Keeping bad company

AM: And why shouldn?t an electrician be capable of performing basic electrical trouble shooting on air conditioning units? Training is the answer.

Imdaad’s Alan Millin says a much more thorough audit process is needed to identify true response performance, which should be part of your own regular operations.

You have won a potentially lucrative FM contract but the terms and conditions are tough. You know that you must respond to calls within a certain timeframe or risk being penalised.

You receive a customer service request relating to an electrical fault. All your electricians are busy, you cannot possibly meet the performance requirements for this call; or can you..?

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You have a plumber available, he’ll do won’t he? You send the plumber to the call, comply with the contractual response terms and worry about actually solving the customer’s problem later. And yes, this does happen!

But what will you really gain by acting in this way? Irate customers? Frustrated clients? What can you lose? Your staff (electrically-fried plumbers)? Your contracts? Your reputation? Your business?

Some service level agreements (SLAs) may make a provision for independent audit of response times. In isolation this unfortunately does little to ensure the intent of the client is being met.

The audit will simply review response times. Even if you sent the plumber to an electrical call you may be able to maintain an acceptable compliance rate.

A much more thorough audit is necessary to identify true performance. This should not only be a burden on the client to monitor your performance, it should be part of your own regular operations. You are seeking continuous improvement aren’t you?

Then there is the ethical issue to consider. Is sending an inadequately trained person to an electrical problem really ethical? What about the health and safety of your staff or the impact on the staff member’s family in the event of an accident?

Remember too that an unskilled person may also be putting your customers at risk; or is it the person who authorises the untrained staff who endangers life? Are you aware of your legal obligations in such a situation?

You could find yourself personally responsible for sending someone to attend a task that they are not qualified or trained for.