Getting to Know Us Part 2 | Manager for a Day
With nearly 200 staff located throughout the country some in various offices and most being mobile engineers, individual staff members can be forgiven if they do not know what their colleagues do during the course of a normal working day.
Our Staff Matter
We at JCW Energy Services thought it was about time that staff had a little more insight into the daily workings of the company through the eyes of the staff themselves. Hence the second in a series of blogs, each featuring a day in the life of a member of staff.
Part 2 features our very own Chris Thompson. Chris joined us in 2015 as the Service Manager for South Wales and very soon made his mark. He is renowned for his dry sense of humour, commitment and unfailing enthusiasm, he occasionally likes to dress up too!
We will let Chris do the talking now...
5.30am | Home | Wake Up Call
As normal on a work day my son wakes me up by shouting "Daddieeee" at the top of his voice until I drag myself out of bed to get him. We then go down stairs and have breakfast together, afterwards I get ready, have a quick look at the emails which may have come in overnight/morning. Say bye to my wife and son and I am on the road...
7.00am | Caesars Cafe, Blackwood | Site Visit
No, I am not here for a second breakfast!
Meet on site with two of my engineers, they started early installing a wall mount unit in the basement coffee lounge of the café. They had to start early due to the noise they would make drilling a hole through a tough wall with a diamond coated drill bit.
The engineers had made good progress by the time I got to site, and I was very happy with their work. Left them to it to complete the installation which was needed due to the site having an R22 system which had recently lost refrigerant.
9.30am | Cardiff Office | Quotations
Arrived at the office. The first thing on the agenda was a cup of tea, we always have the best biscuits in the Cardiff biscuit tin, as you can see!
Worked on a quotation for Admiral Insurance, followed by some job planning with the staff in the service department.
At last, it is time for lunch! A nice ham and cheese roll with a packet of my favourite crisps - prawn cocktail.
12.30pm | Cardiff Devils Ice Hockey | Site Visit to Provide Install Quotation
Site visit to the Cardiff Devils changing rooms, which I am very excited about due to me being a massive Cardiff Devils fan.
Their requirement was for cooling in the dressing rooms, as it gets very hot during the games. Very productive meeting and even got given a puck which I will treasure!
15.00pm | Photocopying Services | Maintenance Quotation
We were asked by the customer to provide a quotation for the annual planned maintenance for their air conditioning system at their premises.
They have some older units which will be obsolete, so we also spoke about a possible replacement project for these units.
16.00pm | Cardiff Office | Catch Up on Day
Returned to office to catch up on daily events, check emails, and prepare quotations from the days site visits.
I also checked in with the engineers on the installation which they had since completed. Also spoke to the customer at the Café to check he was happy with the installation of his new air conditioning and that a full handover and training had taken place.
The Life of a Manager
Our Service Managers have a very varied role, often involving extensive travelling. They are the main daily point of contact with our customers and need to be on hand in case of emergencies.
Although our Service Desk is the first point of contact when a call out arises, at times, if the call out is of an urgent nature the Manager for the customer will also be involved. This means that their role is not a typical nine to five, far from it as they can receive calls at any time, any day of the week.
It is also the Managers responsibility to ensure that our engineers are kept informed of the nuances of each customer contract. The engineers will perform the daily planned and reactive tasks and as every customer has different requirements it is important that the engineers are aware of these. There could be restrictions to site access, certain security and sign in protocols, down to the type of work that is required.
The Managers not only ensure that the customer receives the expected service levels, they are also responsible for the profit and loss of the account and the nurturing to ensure that the customer is being offered the full scope of the services we provide.
Recognising Commitment
With this blog we wanted to recognise the commitment our Managers show to their customers and to the company as a whole. The role is demanding and rewarding and JCW are keen to support the development of their management team. Every year we hold a Managers Away Day where we take them away from the business and ask for their thoughts and insight into the future growth of the company giving them the opportunity to really feel part of this ever evolving company.
To find out more about our people and what we get up to, please visit our facebook page by clicking here.
To find out more about how JCW Energy Services can provide mechanical and electrical maintenance services to your workplace, contact us now.
If you are interested in a career with JCW, click here for more information.