Customer and StakeholderEngagement Strategy

DMC6220

October 2014

ContentsForeword 1

Purpose of the Customer and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy (CSES) 2Objectives 2

Approach 3Our Vision 3

Our Mission Statement 3

Our Values 3

Our Behaviours 3

Our Business Objectives 4

Customer Expectations 4

Key Franchise Obligations 5

Application of Quality Management Principles (EFQM) 6

How we will communicate and engage with our customers and stakeholders 7Communications 7

Engagement and receiving feedback 8

Involvement 9

How we will review our effectiveness 10Customer Satisfaction Board 10

How we will measure success 11

How we will inform you of progress 13

What we will deliver in this franchise 14Franchise timeline and key milestones 14

What we are committing to 14

Summary 17

1

ForewordSoutheastern has been awarded the franchise to continue to run train services the South Eastern network until June 2018. This represents a fresh start for the franchise. Working with the Department for Transport we have reinforced our commitment to put the customer at the heart of our plans to improve the customer experience, and to be more open and transparent about the improvements and investment in the service.

Throughout the next four years we aim to deliver consistently excellent standards in customer service by improving train and station presentation, passenger information and retail, and by harnessing technical innovations to improve the service for our customers.

There will be some significant challenges over the next four years:

• London Bridge station is being redeveloped as part of the £6.5 billion government-funded Thameslink Programme, and this will transform north-south travel through London. However, it does mean that travel to, from and through London Bridge will be affected between now and 2018 and our customers will have to alter their journeys.

• The work also means that fewer trains will serve London Bridge while the station platforms are being rebuilt and track layout changes are made, and as platforms and sections of line are closed we’ll have less room to move which will make managing delays and incidents more difficult.

• Over this same time passenger numbers are expected to grow by 2.7% and we will have less trains available for service as we commence a programme of work to make them more accessible for all customers.

• Having achieved the highest level of customer satisfaction (in the Autumn 2013 National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS)) for this part of the network, we acknowledge our duty to meeting our customer’s expectations and continue to improve our service.

We’re experts in managing change across our network. Over the past eight years we have delivered major improvements in train punctuality, invested in stations and car parks, introduced Britain’s first domestic Highspeed service and successfully carried 20 percent more people throughout the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We have drawn on this extensive experience to plan ahead to carry us through this challenging period.

At the heart of our plans lies customer and stakeholder engagement. Our customers are the single most important part of our business and customer feedback is crucial to our success. We’re committed to listening to, and engaging with the communities we serve.

Our approach is set out in this Customer and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy (CSES).

The CSES describes our approach to identifying opportunities to improve the customer experience, and how we will monitor performance to drive change and improvements in an open, transparent and engaging way.

Each year we will reflect on progress and take account of feedback from customers and stakeholders in reviewing the CSES. We will publish a Customer Report every six months that will describe the progress we are making against our improvement plans and to set out what you can expect to see in the coming months.

2

Purpose of the Customer and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy (CSES)The purpose of the CSES is to set out how we will engage, communicate and involve customers and stakeholders in the development of Southeastern’s services and how we will improve levels of customer satisfaction. We will review the CSES annually.

ObjectivesThe objectives of this strategy are:

• To set out our commitment to use quality management processes.

• To set out how we will work with customers, stakeholders and other external bodies.

• To raise awareness of our efforts to improve service delivery to our customers by:

– collecting and assessing relevant and detailed information covering the concerns, issues, opportunities and risks relating to customer service, including customer views, priorities and opportunities, complaints, feedback and data;

– a constructive two way dialogue with customers, communities and passenger representatives, including Passenger Focus and London TravelWatch, that is transparent, responsive and effective;

– a process for generating a range of options to address emerging customer needs. This will include processes for effectively evaluating, prioritising and considering such options, and working in partnership with other agencies where collaboration on development and delivery of schemes will improve outcomes; and

– ensuring that customer expectations and opportunities are considered across all areas of the business as a fundamental part of our operational and business decision making.

3

We will take the following approach to deliver the CSES.

Our VisionWorking together to bring people together.

Our Mission Statement “To run a service that customers like and we’re proud of”

Our ValuesSoutheastern has five core values that define our aspirations and what our customers can confidently expect from us. These values are:• Take personal responsibility for our actions • Support our colleagues • Take care of our customers • Work collaboratively with stakeholders • Operate in a socially and environmentally responsible way

Our BehavioursThe values above lead to positive behaviour patterns vital to the success of Southeastern. Specifically, the behaviours we seek to display are:• Professionalism• Integrity• Supportiveness• Adding value• Teamwork• Empathy• Honesty• Sharing• Taking the broader view

These behaviours are embedded in our processes and in our management and training programmes. We measure them through the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS), our own Customer Satisfaction Surveys (CSS) and mystery shopper programmes. We also conduct an Employee Survey that tells us how well these behaviours are embedded in management practice to support and engage our employees in delivering good customer service.

Approach

4

Business ObjectivesThere are seven key business objectives for Southeastern. These are:• Improving the customer experience • More effective community engagement • Increasing our employee engagement• Ensuring compliance with health, safety and security • Delivering a punctual and reliable train service• Improving value for money• Developing our business

These business objectives are wholly aligned with our Vision, Values and Behaviours. By achieving all the business objectives above, and delivering the key franchise obligations set out below, we will realise our vision and mission “To run a service that customers like and we’re proud of”.

Customer expectationsOur approach is to ensure we meet, and where we can, exceed customer expectations.

Pre - travelWe will ensure we market our products and offers to maximum effect

We will ensure we communicate clear, accurate and timely information regarding disruption and cancellations, and provide ways of making alternative journeys

We will ensure any interactions via the website or through customer service channels are as seamless and easy as possible

5

At the stationWe will present a warm, friendly and helpful welcome by our staff

We will provide clear, accurate and timely information regarding current and future train services, including planned or unplanned disruption

We will provide a clean and welcoming station environment

We will ensure any interactions between customer and staff at stations are as seamless and easy as possible

On the trainWe will present a warm, friendly and helpful welcome by our staff

We will ensure we meet our performance targets

We will improve the cleanliness of train interiors, including toilet facilities

We will provide clear, accurate and timely information regarding the journey being undertaken, including planned or unplanned disruption

We will ensure any interactions between customers and staff on trains are as seamless and easy as possible

Post journeyWe will have a warm, friendly and helpful interaction with passengers

We will ensure any interactions via the website or through customer service channels are as seamless and easy as possible

We will ensure we capture customer feedback on how we can further improve our services

Key franchise objectivesWe have three key objectives for the franchise.• Maintain overall customer satisfaction to the highest levels achieved in 2013.• Minimise the impact of London Bridge reconstruction on customers.• Develop, maintain and publish a Customer and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy.

To maintain customer service levels during the franchise, we have developed an integrated plan that is designed to mitigate the challenges we face over the next four years. We have established that there is a close correlation between train service performance and overall customer satisfaction which has allowed us to target the areas for improvement.

We have evaluated the relative impact of what we plan to do in the franchise, to ensure that we improve on customer satisfaction.

6

Application of Quality Management Principles (EFQM)Standards of service delivery and management at Southeastern have been endorsed with a 5-star rating from the British Quality Foundation Recognised for Excellence (R4E) programme.

It is the second time we have achieved the highest possible rating through the scheme, which recognises excellence in management, operational standards, service delivery and staff development. The external assessment involved an in-depth review of our processes and results, which were measured against the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) model.

We will continue to use EFQM quality management principles to maximise our performance at Southeastern. Tools we will use to identify solutions to issues and problems include benchmarking and sharing of best practice, but we will add focus through the CSES to ensure we listen to staff, customers and stakeholders, and use any feedback to challenge our current practices to make sure it’s the best way of doing things.

We will follow the EFQM model approach to ensure there is continual improvement.

Figure 1. RADAR model for continuous improvement through quality management

For more details about the British Quality Foundation Recognised for Excellence (R4E) and the Levels of Excellence programme, visit: www.bqf.org.uk/levels-of-excellence/r4e

Plan and developAPPROACHES

RequiredRESULTS

DEPLOYApproaches

ASSESS AND REFINE

7

We have categorised the various channels of communication, recognising there may be some overlap between categories. Our approach to customer engagement is detailed below by channel.

Figure 2. Customer and Stakeholder Engagement Channels

We will have more conversations with our customers – in person and by making greater use of digital and social media. We utilise the following channels:

CommunicationsOnlineRecognising stations are the heart of our local communities, we will set up an online community, the ‘Customer Panel’ - as a means of sharing information, seeking feedback and consulting with stakeholders on our plans for the service. This will enable more of our customers to contribute their views and find out more about what’s happening with their service and more generally within the communities we serve.

Social MediaWe’ll make greater use of social media, to interact with customers, share news and improve information especially when services are disrupted. We expand the hours of our Twitter feed to provide up to 24 hour, seven days a week coverage providing live service updates and customer service help. Social media will be central to the way we to communicate with customers throughout the London Bridge service alterations.

How we will communicate and engage with our customers and stakeholders

Feedback received

Meet the Manager

Station Connection

Days

Social Media / Marketing Your Vote

Connections Live Events

CustomerPanel / Social media forums

Pulse surveys

Complaints, praise and

correspondence

8

Southeastern On-Track AppWe will develop further useful updates to our travel planning App, ‘Southeastern On-Track’. Our app already has the ability to improve key customer service aspects for our passengers whilst on the move. The app allows you to claim Delay Repay more easily. By using the camera feature of a smartphone passengers can photograph their ticket, upload it, fill in a Delay Repay form and send it directly to customer services. This is a much simpler process, making it easier for our customers to get refunds. The app also provides easy links to our customer services team.

Engagement and receiving feedbackStation Connection Days – more Meet the Manager sessionsEach month our senior managers are available to meet with customers at our key London terminals (London Victoria, London Charing Cross, London Cannon Street and London St Pancras International), and going forward we will introduce sessions for customers at London Bridge. We will also develop these sessions into all-day events and share the feedback.

Connections LiveOur Station Connection Days will feed into our Connections Live roadshows at locations away from the railway such as local colleges, town centres, and shopping centres. We will capture feedback for the our Customer Satisfaction Board. This work will be supported by a Community Liaison Officer who will engage with local communities in and around our stations.

Marketing and Customer Relations ManagementWe’ll be offering new value fare marketing offers and looking in depth at customer feedback to better understand the needs and concerns of our customers.

9

InvolvementYour VoteWe will ask customers to post their feedback on selected topics, based around key customer issues. Through social media, we will ask customers to vote on ideas that we consider practical possibilities, including suggestions that customers have made through other channels. The results will be analysed by the Customer Satisfaction Board and the results will be used to inform staff training and deployment of initiatives at stations.

Station Improvement FundWe will ask customers for their suggestions to develop station amenities. We will create shortlists of projects built around our existing station improvement plans so we can prioritise and gain maximum benefit for customers based on their feedback. We will use Your Vote, supplemented by our Service Quality Team undertaking ‘Pulse’ surveys at the relevant stations to gain real time feedback.

Customer representative bodiesWe will continue to work with Passenger Focus and London TravelWatch throughout the franchise. They will to hold us to account on whether we are engaging with customers in an effective manner. We will seek their advice before implementing any of the initiatives in the CSES and will invite them to partner us in our Station Connection Days and other initiatives.

Other StakeholdersCollaborating with stakeholders is critical to our success in delivering improvements and communicating change and we remain committed to working closely with all key internal and external stakeholder groups, such as employees and industry partners and bodies.

Helpful and attentive staff has been identified as a key driver of customer satisfaction. We will continue to work to improve our employee - customer engagement, and use the results from the 2014 survey, and subsequent surveys, to align employee engagement action plans with the objectives for the next four years

10

Our approach is outlined in Figure 3 below and covers how we:

• understand our customers to ensure that we meet their individual needs and evolve with their expectations;

• communicate with the customer about their needs and our actions to address them;

• monitor our performance against key drivers of customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction to drive a cycle of continuous improvement;

• seek new initiatives through innovation and investment to maintain standards, mitigate potential adverse effects and improve aspects of our service; and

• engage with our customers and stakeholders through a range of media.

Customer Satisfaction BoardOur Customer Satisfaction Board will play a pivotal role in the review process to ensure we are delivering against our committed obligations and that we adopt the quality management approach in all we do to drive improvements in the customer experience.

The Customer Satisfaction Board will monitor key metrics and performance indicators to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our customers and doing things that our customers feel are important to them.

The Customer Satisfaction Board will be responsible for collating feedback from both internal and external stakeholders, identifying areas for improvement, assessing the commercial viability of the potential schemes and ultimately their implementation.

Figure 3. Engagement and Improvement Process

How we will review our effectiveness

Customer experience

Understand the customer

Monitor performance

Communicate with the customer

Improvement initiatives

Customer and Stakeholder engagement

1

3

25

4

11

The Customer Satisfaction Board is chaired by our Passenger Services Director and includes representation from every part of the business. The Customer Satisfaction Board oversees the development of the customer experience strategy and sets out customer service objectives on a biannual basis. Goals are set and outcomes are measured through the National Rail Passenger Survey (NRPS). We also draw on our own Customer Service Survey to assess the changing needs of our passengers. We will conduct a formal review of the key strategic issues affecting our customers. This will take place every February and July and will feed in to the next edition of the Customer Report and annual review of the CSES.

We will establish internal working groups to deliver our obligations and initiatives, and recommend new projects for approval. Our approach will be to focus on the customer end to end journey and ensuring that where possible we make this as easy as possible.

How we measure successTo ensure that we are meeting the needs of our customers and to drive continuous improvement we continually measure how well we are doing against those things our customers feel are important. The Customer Satisfaction Board will monitor key metrics and performance indicators, which will be used to inform the future CSES. The measurements will include:

Customer Satisfaction SurveyThe Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSS) is carried out on behalf of Southeastern four times a year by independent researchers. We will enhance these surveys to meet the needs of the CSES, for example, by adding additional questions to target specific issues so they can be effectively addressed.

NRPS resultsNRPS results are published twice a year along with an analysis of the key drivers of customer satisfaction, this allows us to measure our performance against other train companies.

Service Quality AuditsThe Service Quality Team will conduct station, train and depot checks throughout the year to ensure we meet our customer satisfaction targets.

Institute of Customer Service BenchmarkingIn 2013 we undertook the Institute of Customer Service (IoCS) ServCheck survey scoring 65.89, which is in line with the national average and demonstrates a strong measure of how well our employees are engaged with our customer service strategy. We will continue to work with the IoCS to develop action plans to support the delivery of our customer experience strategy through coaching and training programmes and benchmarking against other IoCS members.

ComplaintsKey to improving customer and stakeholder satisfaction will be how we learn from our customer feedback. We will use the complaints data to determine where we are not meeting customer expectations, so that we can reduce the number of complaints and improve the customer experience as a whole.

12

Media coverageCustomers’ perception of our service is driven by media coverage and the views expressed by high profile stakeholders. We will continue to monitor the levels of positive, negative or neutral media coverage. This will help us to identify areas for improvement, address areas where intervention/clarification is required and allow us to target specific groups (either stakeholder or customer groups).

BenchmarkingIn addition to monitoring our performance we will benchmark our performance against other rail operators and identify best practice, to see what innovative schemes can be applied to Southeastern to improve the customer experience. For example, we recently took part in a benchmarking visit at Gatwick Airport to compare customer information provision during disruption.

Figure 4. Internal feedback and benchmarking

These feedback mechanisms will allow us to address customer and stakeholder issues with other relevant measures and benchmarks.

Continuous feedbackThe CSES will promote use of our communication channels, whilst also providing updates on how we are acting on the feedback.

Given this is a new approach to communication and engagement we will seek feedback on the CSES itself to ensure we create a constructive two way dialogue with customers, communities and passenger representatives.

Feedback received

Employee Engagement

Survey

Bulletin Board

NPS / CSS / SQMS

Institute of Customer

Service

13

How we will inform you of progressCustomer ReportIn order to inform how we are progressing with the implementation of this strategy we will publish a Customer Report every six months.

The first edition will set out what can be expected in future issues, and will include as a minimum the following headings and topic areas (including those specified in the franchise agreement):

• Introduction from Managing Director

• Summary of NRPS results

• Review of last 6 months

• Summary of transparency data published (previous 2 quarters), including: – Setting out our Customer Standards and publishing our performance against them every three months

(CSES to report previous 2 quarters); – Publishing Public Performance Measures (PPM) by line of route as well as company-wide (previous 2

quarters); – Publishing the number of complaints per 1000 passengers (by category of complaint in accordance

with ORR guidance) on a six monthly basis; – Publishing details of our compliance with Schedule 17 requirements in relation to ticket office opening

hours, and of the availability of ticket vending machines (TVM) (previous 2 quarters); and – Publishing our environmental performance, including our use of energy and management of waste

(previous 2 quarters).

• Looking ahead 6 months

• Major works update (including summary and signposting to Thameslink communications and engagement)

• Links to further information sources (website, app, leaflets, and social media)

• Summary of issues raised and initiatives undertaken with Passenger Focus and London Travel Watch (when appropriate)

• Request for feedback on CSES, Customer Report and related activity and list ways to engage with Southeastern

14

This section outlines the key improvements we will be making over the course of this franchise.

Franchise timeline and key milestonesThe new franchise commences on 12 October 2014 and runs until June 2018. The illustration below highlights the key milestones in relation to the impact of the London Bridge disruption as a key driver of our commitments and franchise plans.

Figure 5. Key timelines and milestones

What we are committing toA summary of the main schemes and initiatives we will be investing in over the next four years is given below.

Southeastern franchise key announcements:Train services throughout the franchise:

• A new robust timetable designed to minimise disruption in the peak hours throughout the London Bridge redevelopment.

• A supporting and comprehensive communications plan to notify customers of the changes occurring throughout the Thameslink programme and London Bridge redevelopment starting from October 2014.

What we will deliver in this franchise

Dec 14Jun 18

Mar 15Mar 18

Jun 15Dec 17

Sep 15Sep 17

Dec 15Jun 17

Mar 16Mar 17

Jun 16Dec 16Sep 16

No Cannon Street services will call

at London Bridge. Charing Cross service BAU*

Additional pressure on Charing

Cross services for passenger interchange

Additional pressure on Charing

Cross services for passenger interchange

Sept 2016 – Jan 2018

Cannon Street run-thought begins

Jan 2015 – Aug 2016

Cannon Street run-thought begins

No Cannon Street services will call

at London Bridge. Charing Cross service BAU*

DAC Commences 12 October 2014

15

• Extra services and new journey opportunities including: – a new all day Highspeed high between St Pancras and Dover, Deal and Sandwich; – extra seats on the Highspeed service (with 698 seats at Ashford in the morning peak and 349 extra seats

from Ebbsfleet; – two additional high speed trains from Margate and Broadstairs creating a half hourly service at these

stations in the morning peak; – a new hourly direct off-peak service between Maidstone East and Canterbury West; – a new fast service from Hastings to Charing Cross, offering an improved journey time of approximately 90

minutes; – a new peak hour service between Maidstone East and Blackfriars; – new additional evening services between Dartford and London Victoria – additional stops at Denmark Hill and Peckham Rye; and – a new direct through-service between London Victoria and Sheerness-on-Sea.

• To deliver the new timetable we will be recruiting and training additional drivers.

• Cannon Street station will now be open longer, seven days a week.

• Dedicated customer service staff to help provide information to customers affected by the changes at London Bridge in place before January 2015.

• Improvements to on-train equipment to improve train performance. This includes remote condition monitoring on 148 units of our rolling stock by the end of December 2015.

• Improving the on-board environment for passengers.

• An on-going programme to improve the accessibility of the on-board facilities.

Improving customer service, information and offers• Providing station gateline staff, drivers, conductors and onboard managers with tablets to provide better

access to live information, especially during times of disruption. Around 1375 tablets will be deployed by July 2015. Drivers will be able to access an electronic competency management system by September 2015.

• 20 new digital display screens at key stations to improve customer information in place by April 2015.

• Improved customer information screens at nine stations on the Hastings and Maidstone East lines by the end of December 2015.

• A deep clean of stations to improve the overall station environment will be completed by end of September 2015

• Stations will be repainted over the next two years. They will be surveyed ahead of works commencing in line with the following programme:

– 31 stations by March 2015 – 33 stations by May 2015 – 33 stations by July 2015 – 33 stations by September 2015

16

– Remaining stations by November 2015 – A rolling programme of station improvement works will be agreed with the Department for Transport

following each round of surveys and all works will be completed by October 2016.

• Continued commitment to improving accessibility at stations through the Access for All programme.

• Continued service quality audits to collect feedback and improve services.

• Investment in the Kent Community Rail Partnership to increase local involvement and encourage community engagement in the railway.

• We will provide financial support to the CitySafe Foundation to help develop and expand projects and activities in the communities we serve.

• We will be enhancing our EyeWitness service and CCTV monitoring from our central control (the Kent Integrated Control Centre (KICC)) to support providing safer stations.

• A commitment to greater transparency – providing customers and stakeholders with information of train service performance.

• A new customer and stakeholder engagement strategy to capture feedback and promote our forward plan of customer improvements.

• We’ll be introducing Oyster as a method of payment on the high speed service between St Pancras International and Stratford International (by May 2016), and extending the Oyster acceptance to Dartford (by the end of January 2016) and Swanley (by the end of December 2016) stations.

• Increasing the number of staff at gatelines from October 2014 and installing new ticket gates at Swanley and Staplehurst stations by December 2016.

• Installing extra ticket vending machines (TVM) at stations across the network to make it easier for customers to purchase tickets. 31 new TVMs will be installed by October 2015, with a further 32 being installed by October 2016.

• Making improvements to customer information through the Southeastern website, social media and the Southeastern On Track App.

• New destination fare offers to provide value for money and encourage off peak travel.

Environmental initiatives:• We’ll continue our commitment to fitting energy monitoring equipment to 30 percent of our metro and

mainline fleet to monitor energy use and find greater efficiencies.

• Invest in industry-leading energy generation schemes, using solar panels and biomass to reduce energy consumption across the network. We will submit plans to the Department for Transport within 3 months of the start date.

• We will also upgrade lighting at Chatham station to LED efficient systems, implement dry mixed recycling at our stations, put in place local volunteer champions, a joint sustainability plan with Network Rail, as well as local energy savings schemes.

• We will publish our environmental performance data so you can see how we are doing.

17

We have set out our initial Customer and Stakeholder Engagement Strategy for the start of the franchise, which we will review annually with the Department for Transport. Through our communications and engagement channels we will also continually seek feedback from our customers and stakeholders.

The principal objective of this strategy is to deliver the improvements to the customer experience that will result in improved customer satisfaction as measured by the NRPS.

We are required to maintain levels of customer satisfaction in each full year throughout the franchise, and will report on progress against our commitments and key performance measures every six months through the Customer Report.

Summary