Three Take-Aways from HireRight’s Shift to Working Remotely
Has adapting to remote working affected your team? Here are 3 key take-aways from our shift to working remotely that will continue to educate us moving forward – shared by some of our Customer Service team members from around the globe.
It almost goes without saying that 2020 has been tough in many workplaces. Most organizations had to suddenly pivot from traditional physical workspaces to transforming into a remote workforce, and HireRight is no different. This past March, in response to the pandemic, HireRight migrated our global customer service teams to work from home in just two weeks, while still working and focusing on meeting our customers’ needs.
We had one advantage: we launched a new, cloud-based, omnichannel customer service platform in December 2019. At the time, we knew we were building for a future that would require greater agility and customer experience resources – but, we never imagined that future would include a pandemic.
We credit our continued customer focus to an enthusiastic and positive team and am so proud of our can-do attitude, high spirits, and commitment to customer service in the months that followed our company’s shift to remote working. After an initial substantial Customer Service volume drop earlier in the year due to the pandemic, we have rebounded to 100% of a year ago.
What has this shift to working remotely meant for our team, and how might our experiences help your organization? Here are three key takeaways from our shift to working remotely that will continue to inform us going forward – shared by some of my Customer Service team members from around the globe.
In A Digital Environment, Team Communications Are Key
Zuzanna Wrona is our Customer Service Team Leader in our Katowice, Poland office, and she leads a team of 13. The abrupt change from a closely-knit team working in an office to a digital workspace was a challenge, but one that her team embraced.
“As a customer service team, we operate on three channels and we were able to move all of them for remote work,” Zuzanna shared. “Our clients were not affected by this change. We talk more on group chats, particularly about complex cases, so we learn from our experiences.”
Ultimately, this new digital workspace helped her, and her team, understand the importance of communication – leading to improved client outcomes. “Remote work helped us to understand that communication really is a key to success.”
Connections, Consistency and Follow Through
For some of our team, working from home has offered unexpected advantages. Kim Gordon, a Client Engagement Specialist in our Chapin, South Carolina U.S. office, shared that working from home in her dining room “office” allowed her greater flexibility to check in on things during non-traditional work hours, while still maintaining a healthy work-life balance with her family.
Unexpectedly, she has found that this shift empowers her to focus on her top three priorities for her clients: connection, consistency, and follow-through. Above all else, Kim maintains that these three areas of concentration go the furthest in building a positive customer experience.
“If you build a connection with the client and consistently follow through, you build trust and respect – which is the foundation for any successful relationship,” Kim shared.
Hear more insights on adapting to today’s (mostly) digital workplace.
The Power of Tech to Advance the Customer Experience
HireRight recently launched a cloud-based, omnichannel customer experience, which gave us a little breathing room to transform our teams from physical to digital workspaces while still putting our clients first.
As David Dellinger, Supervisor, Customer Service in Chapin South Carolina explains, that technology allows us to work from anywhere. “It has allowed us to do incredible things as a team, we can continue to serve customers and remain in the workforce, even from home,” David shared. “It is a win for everyone.”
“I focus on understanding customer’s concerns and being able to fulfill their requests quickly and efficiently, David said. “Our customers’ time is valuable, and I understand that it can be spent much more wisely in other areas of their business.”
What Next?
At HireRight, we are continuously striving to improve the experience that we offer our clients. Although we have made important strides, we know that we still have work to do. Going forward, our team will continue to embrace these key takeaways – harnessing team communications, ensuring consistency, and tapping into technology advances – to support our clients in this new, more digital workspace.
Release Date: December 3, 2020
HireRight
HireRight is a leading provider of on-demand employment background checks, drug and health screening, and electronic Form I-9 and E-Verify solutions that help employers automate, manage and control background screening and related programs.