Supporting our client to deliver a suite of Market Research and Outbound Projects

Our client is one of Ireland’s largest home care services organisations, providing an array of services from Disability Care to Respite Care, to Personal and Homemaking Care. We have been working with this client since September 2015, providing them with a number of customer support and market research services (Employee Exit Surveys, Client Satisfaction Surveys, Recruitment Screening Support).

Approach Partnership & Service Expansion 

Arema Connect prides itself on providing bespoke services to our clients and developing a partnership approach. Our client has trusted us with the following projects over the last 10 years - 

1. Employee exit Surveys
2. Client satisfaction Surveys 
3. Recruitment Screening Support - Dedicated team members during peak periods 
4. Call Centre support - Overflow telephone support during office hours 
5. Call Centre Support - Out of Hours Emergency telephone support for carers and clients and Next of Kins. 

Overview of the Market Research and Outbound Projects for our home care client

1. Employee Exit Surveys 

Our client is committed to continuously enhancing their operations and how they support their employees. As such, for each employee leaving the organisation, they conduct an exit interview to gather feedback on the employee’s experience. On a weekly basis our team receives a list of leavers from the previous week to contact in order to carry out an exit interview. 

Our team conducts each exit interview over the phone and objectively gathers feedback on behalf of the client’s team. The 25-question survey enables us to gather insights in relation to a variety of topics including training, work hours, and organisational culture. The client  receives a monthly report detailing the findings for each of the organisation's nationwide offices, allowing their team to make advancements in any areas highlighted.  To date, we have carried out over 500 Exit Surveys on behalf of our client.

2. Client Satisfaction Surveys 

On an annual basis, our client conducts a client satisfaction survey across their client base nationwide. Arema Connect has been carrying out this project successfully since 2018. Prior to the project commencing each year, we work with the client’s senior leadership team to develop a survey based on their research objectives. The survey includes both qualitative and quantitative questions to aid the client in getting a full picture of its operational performance. In recent years, this has also included the Net Promoter Score to identify customer loyalty. 

Our team is required to contact both customers and Next of Kins across 16 of the client’s offices nationwide. All surveys are conducted via telephone, and prior to being contacted by telephone, all mobile numbers receive a text message advising that a member of our team will contact them to carry out the survey. This adds a level of reassurance and transparency for those being contacted. All text messages were sent via our in-house text message platform, Sendmode. Our operations team assigned a dedicated telephone number to the project, enabling any callbacks to be routed directly to the dedicated team. 

In order to complete the project most efficiently, we assign a dedicated team of 6 agents to carry out the surveys over a 2 week period to facilitate any callbacks as required. Prior to the commencement of calls, the team receives comprehensive training in scripting, survey delivery, and recording responses.

Our team of agents are given targets for the number of completed surveys for each office ensuring an accurate representation was obtained for each location. The client is given a daily status update detailing the number of calls and number of completed surveys for each area. 

On completion of the project, the client is furnished with all the raw data and a detailed report for each location. This allows the client’s team to thoroughly examine the data obtained for each of their offices and share the results with the relevant Office Manager. We also deliver an overall report combining the results for all offices, which gives the client a greater understanding of any performance gaps and elements that are working well. In 2024, we completed 1500 surveys and our team maintained an average conversion rate of 70%. 

3. Recruitment Screening Support 

This project required a fast turnaround time due to an initial backlog of applicants waiting on an interview, successful applicants ready to start onboarding training, and applicants who were having difficulty in completing training on the client’s Applicant Portal  and Learn Upon systems. We commenced the project at short notice to efficiently deal with the backlog of applications. 

In order to commence service delivery as soon as possible, we assigned a Team Leader and 5 dedicated agents from our existing team who had previous experience in comparable projects. The team were given full access to the client’s in-house systems (Applicant Portal and Learn Upon system) to successfully process documentation and manage any queries as required. 

Data Processing of new applicants: Each day our team is required to download applications from various recruitment sources (Indeed, IrishJobs.ie etc.), and upload these applications to the client’s Applicant Portal. 

Pre-screening Process:  Prior to an applicant being called for an interview, our team is required to follow up with them by telephone to ensure they meet our client’s pre-interview requirements. Our team uses a predefined script created by the client which includes the following checks -

• Confirming the applicant's Date of Birth, ensuring that they are over the age of 18;
• Checking if the applicant requires a Work Visa and if so that the Visa is valid and up to date;
• Reviewing the applicant's previous work experience; 
• Collecting information on the applicant’s availability e.g., hours of work and ability to travel.

Process for carrying out documentation follow-ups: In order to successfully complete the recruitment process on behalf of our client, applicants are required to submit the following information -

• Proof of Address (within Ireland and valid within past 3 months);
• Proof of ID;
• Garda Vetting Consent Form;
• Curriculum Vitae (C.V.);
• Valid Garda National Immigration Bureau card (this is only required for applicants on a Visa).

Document verification needs to be updated for every applicant on the client’s Applicant Portal, which is a Salesforce-based system. Our team carries out follow-ups with applicants via calls and emails using predefined scripts created by our client.

We assigned a dedicated telephone number to complete all outbound calls, to ensure all callbacks are redirected to our dedicated team in line with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

Our team is required to follow up with applicants by telephone - in the event an applicant doesn't answer after 3 call attempts we send a follow-up email to gather the required information.  All emails are sent through Salesforce on the applicant's account. When our team receives the required documentation, it is reviewed against the checklists provided by the client. Once our team has carried out the relevant checks this is updated in the notes section of the employee’s case in the client’s Applicant Portal. 

Process for following up with applicants during the online training stage: Successful applicants receive a link to complete their mandatory online training. The online training consists of -

• Children First – this training is done directly through the HSE and once completed applicants are required to send their Certificate of Completion to our client;
• Manual Handling - this comprises of online and in-person training;
• Induction – this training consists of 10 topics ranging from wellness, company information, infection control, and safeguarding.  

Our team is required to monitor an Online Training list on the Learn Upon system. If applicants are at the online training stage for more than 2 days, we conduct a follow-up call to ensure that there are no difficulties and to provide support where required. In some instances, applicants may have been overwhelmed with the training material or their phones might not have been suitable to carry out the online training. If an applicant says they are having an issue accessing the system, our team is required to establish which system they are unable to access - the client’s Applicant Portal or the Learn Upon system. Once an applicant is moved to the  ‘Interview Successful’ status, they automatically get an email from Salesforce, inviting them to set up the Application Portal. This is the Portal where applicants upload their requested documentation etc. Our team provides support throughout the interview, training, and onboarding process, including technical troubleshooting, arranging the use of the client's computers to complete the training, and escalating any user/password requests to the in-house team. 

Quality Assurance: Continuous quality monitoring takes place on the account, including -

• Daily Meetings with the client’s in-house team to gather feedback;
• Visual checks of document processing;
• Employee Performance reports; 
• One-to-one feedback sessions with the dedicated resources. 

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The client’s initial plan was to clear the backlog of applications; outsourcing this function to Arema Connect enables the client’s in-house team’s time to focus on other key areas of the business, in turn bolstering their support for clients and employees alike. 

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Conclusion

Our success in delivering Customer Support for the client has led to us carrying out several Market Research projects on their behalf. These projects have proven vital to the client's ability to not only develop as an employer but also as a means for providing more thorough and effective care to the public. We look forward to building our partnership with them well into the future.