In pursuit of excellence: Customer Service strategy - About - IT Services

IT Services doesn't just want to be good at customer service, we want to be excellent. We put our customers at the heart of what we do and the services we deliver.

Through sharing knowledge, listening and working together we have a mutual appreciation of requirements, which enables consideration and understanding of how to meet expectations. We consider customers to be everyone we deal with, from each other in IT Services through to anyone who uses or could use the services we deliver on behalf of the University of Sheffield.

In order to deliver on our strategy we have the following core customer service principles:

Customer Focus

To ensure we maintain a customer focus at the heart of what we do:

We involve customers in the design of our processes and services, all the way from concept through to delivery and support.
We take the time to understand the diversity of our customers and their needs and requirements.

Collaboration

To ensure we effectively engage and work collaboratively:

We work as a team with shared values and aims, and ensure our desire to deliver excellent customer service is led from the top and delivered consistently all the way through the department.
We build relationships and collaborate internally and externally to understand the requirements of colleagues and customers and to support respectful working practices.

Empowerment

To ensure we are all empowered to deliver excellent customer service:

We have an appropriate structure that clearly defines roles and responsibilities which allows us to work together cooperatively.
We design appropriate flexibility into processes to allow our staff to better respond to customers individual needs.
We encourage staff and customers to input and shape our services by using their initiative to solve problems, innovate and make decisions. Thereby improving our provision, performance and providing motivation to take responsibility and be accountable for their actions.

Whiteboard drawing of IT things from a persons head

Skills & Understanding

To ensure appropriate skills and understanding:

We value our staff and ensure that through recruitment and training we have the right skills to deliver the department's aspirations.
Our staff know and understand the requirements of their job, the people and processes they are supporting and our future direction.
We capture and share our knowledge with our customers to develop skills and to ensure our processes and services are consistent and understood.

Communication

To ensure we communicate effectively:

We are transparent in decision making and strive to ensure we engage and communicate effectively with all stakeholders.
We ensure our staff are engaged in the activities of the University by listening to their advice and ideas and by ensuring they are aware of changes and developments.
We engage in two-way communication to build trusted working relationships, to negotiate with our customers and staff and to promote mutual understanding and respect.

Continual service improvement cycle diagram

Continuous Improvement

To ensure we continually improve our service offering:

We measure and monitor our performance, actively asking for feedback and input to ensure our services meet the needs of the University and our customers.
We proactively manage change in order to identify and eliminate specific problems and to improve our processes and services. We are committed to finding ways to become more efficient and effective to meet customers expectations.
We recognise, reward and promote the activities of our staff and teams throughout the department.

Download our customer service strategy In Pursuit of Excellence as a PDF