Insider profil

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Gaynor S.

Head of Customer Experience, Services

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United Kingdom

Top Insider Advice

I believe you should be in a job that that plays to your strengths, that leaves you feeling energised and fulfilled at the end of the day. Not everyday can feel like this due to challenges/set backs which may occur but on the whole it should make you feel like you are playing to your strengths. Don't be too fixed or rigid on career moves/next steps. I have never known what I wanted to do, opportunities have come along at the right time. Be open minded, brave and make a leap - you never know what this opens up for you.... I think every opportunity leads to something that can help you further cement your thinking about what is "you". Building relationships is key in any role and can help you to unlock doors and smooth the way.

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Career path

Head of Customer Experience, Services

Alstom EMEA

Started 07/2020 to Present

General Manager

Virgin Train/Avanti West Coast

From 04/2018 to 07/2020

Customer Experience Manager - Liverpool, Holyhead & Manchester

Virgin Trains

From 06/2015 to 04/2018

Company

What do you like about your job and the company?

As I work with multiple customers I get the privilege of working with different people, Alstom teams across the network and different suppliers. I can to experience a lot of variety in my role, building relationships, skills, experience and best practice - keeps me very busy. I also love the variety of travel and locations - although my office/base is at Longsight, Manchester - I travel up and down the WC network to various meetings/workshops/audits etc. I love understanding the various challenges our customers have and thinking about how we can support/help them. The railway as a whole is moving/changing at the moment - which can make it tricky to deliver and operate under so its understanding how you navigate through this and deliver the best you can.

Greatest achievements

When I worked for Virgin Trains we had a business aspiration to achieve NAS to 50 (net advocacy score). The benchmark set was seen as the target for all "recognised" customer service businesses to be operating at which would deliver a great CX for the customer. The customers actually completed a survey to score us out of 10 on how much they would recommend us to a friend/family member....so it was real and truthful with follow up questions to understand more around the experience. I am delighted to say that on my Liverpool route we scored 50 on 2 different occasions - we were the only route to achieve this score. This a team effort - everyone working together - fleet to deliver the trains, teams delivering excellent customer experience, F&B team delivering Food & drink to the trains and the cleaners keeping the environment clean. We ensured we Reward and recognised all the frontline teams for their delivery - I was so proud!

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Jenny J

Top Insider Advice

Tell your manager and colleagues what you want to learn more about or which skills you wish to improve. They may be able to assign you tasks that align with your interests and supporting your personal development plan. Knowing your preferences, strengths and weaknesses makes it easier for you to ask for help when needed. Sharing your questions, and supporting on answers, creates an openness that enables dialogue and exchange of experiences, giving everyone an opportunity to grow.

Bishal K

Technical Design Leader

Top Insider Advice

Talk to talent acquisition team, even before they reach out to you. In my opinion this shows your interest towards the the role. List top 5 things that you would want your ideal workplace to have and start with the employees who work there with in similar job positions, because job satisfaction is the key. There is a huge possibility to grow within Alstom. Cross discipline, cross country you name it, if this is something you would like to have in your future job role. Flat hierarchy and work-life balance is the strongest suit of Alstom Denmark. So, if it sounds like the place you would want to work in, we would be lucky to have you.

Sergio L

Digital Asset Manager

Top Insider Advice

It is amazing how the technology is evolving every year, even month. New technologies are always arising and making our lifes easier. What's really important is the need to be aware of this technologies and to be always thinking if these technologies can be applied to the business. This is really important, a new technology correctly applied to a train, fleet, etc. can be the game changer to win a contract. Most of the customers are not yet aware of the power of cloud computing, IoT, AI's etc. It's our job to take advantage of it and propose solutions they've never dreamt of.

Discussions with Gaynor S
What do you think is unique about working here?
in Career Tips·mardi, avril 4, 2023
1 response
25 views
How would you describe this company in 3 words?
in Career Tips·mardi, octobre 10, 2023
1 response
6 views
How do you work in a team in your job?
in Career Tips·mardi, septembre 19, 2023
1 response
14 views
What is the most valuable thing you have learned in your time at Alstom?
in Career Tips·mercredi, février 28, 2024
1 response
6 views