CGI impressed the judges and won an award in two categories- Paul Phillips, Inspirational Leader of the Year and Louise Freeman, Service Desk Manager of the Year
Paul Phillips, Senior Service Desk Operations Manager, CGI
What made you decide to enter the awards?
CGI have a long standing relationship with the SDI and are very proud of our relationship and ongoing success in retaining the 5 Star Accreditation and improving our scores each year. SDI always give us very positive feedback on our members and see them as wow the factor for CGI. This is now the second year that we have entered a number of categories at the SDI Awards following last year’s success of 2 winners and 1 finalist. As the Senior Service Desk Operations Manager I was honoured when my manager recommended that I submit an award for this category.
What part of the awards process did you enjoy the most?
I have really enjoyed taking the opportunity to write and talk about my passion of running the CGI Service Desk and the fantastic work my team do. I also found it inspiring to meet applicants from across a wide range of Service Desks throughout the day and share our experiences and thoughts.
Why did you choose IT Support as a career?
After leaving University I started working in Customer Service and developed a passion for it. I also become more interested in technical aspects and IT so this led naturally to career in IT Support.
In the last 18 months, what has been the most successful initiative you have implemented to help your business improve its performance?
One of my main areas of focus throughout the last 18 months has been my innovation strategy and Tech Roadmap. This has included Remedy Upgrade, Knowledge Management and MyIT, Verint Workforce Management Upgrade, Gamification, WebChat, RPA, FastPass Self-service and Multimedia Desk Queue Management.
The most successful initiative and my favourite has been Multimedia Desk Queue Management which has moved all of our back office work into the front office telephony system allowing better tracking, distribution of work and easier operating practices for our members.
What are your top 3 tips to make a service desk successful?
Focus on your people by always listening and taking on board their ideas.
Have a culture of CSI that is strong and embedded I every person
Build positive relationships that lead to enjoyment in working together as a team
What one thing do you think really makes you stand out as a support professional?
I believe that my ability to support my members stands out. I also believe this is reflected in how this cascades throughout my Service Desk with my Operations Managers, Team Leaders and Support Function Leaders supporting their members. I invest the time and effort to understand my members and what inspires and motivates them so I can get the best out of them in their current role and support them in succeeding in that role and beyond.
How are you preparing to evolve your service desk over the next few years? Please share your most exciting plan with us!
Automation and new technology is a key area for the Service Desk and we are making significant steps with this already driving towards the future with the roadmap mentioned previously. Our next big step is the rollout of Artificial Intelligence that will revolutionise the way our users interact with us at the front line.
What does it mean to you to be a finalist in the ‘Inspirational Leader of the Year’ category?
Being a finalist is an honour and I am very happy to be recognised by SDI. I started working on the Service Desk 10 years ago as a 1st Line Analyst and have moved my way through promotions culminating in my current role leading the Service Desk. This award would be the perfect recognition of the progress I have made and would be fantastic recognition for all the hard work that I, my team and all those that have supported me and the Service Desk have put in.
What advice would you give to anyone entering the awards next year?
Enjoy the process and make sure you take the time to reflect on and enjoy the experiences that have led to your nomination.
What does it mean to win Inspirational Leader of the Year 2018?
Winning this award is one of the highlights of my career. I lead a fantastic team of people and winning this award is a fantastic recognition of everything we do.
Louise Freeman, Service Desk Operations Manager, CGI
What made you decide to enter the awards?
I have been a service desk manager for many years and feel that I have done some amazing things to improve services across multiple clients with the main priority being the clients we support.
What part of the awards process did you enjoy the most?
I did enjoy the interview panel, I felt really relaxed and that I engaged the panel with some of my service improvements.
Why did you choose IT Support as a career?
It wasn’t a path I would have chosen, at the time it was a job but it turned into something I now love and want to pursue further in different roles within CGI.
In the last 18 months, what has been the most successful initiative you have implemented to help your business improve its performance?
Customer Satisfaction Process and Format. I worked with my client to look for the best ways to send out the surveys to users to increase our response rate, to get a wider range of feedback to continually improve the service we deliver. This resulted in an increase from 2% to 10% response rate – as we had a wider range of feedback we were able to improve our CSS score of 90% as we were able to react quicker to feedback and implement improvements.
What are your top 3 tips to make a service desk successful?
• Continual Service Improvement
• Members
• Communication
Please share your most exciting plan with us! What does it mean to you to be a finalist in the ‘Service Desk Manager of the Year’ category?
I am so proud of myself to be a finalist and support my colleagues in doing the same each year!
What advice would you give to anyone entering the awards next year?
Be confident in speaking about your achievements and passionate about what you want to do and your goals.
The 2019 IT Service & Support Awards will take place on Tuesday 26 March at the Birmingham Hilton Metropole. Entries are now open – start working on your submission today for your chance to be recognised as one of the shining stars of the IT support industry.
