Why our people make a difference

At the Database Department we believe that our people really do make a difference – but everyone says that, don’t they? So why do our people make a difference?

They make a difference because of five things;

  • Recruitment
  • Methodologies
  • Training
  • Mentoring
  • Respect

Recruitment

We have a stringent recruitment process. We follow a strict “no discrimination” policy and we  recruit team members irrespective of their sex, race, religion, colour and age.

Of course there are a number of things we do insist on – commitment, ability, integrity, relevant experience and willingness to learn.

Our consultants range from people in their sixties and seventies with more than 30 years business experience to university graduates starting out in their business careers.

We interview all new recruits intensively, we assiduously check references and we test their communication, learning and technical skills in depth before offering anyone a position. We go to a great deal of trouble to recruit the right people, not just in their skills but in their approach and attitude.

Methodologies

We have developed  a number of our own proprietary methodologies. Our ARM Business Platform methodologies, our cloud based WebONE Integrated Marketing Database and out other tools and processes are all created and solely owned by the Database Dept.

They are supported by detailed and extensively documented training courses to ensure we can deliver on our promise to our Clients.

All our other business processes, templates, forms and procedures are well documented and reside in our extensive Wiki system ensuring we can consistently provide world class delivery of our services.

Training

When someone joins us, whether they have 30 years experience or are fresh from university they go through an in depth induction course before they begin working.

They read, absorb and understand  all the materials in our induction training programs. They discuss them with their manager and review any sections they aren’t sure of. They are shown where all our process documents are kept in our extensive internal Wiki and are trained on our cloud based “data as a service” tools. .

They then work through the 16 ARM Business Platform training modules. These cover everything from messaging, campaign planning and call planning to follow up, information quality and data standards. Each modules contains a test to ensure they have absorbed and understood the material and concepts and the results are discussed with their immediate manager.

Once we and they are confident that they fully understand our ARM Business Platform methodologies, processes and they are proficient in using our cloud based WebONE Integrated Marketing Database they are ready to work – but they are always encouraged to review these modules and ask questions of their manager or our trainers whenever they need to.

They also receive extensive training on our Clients’ business and products, solutions and services to ensure we accurately represent each and every Client and are aligned with their brand guidelines and unique selling propositions.

Mentoring

Our Consultants work to agreed, measurable, achievable KPIs. These are available in real time via the cloud to our Consultants and to their managers – and also to our Clients because we believe transparency is a key part of building trust.

These KPIs are reviewed weekly with their managers who mentor them as a team to help them achieve their objectives. If necessary special top-up training sessions and one-to-one mentoring are used to ensure everyone understands and follows our “natural flow” processes and philosophy.

Our trainers and managers are always available to help if anyone has any questions, concerns or feedback. Our people are encouraged to actively contribute and help continually improve our procedures. All suggestions are actively considered because we believe learning is a two way process.

Respect

At the Database Department we value and respect our staff .

Our focus is on quality before quantity and our targets emphasise this. Targets are designed to be realistically achievable. If people don’t achieve their targets we work with them to see how we can help them to do so. We don’t believe in blame. If there’s a problem we work as a team to understand the root cause and then to solve it together. We all follow the Database Dept.’s Root Cause Analysis model to ensure we address the right challenges and offer the right solutions.

We believe our employees are the most valuable part of our business and they need to be respected and nurtured.

We also offer our people flexible working hours and we have several that start and finish early or that work part time. We help our Clients build trusted relationships with their prospects and we believe in having trust in our own people.

We have a very flat management structure. Everyone in our senior management team knows all our people personally and they are always approachable. Wherever possible we promote from within so our people know they have a career path.

We believe that if our people succeed we succeed and vice versa – and that’s what makes the difference.

So our people really do make a difference – but for very good reasons, not

just because we say so.