Inkfish Call Centres, Domestic & General Group Limited: AARP International Innovative Employer Awards 2008

Winning Year: 2008

Industry: Insurance
Location: Nottingham, United Kingdom

Web: http://www.domgen.com/

 

 

Domestic & General Group PLC sought to attract and retain older workers for their experience, loyalty, and reliability by implementing a number of age-positive recruitment strategies. Materials for recruitment and assessment were tailored to resonate with various generations. Telephone interviews have been used in the first stage of the hiring process to avoid age bias. The staff have also been encouraged to become Age Positive Ambassadors, some of whom represent the company at recruitment fairs.

 

Additional Policies and Practices:

Lifelong Learning and Training: Domestic & General Group PLC's induction program is a standard program covering information about the company and specific information about the campaign the individual will be working on.

 

When recruiting older workers, inductions are tailored, for example, by giving additional support in areas such as IT skills. Following staff induction training, new recruits will usually progress to a “graduation bay,” and once the employee progresses to a competent level, the company offers a varied program of skills training, including sales skills, communication skills, and customer service skills.

 

The latest initiative, “Route to Success,” provides a guide to career development across the call center. This system guides employees to all roles within the company and highlights the skills and experience required to progress to new roles. Running alongside the program are in-house training offerings available to all employees to help them attain the skills necessary to progress to new roles in the organization. All employees have a form of performance management to encourage individual development, reward, and progression.

 

Flexible Work Arrangements: In 2002, Domestic & General Group PLC introduced the opportunity for all employees to request flexible working, ahead of legislative changes enforcing this requirement. Employees may continue working beyond the state retirement age and are provided with annual health checks funded by the company; anyone wishing to work beyond the state retirement age can also request flexible working.

 

In addition, the company does not operate a default retirement age. However, for individuals wishing to retire, Domestic & General Group PLC offers an enhanced company pension scheme.

 

Health Promotion and Protection: Domestic & General Group PLC’s motto is to concentrate on wellness and not sickness. The latest initiative is Wellness Wednesdays, promoting healthy eating, cholesterol, and general health awareness. The company offers discounted gym memberships and works with organizations such as New Leaf to promote healthier lifestyles. Domestic & General Group Plc also organizes sports fun days, open to all staff.

 

Diversity Promotion: To promote the importance of age-positive policies, the company has conducted elections between departments encouraging staff to become Age Positive Ambassadors. The company makes its equal opportunities policy readily available and publicized through the intranet and provides an overview of its policies during its new employee induction process.

 

The company encourages a blend of ages across all work teams and also works with local and community organizations to ensure that they raise interest from potential employment applicants who are experiencing forced career change, such as redundancy.

 

Recruitment: A range of strategies has been employed to ensure recruitment is age-positive, including designing recruitment and assessment material for older and  younger workers through the use of song titles as strap lines, such as “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” or “Talking About My Generation”; utilizing mature ambassadors at recruitment fairs; briefing temp agencies to meet and beat a 10-percent target of mature workers; use of telephone interviews at the first stage of selection to avoid age bias; selection days hosted by mature workers; and confidence-building induction training and support prior to call handling. The company has a goal of increasing the proportion of workers over age 50 to 20 percent of the overall workforce by January 2009.