“Service with Respect” – Protecting Front Line Workers
Vicky Fordham-Lewis, Managing Director at Osborne Property Services welcomes the change in law that provides greater protection for customer-facing workers. In doing so Vicky also recognises the valuable contribution the Institution of Customer Service (ICS) has made in this drive towards zero tolerance of abuse.
The ICS has been campaigning for greater legal protection for customer-facing workers through their “Service with Respect” initiative launched back in July 2020 and Vicky is delighted that through this campaign work the new legislation is now in force.
Osborne supported the ICS campaign recognising the combined impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit and widespread stock and labour shortages have placed an intolerable strain on the relationship between customers and businesses.
Customer facing employees across industry sectors including retail, medical, transport, those in hospitality roles, engineers, and call centre staff, are dealing with an increasingly frustrated and disenfranchised public, leading to unacceptable levels of hostility and abuse.
The ICS research revealed over 60% of workers in customer facing roles have faced hostility over a 12-month period, this abuse ranging from shouting and swearing to racial abuse, death threats, spitting and in some events, physical attacks.
Vicky added, ‘We are passionate that we do everything we possibly can to ensure our customer facing staff feel safe and protected when maintaining residents’ homes.’
The new legislation means tougher sentencing for people who commit assaults against a person providing a public service. This change in law is an important first in reducing levels of hostility towards all customer facing staff and with increasing public awareness, it will of course act as a meaningful deterrent for abuse.
However, Vicky adds:
‘There are many things our organisations, as customer facing providers, can do to support our own people. For example, by giving our people the very best tools and skills to effectively defuse situations before they escalate into abusive and harmful confrontations.
Osborne induction, onboarding and training programmes are designed to support our customer facing staff to remain calm and professional in the course of their work. Seeing an issue from the resident’s perspective is crucial, that way we better understand the stress and anxiety a resident may be experiencing in relation to an issue with their home and the subsequent wellbeing and safety of their loved ones.
It is also crucial our training programmes ensure our people have a very clear understanding of the circumstances or confrontational situations where the priority is to remove themselves promptly, safely, but respectfully from potential harm and abuse.
The change in law is a fabulous start but we all have a great deal of work to do to achieve zero tolerance of abuse for customer-facing workers.’
For more information on Osborne resident interactions and engagement programmes please contact Head of Engagement Jo Fletcher [email protected] or visit our Resource Centre.
Institute of Customer Service – “Service with Respect” Information
