The Challenge
The client sought to rationalise staffing requirements
for Emergency Call Services with other temporary and
contingent staffing requirements under a single service provider,
in order to simplify contract and relationship management.
The Emergency Call services were experiencing a surge in
demand at the height of the pandemic, with the monthly volume uplift in calls exceeding 20% at times during the peak period. Service provision was complicated by spikes in demand and constant changes in staff availability. Additionally, the Call Centres were responsible for providing support to the Vaccine Helpline.
Core to the implementation of the new single-supplier service delivery model was the TUPE transfer of 450 Call Centre staff, all working to different contractual arrangements. The Blue Arrow Project Team included HR specialists who conducted thorough contract reviews to ensure the protection of existing employee agreements and rights.
The Client’s Call Centre staff were spread across nineteen
different locations from Sevenoaks in Kent to the Midlands,
North and Northwest of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. During the TUPE transfer, the recruitment team were asked
to source an additional 200 staff, representing a 44% uplift
in the workforce, to process the increase in volume of calls.
The Journey
The implementation for the new contract was extremely complex, with demanding Covid-19 conditions requiring completion to very tight deadlines to avoid service interruption.
With the previous arrangements having been in existence over
a twenty-year plus period, a significant number of the workforce
held long term tenures of between five and ten years and in some cases up to fifteen years. The Implementation Team had to assimilate and manage the implications of up to four different contract types, each with their own allowances for holidays, pensions and other key benefits while simultaneously recruiting
the additional 200 candidates.
The Project Implementation Manager engaged with all stakeholders from the outset, clearly defining roles, responsibilities, timescales and dependencies and worked closely with the client’s operations teams to manage critical aspects of the service switch to minimise disruption.
The transfer fell close to Christmas and with pandemic conditions elevating employee anxiety, reassurance was an important component in the communication mix.
Throughout this time, the Implementation specialists were supported by Blue Arrow’s central resourcing teams in managing the large volume of work to achieve critical targets and ensure ‘Go Live’ according to schedule.
