I was invited to join a 25-strong team of Senior Consultants from the UK and South Africa, gathered by Dimension Data/Merchants. We were commissioned by Reliance Industries in India to develop and implement the Customer Response Centre for their brand new ‘Reliance Jio Infocomm’ telecommunications network across the country.

It was a mammoth ‘from-the-ground-up’ undertaking, utilising the ‘Design/Build/Operate/Transfer’ (‘DBOT’) model of first assessing the needs, producing the solutions, implementing them, and finally ensuring that the know-how is passed on to the client.

My role was ‘Learning & Development Strand Manager’, working alongside a Strand Leader, and our counterparts within the Jio management structure, as well as a team of subject matter experts, to ensure the right solutions were created.

The L&D strand was responsible for ensuring the effective delivery of the following key objectives to Customer Services Agents, Quality Assurance Managers, Team Leaders, Managers, and Regional L&D Lead Trainers:

• Advanced Communication Skills: Design and implement modules to enhance Response Centre team members’ interpersonal communication skills – including active listening, intuitive conversation technique, problem-solving, rapport building, and complaints handling, all with the aim of delivering world-class customer service and empowering team leadership.
• Induction Programme: Develop a structured onboarding process to welcome new members, introducing them to the company culture, values, policies, and procedures to ensure compliance with Corporate HR and national compliance requirements.
• Management Development Training: Create tailored programmes for managers to strengthen their leadership, decision-making, conflict resolution, and performance management skills.
• Train-the-Trainer (‘T3’) Programme: Devise and conduct a 4-week ‘T3’ that equips a team of Regional L&D Leads with the necessary knowledge and tools to effectively deliver the above training programmes to team members across India in a cascade learning system.
• Regional L&D Lead Recruitment: Actively participate in the recruitment of the Regional L&D Leads, including interviews and competency assessments, and making critical recommendations as to candidate suitability.

For Mercedes-Benz UK (MBUK), I was invited into a team of specialist consultants to devise solutions that would direct team members from Sales, Service & Management staff at (MBUK) branch dealerships through the Institute of the Motor Industry’s (IMI) accreditation and certification scheme. 

We devised a full start-to-finish process, initially re-developing the competency framework for performance/knowledge assessments to identify any skills gaps, to design and delivery of bespoke L&D solutions, to final assessment and accreditation for membership in the IMI.

All processes and solutions needed to meet rigorous IMI requirements. They were so impressed with the results that they reoriented their own competency assessment criteria based on the model created by our team.

Assessment and Accreditation processes were carried out on-site at MBUK dealerships nationwide, to everyone from Sales & Service Advisors & Managers, to Branch & Regional Managers, with training modules held at MBUK’s HQ.

Specifically, in addition to helping redefine the competency framework and assessment criteria, I designed and delivered bespoke L&D Solutions on the following topics (as well as contributing directly to the creation of others:

• Effective Communication Skills 
• Conflict Management
• Selling in Aftersales

These modules were the ones most commonly identified in the skills gap analysis, and were rolled out across much of the MBUK network as a result, enabling hundreds of dealership staff to acquire their IMI standard and further develop their careers in the motor industry.

After the first year of end-to-end solutions provision, a colleague and I ran an ROI exercise on the programme and demonstrated a significant return to the business, demonstrating the material, as well as the intrinsic, benefits to their national network.

At the same time as the MBUK project, I project-managed two concurrent e-learning solutions for smart and for Toyota, each using different technologies to boost knowledge retention and recall for front-line Team Members, Team Leaders and Branch Managers.

For ‘smart’, I devised a product knowledge-based retention-and-recall system, utilising an AI tool called ‘Elephants Don’t Forget’, which accelerated new and existing sales team members to boost their knowledge and skill set. This system enabled MBUK dealerships across the country to ensure their teams dealing with the smart brand were fully catered for with product knowledge (their IMI-related assessment and accreditation needs were met with the above MBUK suite).

For Toyota UK, I developed a MOOC-based solution, populated with short-form copy, AI-based questioning, and instructional video assets, aimed at boosting product knowledge and accelerating the learning process for the entire UK-based product range, as well as new models under development. The MOOC also had a feature in which participants could discuss and debate responses, thus boosting peer-to-peer learning potential.

At one point, Apple Computers had way too many products in their range – so they scaled back to a handful, centred around the G3 and the iMac. They also decided to disrupt the route to market, by embracing the latest communication technology to drive engagement.

Apple reached out for an e-commerce provider to build a Pan-European Customer Response Centre – enter Merchants! We provided solutions to two key required elements. Firstly, we built a team to staff a virtual Apple Store, processing custom-built orders from customers across Europe. Secondly, we set up a Support Desk to handle the marketing and fulfilment element.

A six-week onboarding process to build this brand new team was created, utilising the advanced personal communication skills Merchants had developed, as well as providing the sales elements via a value-through-service principle. Once the team had been onboarded, I stepped into a dual role of coaching the team and also mentoring a new member of our L&D team.

By the end of the upskilling programme (which covered extensive product knowledge, as well as communication customer management), the team members attended an Accreditation Awards, at which they were presented with ‘Apple Passports’ to celebrate their learning success.

My task continued by remaining on-site for several days a week, over several months, to ensure the effective upskilling of my colleague and the maintenance of the Response Centre team members’ interactions with customers. I led my colleague through a rigorous Train the Trainer process, and she was assigned as the Team Leader for the project once I had accredited her.

The tasks and skill set described above included:

• Advanced, NLP-based, Interpersonal Communication Skills
• Intercultural / Multilingual Coaching & Support
• Effective Sales & Service Cycle
• Building & Maintaining Rapport
• Flexible Team Leadership
• Quality Management
• Client Relations

Let’s Do It World (LDIW) is the largest civic action movement in human history, organisers of the annual World Cleanup Day (WCD) – now included on the UN Calendar of International Days & Weeks – and Digital Cleanup Day. These two campaigns raise awareness of the global mismanaged waste crisis threatening all life on Earth.

In 2018, I relocated to Estonia to join the movement, first as Regional Coordinator for India & US in the Network team, then as an Editor and Copywriter in the Communication team, and later as the Head of Communication.

Regional Coordinator for India & US

• Assist Head of Global Network to develop and build the regional teams
• Actively promote the mission and objectives of the movement
• Identify strategic partners
• Provide logistical and networking support.

Editor/Copywriter

• Collaborate with Head of Communication to create and edit articles
• Conduct interviews with Network Country Leaders for promotion of key messaging
• Assist with organisation and running of annual conferences and WCD campaigns.

Head of Communication

• Manage strategy for all media content, including Press Releases, responding to enquiries, and ensuring consistency in messaging on websites, blogs, and newsletters
• Editorial, copywriting, and proofreading of all public domain communication
• Represent the movement at global events and protect its public image by driving compliance across the global network
• Collation and verification of reported participation and waste collection data, producing reports for HQ, Board, global media, and LDIW website
• Preparation of PR materials, including documentary scripts/content and Annual Report.

I was commissioned by Bizerba UK’s Head of Human Resources to design and deliver an Advanced Communication Skills programme for the entire UK team, as well as co-create an Organisational Development piece with the primary focus being on the reorientation of Company Culture & Values.

Additionally, I was tasked with mentoring and upskilling several existing and new team members to take over as the in-house coaching and training team, once they had been through the L&D and Culture & Values Programme.

This project followed the ‘DBOT’ model, during which I actively transferred my know-how into an L&D Team Leader to cascade the learning through the business later.

I was responsible for the creation and implementation of the following key objectives:

• Advanced Communication Skills: Design and implement modules to enhance team members’ interpersonal communication skills – including active listening, intuitive conversation technique, problem-solving, rapport building, and complaints handling.
• Company Culture & Values: Devise and deliver workshops aimed at refreshing and revising team members’ understanding (and commitment to) Bizerba’s central values and customer service ethos, overcoming resistance (and occasional hostility) to change.
• Train-the-Trainer (‘T3’) Programme: Devise and conduct an intensive ‘T3’ to equip an internal team of candidate trainers with the necessary knowledge and tools to effectively deliver the above training programmes to team members across the business. One specific candidate was trained to be the on-going equivalent of me and received follow-up coaching beyond the initial programme’s framework.
• Programme Evaluation Process: Creation and roll-out of an evaluation assessment protocol to measure and report back the effectiveness, impact, and feasibility of the Communication, Culture & Values, and T3 Programmes.

M/S Norwegian Epic was, at the time of my rotation, the world’s 3rd largest cruise ship, with 1,740 crew members from over 80 nationalities.

With a diverse crew consisting of team members from every continent, cross-cultural awareness and the ability to communicate with many crew for whom English was not their first language, was essential in maintaining positivity in a demanding hospitality environment at sea.

As an Onboard Training Specialist, I was tasked with Crew Orientation, Guest Services coaching, New Manager Development Programmes, and Crew Welfare & Social Activity events organisation. I also coordinated and administered the crew rewards programme.

I conducted training sessions on topics such as:

• Respect For Others
• Guest With Disabilities
• Orientation & Welfare
• Management & Team Leadership
• Guest Services & Sales
• Prioritisation & Planning
• Performance Assessment and Rewards Administration

In addition to the everyday duties, I served as a ‘First Point of Contact’ for crew with welfare issues. These tasks required the application of numerous skills, including:

• Active Listening
• Sensitivity & EmpathyCounselling & Support
• Cross-departmental diplomacy.