Bupa started its homeworking journey back in 2014. Â
From staff satisfaction surveys, the company knew that homeworking was of interest to employees (especially from a work-life-balance (WLB), health & well being and money-saving perspective) and wanted the know-how & expertise to one day offer it to its contact centre agents. Â
The Sensée Partnership has allowed Bupa to learn, as well as realise operational benefits including:
- An expanded recruitment talent pool, especially within the untapped market (i.e. people who couldnât otherwise get into the office): Bupaâs operations are currently located in two highly competitive areas for contact centre employees – Salford and Staines.
- Office cost savings: Especially given that Bupa was planning to downsize to a smaller office in Salford
- Hardware costs: With SensĂ©eâs Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model, people are responsible for their own equipment/broadband connections, engendering a different attitude to downtime (with people much more eager to ensure that everything works).
- Happier employees: Homeworking led to a reduction in unsociable shifts for office workers (with homeworkers more willing to work these shifts) giving rise to less attrition and therefore less new recruitment expense
- Greater efficiency
- Business continuity: Setting itself the challenge âcould we get our homeworking staff up and running from home within 30 mins in the event of an emergency?â
Adding valueÂ
Early on, several Discovery sessions took place around IT, risk, recruitment, training, Learning & Development, and Planning/Scheduling. Dual Line Management was introduced as SensĂ©e learnt Bupaâs business and Bupa tapped into SensĂ©eâs homeworking management expertise. 30 advisers were recruited.Â
By August 2020, numbers had increased to 120 FTE, with Bupa recently requesting a further 30 FTE at short notice to assist with Bupa Mobile App & website queries via webchat, email and telephony.
SensĂ©e advisers manage calls from personal, company & corporate customers. They deal with everything from detail changes to complex assessments of a customerâs condition against eligibility criteria, on occasions booking treatment. Advisers often deal with vulnerable customers and are extra vigilant to ensure effective support. Â
SensĂ©e is now fully embedded into Bupaâs operation. It is self-sufficient within the Bupa Academy, conducting its own induction coaching rather then relying on Bupa trainers. SensĂ©e Team Leaders/Managers also frequently speak with Bupa Managers about changes that affect the entire operation – such as Project Evolve, which focused on the unexpected challenges of Covid-19 and involved additional workload for specialist call types. The teams meet weekly to discuss customer complaints and adviser coaching, conducting weekly/monthly staffing & performance reviews. Â
SensĂ©e has shared its processes for improving AHT in weekly workshops and, in August 2020, ran a âday in the lifeâ session for Bupa covering: how SensĂ©e people manage/structure their days remotely, use technology to manage remotely, use âtone of voiceâ, and combat isolation/maximise engagement using the SensĂ©e LiveDesk virtual workplace.
Deliverables
The SensĂ©e scheduling model is very important to Bupa. Bupa models its schedules around fixed patterns (e.g. 9-11 Monday is its busiest period and by the middle of the day often has too many people). So it uses the flexibility of SensĂ©eâs annualised hours model to staff around peak demand periods, as well as increase staffing during busy seasonal periods (i.e. Jan, Sept, school holidays and Xmas).
Occupancy (i.e. the time advisers actually speak to customers on the phone) is another key factor. âSensĂ©e runs at 95% occupancy. Normally weâd be reluctant to do this but it just worksâ says Bupaâs Tom Doran. âSensĂ©e Advisers can book split shifts in one or 2 hour blocks. Normally people would get burn out if they worked 7 hours non stop but it works for shorter periods at high occupancy. Weâd love to get our people doing the same but it just doesnât work in a fixed location centre. The model allows us to plan overall schedules right down to 30 min intervals. Itâs a tap that can be quickly turned on and off and is therefore very scheduling efficient.âÂ
Another positive aspect of the Partnership is that it has allowed Bupa to introduce homeworking internally in response to feedback from its people.Â
Internal trials began in January 2019 when 10% of Bupa people volunteered to work-from-home part time. In Feb 2020, that trial was extended to 50%. The knowledge and experience gained through partnering with SensĂ©e put it in a great position to conduct the trial. Initially, Bupa experienced some technology issues (hardware, software, headsets etc.) as people made the switch but overall the knowledge/experience it had gained ensured a smooth transition. Â
Homeworking quickly became a win-win for Bupa and its people. Homeworkers reported significant WLB benefits (no commute to work time/costs, spending more time with the family) while Bupa benefitted from reduced absenteeism, enhanced productivity & improved engagement. By early 2020, it started to explore more flexible shift patterns (using the SensĂ©e methodology) for its people.Â
In March 2020 everything changed with lockdown – with 90% of Bupa contact centre personnel being asked to work-from-home. While it wasnât an easy time, Bupa was well prepared. Understanding the importance of flexible resourcing, Bupa offered its homeworkers flexible shifts so that it could operate for short periods at high occupancy. The move was so successful that managers reported Advisers frequently asking for more work! Â
Bupa dropped no contact centre performance markers during lockdown – and CSAT and Employee Engagement both rose. Â
Summary
Summarise what makes this Contact Centre outsourcing partnership so successful and worthy of winning this award.
- The relationship is a true Partnership with SensĂ©e an effective extension of Bupaâs bricks and mortar (B&M) centres.
- SensĂ©e consistently delivers against Operational KPIs – including Quality Assurance, Complaint Logging & Resolution and Ex-Gratia Payments. On occasion, Sensee achieves higher than in-house teams (e.g. July/August 2020 for Complaints Resolution).Â
- SensĂ©e also delivers consistently against Commercial KPIs – including Utilisation (the time advisers are on or available for calls) of circa 83% (pre Covid), Occupancy of 95%, and Contacts Handled per Hour (often 50% greater than in-house).Â
- Bupa only pays for the hours SensĂ©e supplies, not for IT (or other downtime) and is not billed for breaks. This massively reduces shrinkage and delivers a 20-25% cost saving. Overall, homeworking has reduced cost-per-call by 30% compared to Bupaâs B&M centres.
- Homeworking has allowed Bupa to dramatically reduce office costs by facilitating the move to a smaller office.
- SensĂ©e has delivered last minute resource to deal with system outages, power outages, unexpected spikes in demand & unplanned shrinkage on several occasions. Without this, Bupa wouldnât have been able to serve customers at these critical times.
- SensĂ©e meets all regulatory requirements including FCA, CQC and Bupaâs internal controls. There is strong governance and excellent communication channels between the management teams.
- A high level of engagement exists within the SensĂ©e homeworking team and there is close collaboration with Bupa colleagues. Despite everyone working remotely, the team is very close, regularly holding social sessions – even online Easter and Xmas parties!
“Over the last 4 years the Bupa and SensĂ©e relationship has continued to strengthen. SensĂ©e is a trusted partner that provides insight in a transparent and honest way.â
Mark Davies, Customer Contact Director, Bupa
âItâs testament to the technology & professionalism of SensĂ©e that when a Bupa member calls thereâs no difference from their perspective whether theyâre speaking to an Adviser in a Bupa centre or a SensĂ©e HomeAgent in Scotland. As weâve built our internal homeworking over the last two years weâve always turned to SensĂ©e models & best practices. They are the benchmark against which we measure our own performanceâ.
Tom Doran, Remote Working Lead, Customer Contact, Bupa