ADP - Award for Innovation in Customer Service

Company: ADP, Alpharetta, GA
Company Description: With ADP, businesses can choose the type of outsourcing that suites their needs – a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) or Human Resources Outsourcing (HRO). ADP’s HRO solutions serve over two million SMB employees, making us the largest provider in the United States.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Award for Innovation in Customer Service - Other Service Industries

Nomination Title: Moments that matter. ADPs HRO Service Culture.

ADP’s heart beats to the rhythm of exceptional experiences – we don’t stop with service that brings resolution and a smile – we drive a legacy through cutting edge techniques. As a company with more than 70 years of experience, we didn’t rest on our documented success, we proactively sought new design thinking experiences to help us empathize with the clients and associates of today. This desire for continuous improvement led to the development of Service Culture within the Human Resources Outsourcing (HRO) division.

Launched in Oct. 2019, Service Culture completely reinvigorated more than 4,000 associates to improve service, proactively solve client issues (even the ones they may not know about yet) and further apply empathy to each moment.

Service Culture provided our associates with 36,000+ hours of “real-life” training, driving YoY results including:

Nearly 50% increase in our clients’ positive perception of their relationship with our associates;

More than half of all associates improved their transactional NPS scores; and

Associates who completed all training and assessments improved their tNPS by 2%.

Built upon three foundational pillars of: I connect. I make it right. I consult with care; Service Culture has changed the way we do business.

ADP’s HRO Service Culture was fed by applying the results of qualitative and quantitative research into the need for an effortless client experience with our associates, because studies show that 95% of customers who feel they need to provide too much effort have a high propensity to become disloyal – in fact our own detractors are more likely to leave us than our promoters.

Since launching Service Culture in Oct. 2019, ADP HRO has provided more than 95% of our 4,000+ associates with 9 individual hours of in-depth, real-life applicable training, and the results have been astounding.

We have also seen a variety of service improvements including reduction in case aging by close to 50% YoY, cases were closed faster (3 days or longer dropped by nearly double-digits%) and case hand-offs dropped - showcasing how associates were empowered to solve client issues and find solutions.

By training associates, and continually coaching along the way, we are improving the client experience showcased in a record-setting FY21 retention score.

When building the HRO Service Culture program, we were driven to answer the age-old question, “What makes a customer loyal?” The answer: the clients experience with an associate. Therefore, Service Culture was built with the client AND the associate in mind – blending the two audiences’ unique needs to create powerful moments.

The first step to create an immediate connection with our clients was to give them a persona.

Once the persona was born, and training was launched, we found natural extensions. Not your typical training “takeaways,” we built associate-facing initiatives, including:

A Coaching Program: Associates are provided with customized ways to marry their personal strengths with Service Culture attributes. Pilot programs show trailblazing results – nearly double-digit improved event NPS and tNPS for participating teams.

An associate ideation space: Garnered more than 1,700 ideas and put more than 100 into production. This further enables associates to share any client solutions, in real time.

Associate Recognition: Highlight’s characteristics that make Service Culture achievable. We awarded professional development, team building and public recognition to 15 winners in Q4 FY21, and 9 “Annual Champions” and 3 “Teams of the Year” for FY21.

The Client Index: The second most visited dashboard in all of HRO, helps all leaders identify areas of improvement in order to coach and empower associates.

Making our clients personal improved the experience for clients and associates. Calling our client by name made them even more human.

We see it every day. Successful brands use social media, TV and other channels to make their messages stick. We followed that model and created foundational documents, videos and targeted pieces to further highlight the power of the HRO Service Culture – beyond the training sessions – these pieces reminded associates that making connections matter. The client they are helping is also a father, aunt or sibling. They are a person, with real needs.

Supporting this mantra, we built a variety of customized pieces for our associates:

Purpose, pillars and proof points is our grounding strategy. All additional collateral was built upon this foundation of connecting, making it right and consulting with care.

Launch videos (3) – To add fanfare to the launch of HRO Service Culture, we produced a video series (and contest) to increase associate engagement. We shattered our goals in terms of video collection and associate interest.

Leader and associate notebooks – These audience-specific pieces were shared with all 4,000+ associates to further build upon the concepts, attributes and quality characteristics we should give Alex, each day. The pieces provided each associate with a light to guide their path and helped them fully embrace the journey.

Creating and nurturing HRO Service Culture set us apart of our competitors. But, that was just the beginning. We brought our brand purpose to life by recentering our focus on who matters most … the clients we are grateful to serve.