Success for two Highland Council staff
Two customer services staff with The Highland Council have received national recognition for representing the professional face of local government to the public.
Carla Forbes, Service Point Assistant, Inverness, and Alison Gudgeon, Service Point Officer, Lochinver, were runners-up in the Candidate of the Year, The Customer Service Professional Qualifications, Scottish local government’s new SQA-certificated professional qualifications.
Councillor Carolyn Wilson, Chairman of The Highland Council’s Resources Committee, said “Many congratulations go to Carla and Alison on their well-deserved recognition, which is helping to deliver improved outcomes for our customers. The professionalism of our staff is an important driver of customer satisfaction. It is important our staff receive the right support and training to deliver effective customer service will become more and more important.”
The winner of the Candidate of the Year was Jim McPhee, customer services advisor, Renfrewshire Council.
In its inaugural year, the award celebrates learners who have demonstrated outstanding commitment, transferred their knowledge and understanding to improve their own or their service’s working methods, inspired others, or overcome specific challenges to achieve their Customer Service Professional Qualification.
Launched initially in 2008, The Customer Service Professional Qualifications have been developed by councils, for councils involving excellent collaborative working across local authorities and a great deal of hard work on the part of The Improvement Service and a consortium of Scottish councils led by Renfrewshire Council.
The Qualifications are endorsed by COSLA, the umbrella body for Scottish local government, certificated by the Scottish Qualifications Authority and are portable across all Scottish local authorities. The Qualifications are designed to provide real, useful skills for public sector customer service employees; recognise and reward professionalism in Scottish local government and associated bodies and raise standards for new and existing staff.
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