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Cross Country Home Services

How to EnterCompany: Cross Country Home Services, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Entry Submitted By: rbb Public Relations
Company Description: Cross Country Home Services, Inc. (CCHS) is dedicated to making home management easy by offering a full selection of hassle-free, cost- effective home solutions, including warranty products and maintenance plans. Since 1978, the company has built a reputation for excellence and today is one of the nation's leading providers of these products and services.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Training Team of the Year

Nomination Title: CCHS gets training in G.E.A.R with innovative on the job learning

Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved since the beginning of July 2012 (up to 525 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

CCHS’s mission is to provide peace of mind to its customers by making a bad situation a bit better. This focus on above and beyond service dictates a training and development program to match. All associates and new hires, receive more than more than 40,000 hours of training annually along with 360 self-paced courses accessible via desktop. In October 2013, CCHS’ Learning and Development team embarked on a major enhancement to its corporate-wide training program. The Leadership Development G.E.A.R (goals, engagement, accountability, results) was created as an innovative way to develop the next generation of leaders and cement the skills of incumbent leaders. The approach is based on the 70-20-10 principle requiring 70% on the job learning, 20% coaching and mentoring, 10% classroom training.

Emerging Leaders

To ensure employees with the potential for future leadership are given the opportunity for on the job learning, CCHS made the bold move to allow selected employees to leave their job for 12 months to immerse themselves in G.E.A.R. Following an application process, four employees were selected for the on-the-job training with business units throughout CCHS to gain a better understanding of day-to-day operations beyond their roles. Having begun in October, participants are now in their first of six 2-month rotational assignments in various departments including Service Network Development, Membership Services, Escalations, Workforce Management and Quality Assurance. There they learned processes, applied skills, evaluated their performances, and incorporated feedback towards improvement. By grasping the bigger picture of how each unit supports the other, these employees are trained and motivated to provide better customer service and work toward their career goals.

According to one employee: “It gives you a chance to better your skill set, learn more about the company and gain a different perspective… The mentoring aspect with key individuals of the company allows you to identify road blocks and learn how to overcome obstacles to your success.”

Incumbent Leaders

For existing leadership looking to grow, G.E.A.R uses a blended learning approach of traditional classroom-based training with interactive and technology-driven methodologies such as:

• e-Learning
• Virtual classroom
• Simulations
• Individual and group reflection
• Networking with senior executives
• Action learning
• Executive coaching
• 360-degree assessments/Multi-rater instruments
• Just-in-time training
• Individual development plans
• Developmental assignments/Job assignments
• Job Rotations

In addition to workshops and hands-on project work, the seven selected incumbent leaders are participating in a one-week rotation within business units where they:

• Work cross-functionally with other teams and leaders toward specific goals
• Understand the department’s structure, core business, systems and performance metrics
• Effectively manage and set goals to improve partnerships

According to a participant: “I am taking FULL ADVANTAGE of the opportunity to participate in this wonderful program. Thus far this experience is shaping me to become a Better Leader and I see it daily now in my interaction with my associates because of what I have learned thus far.”

CCHS continues to improve its NPS score, a national customer service indicator based on whether customers would recommend the company to family and friends. Following a 12 percent increase in 2011/2012, the company again increased scores four percent this year.

 

Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated team:

Diana Conn is Director of Learning & Development for Cross Country Home Services where she leads all training, organizational development and talent engagement across several corporate locations. With 20 years of experience she works to achieve business success against principle objectives by ensuring alignment, development and positioning of talent.

She has developed and implemented:

- Leadership Competency Model driving behaviors to support organizational strategies
- Talent Management initiatives, Talent Assessment and Succession Planning
- Corporate & Department-Level Associate Engagement Surveys and Action Planning
- Talent Development Programs
- Support Technologies
- New Business Platform “Atrium” Training
- Learning plans to drive performance and productivity
- Customer contact center training, increasing sales and retention efforts by 15 percent
- Reduced new hire attrition by 12 percent.