Steady progress

Leaping up the Vital Few rankings - from 1252 in period one to 383 in period seven for Tracked performance – Bitterne Manor has been firmly focused on improvement over the past year. Customer Operations Manager, Louise Barnard, explains how.

How long have you been the COM at Bitterne Manor?

I started on September 1 2024.

What three things do your team do that make you proudest of them?

Work well together, produce ideas to improve the unit, look after new staff. Also, we have named our fleet to help give it a personal touch.

What would you say have been your biggest improvements there over the past year?

Clearing the office, reduction of sick and our Tracked performance.

How do you ensure you clear every day?

Some days it’s hard but we make sure we rotate deliveries and do clear frame checks. We commit to delivering by having the OPGs know what the ask is, so they are able to complete the workload given.

Do you have a large team?

We have a team of 129. When I first arrived, we were 12 staff down, so we have a mixture of new entrants, who have been left on the same duty over Xmas to get the best from them. Then we have a few that have been with the company for 40 years. So, it’s a mix of both with a few part-time contracts.

When preparing for Peak 2024, what would you say is the one key thing you focused on?  

Getting the right pairing with the deliveries. I am a big believer that if people are happy with who they are paired with they enjoy the job more. Also asking the team to commit to working days off early on, having the plan for parcel deliveries. Just having everyone know what the result is and to get everything delivered for Christmas.

Has much more traffic come through your office in the past few weeks?

We have just started now seeing the drop, but the last few weeks have been heavy.

What sort of items are you seeing?

A lot of parcels – toys - and we are inundated with Christmas cards. We have noticed the parcels are becoming bigger and bigger.

How do you engage with your team daily during Peak?

Every day doing the countdown calendar and I am always on the floor throughout the morning.

Any special message for your team?

Thank you Bitterne for making me so welcome and thank you to the management team in Bitterne for letting me input my ideas and changes!