a rapidly shifting business landscape, collaboration is vital to increase agility and drive success.

It’s important for organisations of all sizes and across all sectors to facilitate regular conversations with their employees, customers and the wider business community across the North.

Businesses have certainly learned a variety of lessons over the last 18 months, and as we emerge from the pandemic, sharing knowledge and applying these will be key. Here at TalkTalk, we’ve made several changes to the way we engage with colleagues, customers and other stakeholders over the past 18 months.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

With the below focus areas in place, we’ve been able to increase our customer service score, keep colleagues and customers engaged, and open up conversations across our wider business network.

File photo of Health Secretary Matt Hancock speaking via videolink at the opening of the NHS Nightingale Hospital BirminghamFile photo of Health Secretary Matt Hancock speaking via videolink at the opening of the NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham
File photo of Health Secretary Matt Hancock speaking via videolink at the opening of the NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham

Using empathy and understanding as guiding principles, business leaders will be far better placed to understand and respond to common challenges and take advantage of emerging opportunities.

To deliver outstanding customer service, keeping teams happy and motivated is crucial. It’s important that organisations of all sizes ensure their employees feel as supported as possible, particularly as we emerge from the pandemic.

At TalkTalk, we’re doing this in several ways. Firstly, we’ve introduced a hybrid working policy to provide our teams with a flexible, safe pathway back to office working. Establishing flexible working hours and being more intentional about driving collaboration whilst in the office is at the heart of this, and means that our team members can make the most of their working hours, wherever they are.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Supporting individual wellbeing on an ongoing basis is key. Our TalkTogether Series, which included wellbeing-focused monthly sessions for all employees, ran throughout the pandemic and provided colleagues with advice on a range of topics, from preventing burnout to boosting physical health.

Mark Sellers, Managing Director at TalkTalk BusinessMark Sellers, Managing Director at TalkTalk Business
Mark Sellers, Managing Director at TalkTalk Business

When it comes to wellbeing, business leaders can also set an example. Whether this involves encouraging teams to take breaks by not booking calls during lunch time or encouraging discussions about how colleagues are feeling, senior leaders in a business can play a huge role in creating a positive working culture.

When the macro factors affecting businesses are shifting quickly, individual conversations matter more than ever. Organisations should focus on setting up platforms and channels that enable more open conversations with their customers and stakeholders.

This has been important for our business over the last 18 months. At the beginning of the pandemic, we quickly set up regular newsletters and a dedicated Covid hub to ensure that customers were kept up to date with key information and clear points of contact, and we are continuing to focus on opening up direct channels of communication with our teams.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

With confident, capable teams and up-to-date insight from customers, organisations will be better equipped to respond to external challenges and implement effective solutions rapidly.

For TalkTalk, the beginning of the pandemic last year truly highlighted the importance of having this foundation in place. In March 2020, with the help of a committed team and partners, TalkTalk played a key part in delivering critical connectivity infrastructure at Nightingale Hospitals across the UK in a matter of hours – a project that would normally take three days to complete.

In this case, clear communication channels and a skilled, motivated team were key to success. By adopting these core principles, businesses will be well-placed to build both capability and

capacity within their teams. As we move forward and learn from the last 18 months, it’s vital for organisations to collaborate, keep employee and customer needs front of mind, and learn from each other in order to enable growth and boost the success of business community in the North and beyond.

By Mark Sellers, Managing Director at TalkTalk Business

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you'll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click here to subscribe.

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.