Customer Service Skills Transferred to Bank

After a successful career of 19 years in the hospitality sector, Hiria Iraia was ready for something new:  “I’m in my thirties now, and I felt that I could do hospitality only for so long.” The after-effects of the worldwide pandemic, and ultimately redundancy, were the catalyst for change: “The Covid-19 pandemic made me think about a change in career. I started thinking about what kind of roles I could go into, using the current skills that I had.”

Hiria was looking for a new job, but still with a customer service focus. Attending a seminar at Work & Income, she met Capital Training staff and learned about their four-week Contact Centre-focused training programme.  Funded by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), the employment preparation course offered by Capital Training is for Work & Income clients and is designed specifically for contact centre roles. Participants gain insights into working in a contact centre with training that includes customer service, conflict management, health and safety, computer navigation, preparing for interviews and much more.

“Going into the course itself, I had natural reservations - I wondered if it was the right direction to head. But I was trying to be open-minded about evolving myself into something new, and applying myself in things I wouldn’t normally do. And that was definitely something I wouldn’t normally do!”

“It was a benefit for me, going in knowing that it was a Work & Income course and that other beneficiaries would be attending. It put us on the same plane - we were all trying to do better for ourselves. We really uplifted each other, and I met some good friends there.”

During the course, Hiria says the staff at Capital Training demonstrated a real belief in the learners, “I think in our situations, we had lost track of that. We lost belief in ourselves. Capital Training staff reminded us of all the skills that we’ve had previously, to make it to where we are. Reinstalling that belief in ourselves gave us the confidence to put hard work into what we were trying to achieve at Capital Training.”

“I’m just trying to develop, challenge myself, put myself in a different environment, and try hard.”

Developing CVs is a crucial aspect of the programme. Hiria explains that for many people, attempting to produce a CV in isolation at home can be challenging: “We needed the encouragement that Capital Training staff offered, and to believe what we were writing down. Although I thought the skills that I had listed on my CV were good, the tutors reminded me of other skills that I also had. In my mind, I thought those weren’t good enough to put on my CV but the tutors helped us to know what employers are looking for. After I went to Capital Training, my CV was amazing!”

“I’m naturally a shy, quiet person but from hospitality, I had gained confidence and found my voice. I had broken through those barriers, learned how to strike up conversations, and was able to give great customer service. The best skill that I have is my customer service skills.”

Now, Hiria is in the middle of a six-week training programme for Customer Service Consultants, with ANZ Bank: “We are learning a lot of new systems, policies, procedures. It is quite enlightening. Sometimes retaining the information is a struggle, but collaborating with my colleagues is really helpful. And this is why I wanted to go to ANZ - I wanted to challenge myself.”

“The learning has been quite intense - a lot of new things for me to take in. I’ll be honest, there are times where part of me questions if I am good enough for it? But I remember something one of the Capital Training tutors used to say; ‘the reason why we are in this waka is because we are trying to go places.’ Having a positive attitude is really helping.”

In particular, the computer learning on the contact centre course has lifted her abilities: “Definitely the computer literacy learning really helped prepare me for the systems coming into my new role. I was really not computer literate before. I could write a document or send an email, but my confidence behind it was very low. Now, I’m more confident at approaching it, and knowing how to navigate myself around.”

Hiria observes that throughout the course, Capital Training tutors helped learners to “polish” their professional behaviours, and to take charge of their own learning: “One of the tutors often said, ‘Capital Training might have the waka, but you are in the waka, and you are the ones that need to row it to get places’. In other words, they might provide the tools and support, but it was up to us to steer the way. That really stuck.”

Looking back, Hiria says that the environment at Capital Training was just the ‘vibe’ she had been looking for: "I just needed to be around the right people, with the right enthusiasm. All of it needed to align, hence why I can’t put Capital Training on a pedestal high enough. It was just the best environment to be amongst.”

“I can’t recommend the course enough. I’ve been encouraging others to sign up, like people who I know are Jobseekers, or wondering what to do. They do an awesome job at Capital Training.”

Since completing the contact centre programme, Hiria’s cohort has stayed in touch through a social media group chat: “We all try and keep each other encouraged. We remind each other of our journeys from where we started at Capital Training, and to keep pushing past our barriers. That helped me get to where I am in a huge way - the support provided from Capital Training staff, and the other course participants.” As well, Hiria comes from a large whānau and names family members as one of the key drivers of her motivation: “My grandfather was somebody I looked up to. He was a hardworking man. He taught me the value of working hard and putting yourself out there, and that has really stuck with me. He is a huge reason why I do the things I do. I know that he would be proud.”