Mental Health at Work by Westgate IT
Mental health is a difficult subject in customer service. In an often-stressful environment it’s a big concern, how do you make a difference?
When someone phones our team at Westgate for IT support, it is usually the case that the client or enquirer are having problems with their workstation. They are already frustrated and that frustration can attach on to the person answering the call. We don’t often get phone calls where the client is bouncing with joy and happy with their current IT set up but we do get a lot of thanks, daily, in the form of online reviews or through our Service Desk.
Our frontline engineers who take the initial call are generally in this role for a few years so that they can gain experience and move up to more technical roles. We go to great pains to train them, with particular focus on customer service. Our NCF team (Non-Client Facing) deals with the alerts, the monitoring and simple change issues which is a perfect starting point for junior engineers.
Once they can do these duties following procedure and without issue, we move them gently into the role of 1st Line Engineer. Initially, they are not allowed to take incoming calls and focus on making outgoing calls to the client. This way they can control the conversation and can research the issue beforehand. This builds their confidence and experience with client phone calls. We use this approach with all our Engineers and even when the more experienced ones join, they also follow this process.
I was approached by a member of the frontline team a few months after he joined us and he wanted to let me know that he’d been suffering from depression and anxiety. He explained that the medication he was taking may have an adverse effect. I wish I could say I’m the most understanding boss in the world but I am not. I’m human like everyone else. I didn’t really know how to react to this, so I just listened and made a few suggestions along the lines of, “Take time out when you need to”, “My door is always open”.
I was worried that the position he was in could be very stressful and could very well add to his problems. Imagine my delight when I received the email below from him:
"Good Morning Nigel,
"I spoke with the Service Desk Manager this morning and mentioned to him that about 3 or so months ago when I started working here, I had told you that I had been suffering with anxiety and depression for a long time.
"However, I have found working here has made me feel so much better and it feels nice to be good at something and get good responses (not just me but all the staff) from our clients on a daily basis. This progress I have made means I will be coming off my medication soon as I don’t think I need it anymore.
"I know there are others in the company that feel the same way,
"I just wanted to say thank you for giving me the chance."
It is so important to communicate with your team and peers how you are feeling and when you need that extra support, especially when times at work are a little more hectic than usual. Have daily check ins, keep yourself active and remember to always put your mental health and wellbeing first (more info here)
Written by Nigel Phillips, Managing Director at Westgate IT - Providing IT Support in the South West, including Exeter.
