Biggest win ever for beCogent

Lanarkshire contact centre beCogent has become The National Business Awards Employer of the Year 2008.

As the only Scottish winner amongst a total of 16 UK companies, Airdrie-based beCogent’s Chairman Dermot Jenkinson said the win was particularly pleasing against the current economic backdrop. “We have been able to prove to both our clients and employees that the key to success has been a responsible attitude to building sustainable growth and the provision of secure employment.”

“Above all, we are an ultra-reliable pair of hands in the eyes of our clients.”

“This is undoubtedly the most prestigious award that beCogent has won over the years since the company was founded in 1999,” he says, attributing the company’s win to seven employee-related principles, which together have allowed the company to buck the revenue damaging trend of high employee turnover so endemic to the sector.

“For example, our financial turnover has grown over 60% over the last three years and this is entirely due to the skills and enthusiasm of the workforce, which is now in excess of 3,000 working out of four centres in the Central Belt of Scotland,” explains Mr Jenkinson.

Director of HR Jackie Lowe takes up the story. “It’s simple really. We do appear to be the only large contact centre in the UK to have adopted this unique recipe for success.”

“For example, there are ‘career opportunities’ for all employees through a competency-based training structure. Supporting this we have created our own ‘In-house Academy’ focusing on three employee functions – Management, Learning and a Base Camp, the latter aimed at employees in their first six months. The third element is ‘fastrack to success’ supported by senior mentors, followed by ‘performance management, reward and recognition’ initiatives to encourage a high performance culture. Then, of course, none of this would work without the element of fun. And underpinning these principles, we encourage our employees to ‘get involved, to be empowered and to make a difference.’

“In short, it was this inter-related motivational package of incentives, which has built one of the best workforces in the land and I’m delighted that it is essentially our people who have been recognised this week,” concludes Dermot Jenkinson.

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