Yodel leads industry with launch of Customer Experience Academy
Yodel, the UK’s leading parcel delivery company, is launching its own Customer Experience Academy, which will provide its drivers and customer facing employees with the first recognised customer experience qualification in the industry.
The company, which delivers over 150 milllion parcels a year on behalf of the majority of the UK's top retailers, has spent two years developing the bespoke programme, working with experts from Talent Training (UK) LLP and Derwentside College to create the framework and content. The resulting course will provide Yodel employees with a Level II Diploma in Customer Excellence in Logistics.
A thousand Yodel driver and service centre staff from across the UK will go through the 12 month programme in its first year. The course is being delivered by Talent Training and has been funded by Yodel and Derwentside College via the Government's Skills Funding Agency (partner organisation of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)).
Enrolment has already taken place and induction packs are being sent out this month. Employees will then each attend a series of facilitated workshops and one to one coaching sessions, covering twelve core units, over the course of the year.
Commenting on the launch, Neil Lloyd, CEO, Yodel said; "The Customer Experience Academy is aimed at supporting drivers and other colleagues to deliver the highest level of customer service.
"We believe our investment in creating and delivering this programme is testament to Yodel's commitment to developing our workforce and strengthening customer experience skills. It will provide us with a benchmark for quality and competency and provides our clients with reassurance that we hold them and their customers at the very core of our business."
Yodel's network of self employed couriers, owner-drivers and agency partners will also be able to complete a 'Lite' version of the programme this year. This will be delivered by service centre training champions, with plans for the full course to be made available to them from 2014.
Neil Lloyd concluded; "Although the content of the programme is driven by Yodel, we hope that this will set a standard for the industry and that the framework will be adopted by other logistics companies."
The news follows the recent announcement that Yodel is a founding member of the Smart Business Academy, a collaboration of logistics, transport and supply chain employers, who have come together to improve the perception of careers in their sectors and create business growth and jobs.