Look inwards to reflect outwards
Client: New Zealand Transport Agency
NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) creates transport solutions for a thriving New Zealand.
To help them build their external reputation for exceptional customer service we developed a set of tools to stimulate the desired internal actions around teamwork and personal responsibility. Sign Up, Team Up, Front Up has become part of the cultural vernacular, contributing to the enhanced external image of the organisation.
The Brief
We've provided NZTA with strategic design since 2004 when they were still Land Transport New Zealand (LTNZ). LTNZ merged with Transit NZ in 2008 to become NZTA.
A key engagement strategy for NZTA is to build a reputation for serving their customers' needs. But with 1500 staff, getting good cultural alignment, so that staff feel empowered to deliver exceptional customer service, is a huge challenge. Our brief was to create a set of tools to help staff consistently act in a way that supports the engagement strategy.
As our client put it 'Success comes from what we do and how we do it. When we behave in a consistent manner, inside the organisation as well as in our relationships with our customers, we build trust, leading to reputational excellence.'
The Solution
Our response - Sign Up, Team Up, Front Up - was designed to foster the external identity by aligning the organisational culture. It taps into the everyday language of the organisation to promote teamwork and personal responsibility as the norm - what is expected from, and by, each and every person in the organisation.
A series of visual aids we've developed to communicate the desired actions, provide tools for managers to embed them into the organisation and to showcase to everyone that 'it is the way things get done at NZTA.' These materials included leadership workshops, training initiatives, team updates, online and offline presentations and much much more.
The Results
Sign Up, Team Up, Front Up messages quickly became part of the day-to-day vocabulary. It has become how the team at NZTA do business and this is starting to reflect positively in the public's perception of the organisation.
Based on the success of this work, we've worked with NZTA to develop further internally focused initiatives to help achieve external reputation goals.
