RogenSi : Dublin Bus Customer Focus

Dublin Bus, government funded to the tune of €56m, enjoyed a bus service monopoly within the Dublin area, providing an extensive network of bus routes, airport services, night shuttles and sightseeing tours. Employing over 3000 staff and with a bus fleet of more than 1000 vehicles, the company was highly unionised. Riddled with agreements that prevented the flow of communication, it suffered from conflict between different stakeholder communities, but had a staff turnover of less than 3 percent and an average length of service of 21 years. Many employees perceived the company as an institution rather than a corporate body, and within the company there was a strong ‘us and them’ mentality.

Client Situation

In early 2003 Dublin Bus recognised that the dynamics of its business were likely to change over the coming years, as the government had announced plans to make 25 percent of the transport market available to competition. To prepare for this change, Dublin Bus management decided to alter its image to gain the support of Dublin’s public transportation users, as well as changing the mindset of its staff. Across both communities there was extreme reluctance to change.

Critical Objective

The primary aim was to create a high level of customer focus among stakeholders, preparing them mentally and emotionally to adopt new customer-oriented practices that would allow the company to operate effectively in a competitive environment. A secondary aim was to build greater trust between management and staff to ensure that an internal focus complemented the external customer focus.

RogenSi’s Approach

Following the establishment of a joint project team, an intensive 12-week planning and diagnostic phase identified key issues to be resolved and ensured the recommended solution was contextually relevant.

A workshop with key stakeholders was conducted to align the vision and future state of the business, drive the overall outcomes for the program and ensure the engagement and support of key players. Dilt’s Logical Levels, a cultural assessment tool that was used in the workshop, is revisited quarterly to ensure a continuing focus on, and alignment with, the program.

A three-day program was also delivered over four months to 120 members of the inspectorate community to prepare them for future change and encourage greater focus on the customer experience. This was followed by a €1.2m customer awareness program that was rolled out over nine month to the entire Dublin Bus workforce – traffic (driver) groups, engineers, clerical staff and all levels of management. A total of nine bespoke programs were produced, each tailored to meet the specific needs of the various communities.

Ensuring Sustainability

RogenSi worked closely with senior management to identify necessary process and environmental changes that would demonstrate staff willingness to support the new customer-oriented behaviours.

RogenSi’s models have been integrated into internal skills training courses, which include an attitudinal component that was previously lacking. Ongoing one-on-one coaching is available to selected managers, providing them with the tools and techniques to coach and manage their workforce and communicate the program’s messages

RogenSi designed organisational leadership modules for senior management that encourage the adoption of a strategic focus for practical operational situations. RogenSi also worked in partnership with the Dublin Bus Training School on the design of whole-brain learning modules, which Dublin Bus staff have been trained to deliver.

Client Feedback

Dr John Lynch, CEO of CIE, the holding company that owns Dublin Bus, commissioned an independent, post-project customer survey. He has been amazed with the dramatic improvements across all of Dublin Bus’s customer service monitors and attributes this success to the RogenSi program.

In addition, he believes the RogenSi initiative has improved the customer dialogue within Dublin Bus, facilitating greater harmony and cooperation between managers, supervisors and operatives such as inspectors, drivers and engineers. Initially sceptical of the program as being a management activity forced on employees, unions within Dublin Bus now wholeheartedly support the program, recognising the advantage for individuals that the adoption of a performance mindset can have in both their professional and personal lives.