client news
London, UK: 30th July 2007
NB: Pictures to accompany and illustrate this news story are available on
request from Bob Little Press & PR (tel 01727 860405; email
bob.little@dial.pipex.com
)
Echelon's ground-breaking actor-enhanced assessment for job applicants
at St Pancras international station
While work on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) gathers pace -
focusing on developing the new line from Fawkham Junction to London St
Pancras via north Kent and east London, as well as developing the
facilities at St Pancras - Echelon Consulting is working with London and
Continental Railways (LCR) to recruit, select and train the numbers and
calibre of station staff necessary to help build an impressive reputation
for customer service and care.
Since having highly developed interpersonal skills are among the most
important criteria for getting a job at the new station, Echelon engaged
the help of actors from Characters Drama Based Learning Ltd to test the
1,570 or so job applicants. In addition, the actors also played a part in
on-going staff development training in customer care techniques for the
railway's existing staff.
After initially screening job applicants via a telephone interview, some
400 people were invited to the highly prestigious and conveniently
situated Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in July for the final selection
tests. There, in groups of up to 12 people, they took part in a half day
selection exercise which involved:
-
Watching a scene played out
by actors Lloyd Campbell (railway customer service officer) and
Catherine Hamilton (customer).
-
Commenting on that scene as
it is replayed.
-
Commenting on a further
scene - involving a customer complaint
-
Identifying irregularities
and potential hazards in a photograph taken on St Pancras station.
-
Producing a report of an
incident.
-
One-to-one interviews.
Throughout the exercises,
the candidates were observed by a team of assessors. All candidates were
told the outcome of their job application within a few days of the
assessment session.
"Echelon is also carrying out induction training for the successful
candidates," said Echelon's managing director, David Hill. "This training
which follows on seamlessly from the assessment process is due to be
completed before LCR hands over responsibility for St Pancras station to
Network Rail in September.
"Once the new staff have received their technical training and induction
programme, they will be undergoing further customer care training - thus
putting in place the fundamental criteria by which these staff can be
perceived, and judged, by the travelling public."
Hill explained that the whole programme - from recruitment and selection
to induction and customer care training - has been devised to allow the
'seamless' reinforcement of a highly professional Network Rail brand of
customer service. He added: "We're very fortunate to be able to use such
an excellent and prestigious venue as the Emirates Stadium to carry out
the assessments and training.
"Moreover," he said, "we're not aware of actors being used in this way -
as part of the assessment as well as the training process - before.
Indeed, we'll be taking these actors to the Echelon stand at the Customer
Service Management Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham at the end of
September, where they will be demonstrating their ground-breaking role in
this exercise."
ends
Pictures are available on request from Bob Little Press & PR (tel 01727
860405; email bob.little@dial.pipex.com
)
Media contact: Peter Muir Tel + 44 (0)1296 715228; Email:
echelon@pmpr.co.uk
Sales contact: David Hill
Tel + 44 (0)20 8568 1500; Email:
david@echelonl.com
Editor Note:
About the Channel Tunnel
Rail Link (CTRL)
Full UK Government approval was granted in 1996 for the two sections of
the 69-mile (108km) high-speed Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL). The
opening date of the first phase, 43km, was 28 September 2003, with the
rest four years afterwards. Speeds of up to 186mph (300km/hr) make the
journey time from London's Waterloo International station to Paris, Lille
and Brussels up to 20 minutes quicker (fastest journey times of 1hr 40min
to Lille, 2hr 20min to Brussels and 2hr 35min to Paris).
After 11 years of financial and political turmoil, the ?1.9 billion
project moved forward after the signing by London & Continental Railways
(LCR) in October 1999 of construction contracts for the new line from the
Channel Tunnel to Fawkham Junction in north-west Kent.
Railtrack agreed to fund the construction of the shorter but more
expensive CTRL Phase 2, from Fawkham Junction to London St Pancras via
north Kent and east London. This will complete a high-speed route from
the Channel Tunnel to London by 2007.
The CTRL project was originated by London & Continental Railways, a
consortium of eight major shareholders, including design and planning
consultancy Ove Arup and Partners, engineering firm Bechtel, train and
transport operators Virgin and National Express, investment bank SBG
Warburg and French rail project manager Systra. Control passed to the
newly-formed Network Rail in 2002.
Once the whole line is open in late 2007, London-Paris times should be
cut to 2 hours 15 minutes, with Brussels possible in two hours. The
Channel Tunnel portal is just 35 minutes from St Pancras and, from 2009,
Kent services will see significant reductions with Ashford taking around
36 minutes from London via the CTRL.
CTRL domestic services will connect London with Gravesend, Margate and
Broadstairs by joining the classic network at Ebbsfleet, while services
to Canterbury, Ramsgate and possibly Dover will continue to Ashford to
join existing routes there.
About Echelon Learning
Echelon Learning is a consultancy-led publishing house that integrates
electronically-delivered knowledge and learning into the development of
management skills and business performance. Its consulting division has
won four national training awards for customer service initiatives.
Echelon Learning is a consultancy-led publishing house that integrates
electronically-delivered knowledge and learning into the development of
management skills and business performance.
Echelon Consulting spearheads the company's service with the development
of new content in meeting clients' requirements. This is usually derived
from analysing employee knowledge and learning needs captured during
client learning programmes.
Where appropriate, Echelon Publishing then offers this new content to a
wider audience by publishing the material in generic format. This is made
available in the form of easy to use 'learning nuggets' and is
complimented with business development information licensed exclusively
from one of the market's best-known providers, Bloomsbury.
Echelon e-Learning provides the electronic systems which enable content
to be published, distributed and usage tracked, and offers work-based
solutions to a global audience. Echelon's blended learning based on a
bespoke site populated with material selected to support specific
courses, builds knowledge prior to the event and refreshes application
when back at the desk.
About Echelon Publishing
Echelon technologies help organisations place solutions at people's
fingertips, whether solving everyday business and work-related problems
or helping gain qualifications and continued professional development.
Echelon:
Has a content management
system enabling informational or learning material to be developed or
converted into XML so that it can be published and distributed in text
and/or via the web.
Has a learning management system to provide ready access via the web to
highly structured information, which is easily searched and retrieved,
and whose usage can be tracked and learning logged.
Publishes and/or reformats content for professional bodies and commercial
organisations to help students and employees maintain or develop
requisite skills throughout their careers.
Supports people from the outset of their careers in working with
professional bodies to develop and deliver the learning content required
by students in preparing for examination.
Frees up the knowledge and learning contained within a business so that
people have ready access to these resources in helping them to solve
problems or develop their careers.
Works with a number of blue chip organisations and professional bodies,
including:
COMMERCIAL INSTITUTIONAL
BUPA Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development
Coventry Building Society Chartered Institute of Public Finance
Accountants
Lincoln Financial Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply
Moat House Hotels Construction Industry Training Board
Modernisation Agency (NHS) Institute of Chartered Secretaries &
Administrators
Channel Tunnel Rail Link Institute of Chartered Accountants in E & W
NHS Logistics Institute of Civil Engineers
Vodafone Royal Town Planning Institute
