'It's not just a job on the side: it's a field which requires the necessary skills and is not suited to everyone'

Erna Dezaire is Recruitment & Development Manager at Vodafone. She has been working in the customer service department of this mobile communications provider for sixteen years. 'It's a great field to work in,' says Erna. It was by chance that she ended up at Vodafone. Erna worked in the tourism industry and used to live in Greece. In 1999, she returned to the Netherlands at Christmas to visit family. As she had a wedding in February, she decided to stay a little longer. Erna is a get-up-and-go sort of person, so she began to look for a temporary job, eventually finding one at Libertel in Heerlen. The job was not for the long term, as her plan was to return to Greece after the wedding. However, she never left. Libertel has become the well-known Vodafone, and Erna has climbed up the ladder through various positions to become Recruitment & Development Manager.

'Given the company's large size, there are many ways for you to develop yourself and the work is always interesting and challenging. The customer service environment has undergone enormous changes over the years. I started working in a totally different era, characterized by calling, texting, sending letters, and faxing. Nowadays, we live in a digital world with a radically new dynamic in which we make full use of applications such as social media and messenger apps. My current job involves recruiting new employees for the customer service department. I instruct the new employees in the beginning phase, known as "On Boarding". Alongside this, I also support the leadership scheme that trains team leaders. The challenge we face is not in finding people, but finding suitable people. During the application procedure, we make use of Harver's TalentPitch, an online application tool that each applicant to the customer service department must go through. We make a preliminary selection based on the results. The bar is set high. We don't work with a script when communicating with our customers. We also value employers who are genuine, as they are able to build up a positive customer relationship more quickly. Customers should be satisfied straight away. We aim for a customer satisfaction score of nine or ten. While this is an ambitious target, we do achieve it. You need to have the right drive to reach these targets; you have to be passionate about it. It's imperative that you take the same care with every customer every time, that you show empathy, that you solve the problem in one go, and that all this is done with the right attitude. We support our employees in this by providing thorough training that focuses on products, systems, content, and communication. It's not just a job on the side: it's a field which requires the necessary skills and is not suited to everyone. Working at Vodafone means working for a global brand. This attracts a lot of people. However, regardless of how large the company may be, it still retains a family atmosphere. The more you put in, the more you get out of it. There is also a bonus scheme, so the better your performance, the more you can earn. Young people in particular often prefer to have more balance between their private and working life. Instead of working full-time, they work thirty hours or less. Vodafone gives you that flexibility.'

It's raining cats and dogs outside. Christmas is just around the corner. It's 2015, precisely sixteen years ago that Erna came back from Greece, her eternal second home, where she had been living for five years. While she doesn't regret the move, she does pine after the sun now and then.