Sign up for job alertsBefore joining the Co-op, I’d never had the opportunity to be part of a multi-award-winning team. I’m proud to have played a big part in the Sales and Service team winning the bronze award for medium contact centre at the European Contact Centre Awards last year. It was great to celebrate the community aspect of the contact centre, and how Co-op has donated over £60 million to local causes in the last 4 years.
The launch of our customer service apprenticeship
I really enjoy the variety that my job brings and the department that I work in. The team has a great energy and the atmosphere is fun and friendly. The thing I enjoy the most, however, is people's development and having the ability to watch our advisors in the contact centre progress their skills and develop their careers within Co-op.
I’m excited that we will be able to see lots more colleague progress through our customer service apprenticeship programme, launching in September. The apprentices will support our customers, members, and colleagues, learning on the job over a 12 to 15 month period. Once successfully completed, apprentices will be awarded a customer service practitioner (level 2) apprenticeship. There are lots of opportunities to progress into a management role or to specialise in a professional area once completed.
Doing what matters most
We’re looking for the right people who share our values and passion for outstanding customer service. One of the Co-op values that I really important to our team is ‘doing what matters most’. We use this value to inform every decision we make. Treating each and every customer, member, or colleague query on its own merit. You can never have a bulk answer to queries, as each query will have its own story, as will the person. I make sure the team is empowered and has the autonomy to make their own decisions about cases.
Responding to the needs of the community
I’m really proud of the team's response to the pandemic. We quickly set up a food telephone order service and vulnerable customer lines to support the community. As part of this, we trained and supported over 180 new customer service advisors.
Learn more and apply for our customer service apprenticeship here.