Peanut, Zorro, Rocco, Merlin and friends joined the fun at last week’s Sensée Christmas Party.
The event was conducted 100% virtually via Zoom.
But who walked away with the coveted title of Sensée Best Dressed Christmas Pet 2020?
Who was left red nosed and who was the real Santa Claws?
You decide!
Sensée is recruiting immediately for 200 new work-from-home roles.
The vacancies are for permanent, salaried Customer Contact Advisors to work for new and existing clients. Work hours range from 20 to 40 hours a week. Start dates are immediate.
Sensée is welcoming applications from people of all backgrounds, levels of experience, gender and age with all interviewing conducted remotely. Contact centre experience is preferred but not essential. Customer service and other job-specific remote training is provided.
“We are excited to announce these new job vacancies as the demand for customer service homeworkers continues to rise” said Paul Whymark, COO of Sensée. “The roles enable employees to work flexible hours so that they can enjoy the work-life balance benefits that work-from-home can offer with no commuting.”
Candidates can apply today for the new roles at www.sensee.co.uk
Sensée was named Outsourced Contact Centre of the Year in the small/medium sized centre category at the 2020 Contact Centre Network Northern Ireland (CCNNI) Awards last Thursday.
The Sensée Northern Ireland (NI) Homeworking Team is made up of 100 Customer Service Advisers, Trainers, Team Leaders, Managers and Quality Analysts and manages customer contacts for leading brands such as Bupa and Allianz Partners as well as for several Government departments.
The annual CCNNI Awards is a celebration of contact centre excellence for businesses operating in the region. Other winners at the Awards included BNP Paribas PF, Danske Bank, Santander and Ulster Bank.
As the UK Homeworking specialists, Sensée also sponsored and helped judge the Best Homeworking Programme Award which recognised the transformational changes made by businesses in NI during 2020 in response to the COVID19 pandemic. Congratulations to Santander and Firstsource Solutions as joint winners in this category.
“Well done to CCNNI for putting on a fantastic evening in very testing times” said Rob Smale, Chief Customer Officer at Sensée. “The event was fitting recognition for the tremendous work of contact centre professionals in Northern Ireland over the last few months, continuing to put the customer at the heart of everything that they do. We are very proud of the hard work and dedication of the Sensée Homeworking team and delighted that their achievements have been recognised with this Award.”
Pic: Annamarie Quinn, NI Sourcing Manager, Sensée
Sensée has teamed up with champagne and hot dog specialist Bubbledogs to hold a Festive virtual party for its clients and friends.
The event, run virtually via Zoom, featured an educational session on Grower Champagne from TV sommelier and presenter Sandia Chang, a champagne quiz, and the opportunity to sample two amazing grower champagnes.
Guests also received a hot dog home kit so they could create Bubbledogs’ most-loved hot dogs from the comfort of their own kitchens – plus a pair of Jollies Socks, with a second pair sent to a local shelter for the homeless.
“In 2020, organisations have had to quickly learn how to conduct business in a virtual world and, as we enter the Festive season, that challenge extends to how to organise an engaging office party” said Paul Whymark, COO of Sensée. “A big thank you to Sandia and the Bubbledogs team for making our evening so special, and to our clients and friends for their support in 2020.”
Looking for ideas on how to make your virtual office Christmas party fun? Check out our video below
2020 has been a year like no other for UK contact centres.
In this video we explore:
Busy Planning for the Virtual Office Christmas Party?
Here’s some ideas for fun party activities, plus some thoughts on how to make your home office feel more festive.
With best wishes from all at Sensée for a wonderful festive season 2020.
We hope your office party is a cracker!
Jess has always led a busy outdoor life. For the last 15 years she has been a divemaster and scuba instructor, helped train racehorses, operated as a qualified equine sports massage therapist and worked on a rare breed longhorn cattle farm.
In March 2020, however, her new role as a scuba sales and training consultant came to an abrupt halt when Covid struck. While she could still operate as a diving instructor and carry out equine massage work (at certain times during lockdown), demand for those services was much slower.
Jess came across Sensée online and applied successfully to work on an important Government public information service in April.
Although she had never worked in an office before, she quickly took to work-from-home. “I love it because it has given me the gift of time” says Jess. “I no longer have to make a 1-1.5 hour commute each side of the day, giving me more time to ride my horses, work on the farm and do my other jobs.”
Jess works 30 hours a week, booking in her hours in advance at times that suit her best (which is often 3 full days and one half day) and there is currently plenty of opportunity for overtime.
“I never imagined that work-from-home would be so social” adds Jess. “But we’re a close team, the training and support is excellent, and the LiveDesk communications system means we’re always in live contact with managers and colleagues.”
“I’ve been self-employed for most of the last 12 years and never worked for anyone that gave me paid holidays! Sensée is not only providing me with guaranteed and interesting work but also a much better work-life-balance. I used to get up at 4.30am to work on the farm. Now I can get up at 6.30am! While I went into this as short term fix I definitely see it now as a longer term solution.”
The success and professionalism of Sensée’s work-from-home contact centre teams during lockdown has been recognised at the 2020 South West Contact Centre Awards.
At a glittering virtual Awards ceremony last Friday night, Sensée was named winner in the “Covid – Best Homeworking Programme” category.
The annual South West Contact Centre Awards is a celebration of contact centre excellence for businesses operating in the South West of England. Other winners at the 2020 Awards included Ageas, Agilisys, Alexandra, Ascensos, Aster Group, Capita, NFU Mutual, Scotts and Co, Somerset County Council, Subfero and UCAS.
The event is organised and operated by the South West Contact Centre Forum, a networking organisation that delivers extensive support to the region’s 250 employers who collectively employ circa 52,000 people in both the Public and Private sector.
“Well done to the South West Contact Centre Forum for putting on a fantastic and highly entertaining evening” said Mark Walton, CEO, Sensée.
“We are very proud of the hard work and dedication of our homeworking teams during the lockdown period and delighted that their achievements have been recognised with this Award.”
Fiona was brought up on a small island in the Outer Hebrides and, for most of her life, has yearned for the day she could return to her birthplace, or a similarly remote location.
But work always got in the way. Fiona has had a long and fulfilling career working in the voluntary sector and undertaking community development work (including managing a Citizens Advice Bureau and running a Carers Centre) but this was mainly living in and around large cities in Scotland.
Five years ago, however, she figured it was time for a change. Partly this was because she had a medical condition that made traveling difficult but also because she wanted to do something at home.
Fiona says she found Sensée by accident. Soon after joining, however, she knew she’d made the right choice.
Fiona started working on the Argos account, moved to Aviva and then Photobox, before joining the Bupa team. This is when she really found her niche. “It’s challenging” she admits “but I’m a problem solver by nature and able to use my listening and counselling skills to good effect. I also find it the most rewarding account I’ve worked on at Sensée because you can really make a difference when dealing with matters of health and well being. It makes what you do feel very real.”
In 2020, Fiona upped stick and moved from Galashiels (near the English border) with her partner and five cats to a remote area at the very top of Sutherland. “We’re on a single track road, and the nearest house is 500 yards away” she explains. “The nearest big city is Inverness and that’s 150-200 miles away. But none of that makes any difference when it comes to doing my job effectively. We even have remarkably good broadband for such a remote location.”
“I can earn a living and be where I want to be. Plus, Sensée is probably the best place I have ever worked in terms of people engagement. Despite the fact that we all work remotely, you always feel part of the work community and never isolated. The training we receive is excellent too. I really am living the dream.”
In the second article in our ‘Homeworking Stories’ series, Sensée Training Manager Sam Goldney explains another secret to her success as a homeworker.
Coping with Distractions
So you’ve dropped your daughter off at school crying and the teacher has peeled her off your leg as she fancies a day at home with Mummy.
The dog has chased a bird into what felt like the next county and wouldn’t come back so you’re running late to get back home with a sulky dog firmly on a lead.
The cat has brought a mouse into the house and it is currently squeaking its way round the lounge with said cat in hot pursuit….. and you need to be on a conference call with a new client in five minutes. Arrggghhhhhh!
All of those (and more) have happened to me during my work from home journey. And I’d put part of my success at homeworking down to an ability to switch off and concentrate on the job in hand…. just as if I was in a contact centre where I wouldn’t have those distractions around me.
Here are my 9 tips for coping with distractions:
