Customer Department Manager

At Honda we embrace inclusion in our various policies, so whilst there is no contractual right to work from home, the flexibility we offer is that you can request to work from home for a maximum of 50% of the working days in any one month, providing there is no business requirement to attend the office.

The working hours are 35 hours 9-5 Monday to Friday with the occasional 10-6 day and Saturdays. A day in lieu of the Saturday will be provided the following week. There is the option to take a 30-minute lunch over 4 days so that the fifth day will be a 2pm finish.
 

Role: 
This role will be a pivotal and demanding position within HFE, developing and motivating a large customer service department so that its associates can deliver a world class service, every day.
A positive and influential personality is required, with an attention to detail and willingness to lead by example when supporting HFE’s customers from the start of their finance agreement through to its end, throughout every possible touchpoint with HFE, ensuring the correct customer outcomes.

You will have an in-depth knowledge of consumer duty and thrive working in a highly regulated area, your desire for consistency and best practice will be essential.  You will be self-motivated to keep up to date with regulatory changes but also be aware of potential challenges ahead to influence improvements and changes in how the department works.  

Responsible for an area which has a large impact on Honda’s reputation, you will need to have experience in supporting customers in financial difficulty and those that are vulnerable, working with the high expectations of our regulator to make sure that the right customer outcome is always achieved.      

Main Responsibilities: 

• Deliver service support to customers in line with Consumer Duty rules and always ensure the right customer outcomes are at the forefront of every action supporting customers.
• Promote an environment where your team acts with integrity, leading by example, promoting best practice and ensuring the team’s conduct exceeds the expectations of our customers and our regulator.
• Motivation and management of the team to deliver customer service excellence ensuring customer relationships are maintained through the department functions. 
• Deliver regular reporting through first line QA to manage deliverables and service KPIs and identify where improvements and support are required.
• Management of customer complaints, customer enquiries, financial and non-financial amendments to ensure completion in a timely manner. 
• Manage collections and recoveries customers to ensure that correct forbearance processes are followed to bring contracts back up to date achieving the best customer outcome.
• Proactive risk management of the collections and recoveries functions to minimise the operational impact of the arrear’s portfolio and disposal risk.  
• Management of customer processes to empower the team to identify vulnerable customers and offer personalised assistance, ensuring that customers understand their options and feel supported throughout their interactions. 
• Manage, develop, and assess the Customer Services team through the appraisal process. Set SMART individual goals & objectives.
• Organisation of resource to cover all work shift patterns required within the department to maintain a high level of service and excellent customer support.
• Support the Retailer Department Manager as required with resources and expertise.
• Manage, review and implement procedures and policies.
• Manage departmental reports and use them to provide a basis for recommendations to HFE senior management when changes in policy and direction are required.
• Implement departmental process improvements and efficiencies using TQM (Total Quality Management) principals.
• Build the department’s annual plan, setting clear objectives to achieve the company’s overall objectives and strategy.

Qualifications, skills and experience:
Required

• Be able to communicate the vision to influence others to deliver the best results.
• Significant experience as an exceptional customer service professional.
• Experience of managing large teams within a successful call centre environment.
• A solid understanding of the legal and regulatory framework that governs the finance industry.
• Strong organisational skills which have enabled you to previously lead multiple assignments, to prioritise and deliver to tight deadlines. 
• Enjoy working in a customer focused environment where people are always treated with respect and encouraged to use their own initiative.

Desirable

• Confident but flexible.
• Self-motivated and proactive in approach.
• Open, honest and prepared to be challenged on decisions.                
• Compassionate and thoughtful.
• Looks for positivity in everything. 
• Finds ways to reduce duplication of effort.
• Leads by example.
   

Honda is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in the workplace for all employees, temporary workers, contractors, applicants and visitors. Honda also encourages respect for the individual differences and talents of others while making full use of one's own abilities, based on Honda's philosophy of respect for the individual.

At Honda, we value and celebrate diversity and are committed to being a fair, non-discriminatory company that promotes and welcomes the uniqueness and differences of people around the world. We recognise that a diverse workforce allows for different ideas and perspectives, and we encourage everyone to share them. We strive to foster a culture of belonging that is consistent with Honda's core values and lived out in the way we work and respect each other. For us at Honda, diversifying our workforce means increasing its overall strength by providing people with equal opportunities - regardless of personal characteristics or previous careers.

This commitment flows directly from the Honda philosophy and the belief that we are all working towards a common goal. Honda recruits, hires, trains and promotes the most qualified/experienced individuals at all levels without regard to race, origin, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or any other protected characteristic.