AO is offering new employees a potential 20% pay rise within 12 months as it seeks to fill more than 250 positions.
The Bolton, UK based electrical retailer is recruiting customer service specialists is promoting a career development pathway whereby new staff starting on £24,000 per annum could see their salaries reach £31,000 in a year’s time.
In the past 12 months, contact centre agents at the company have already seen their wages increase by more than 20%. They were also awarded a monthly performance-based bonus of £400 per month.
Jo Salisbury, head of contact centre transformation at AO, said: “Making customers happy is at the heart of everything we do and as such, we are delighted to be investing heavily in our people – especially the ones who speak to our customers and are exceptional in the moments that matter. AO now has over 400,000 positive Trust Pilot reviews and they haven’t happened by accident – we have the right people delivering the best proposition to our customers and we wanted to reward them with a new progression pathway.”
“Our customer service specialists go through AO’s Academy process, seeing them grow and develop their existing customer service skills. All colleagues will then have the opportunity to progress every three months, through four achievable development bands, to the stage where they are an expert on all things AO and earning a fantastic £31,000.”
While the customer service development pathway has only recently been introduced, many employees have already benefited from career development opportunities on offer at the contact centre, according to AO.
Gemma McGhee, contact centre quality manager, added: “I joined AO over 10 years ago, in February 2013 as a sales specialist, with no experience or qualifications and have been given all of the tools to develop at my own pace, enabling me to progress.
“After just a few short months taking inbound calls, I was able to progress to a senior team member position, which opened the door for me to grow to team manager. From there, I was able to gain a wealth of experience, which led me to become a manager and to my current position of quality manager.
“I have always obsessed about doing the very best for our customers, so I feel like I’m now in a role that is perfect for me, as I’m able to ensure that the very best quality of service is delivered by my team, to every single customer, every single day.”
