Ameriabank passes second stage service quality improvement programme  - Aneta Korobkina

ArmInfo.  The second stage of the service quality improvement program was held at Ameriabank, where the invited trainer was Aneta Korobkina, a certified emotional intelligence coach (MSCEIT, USA) and a certified service master trainer (Service Quality Institute, USA).

The second stage of the program was organized for the Bank's back office employees and is aimed at integrating effective interaction between front-line and back-office services in order to ensure high quality of service and its continuous improvement. Over 60 back-office managers took part in the course, called Service Mindset.In an interview with journalists, Aneta Korobkina said that she has more than 22 years of experience in the personnel development industry, especially customer service. And cooperation with Ameriabank started back in 2019. "And I am incredibly happy about this cooperation, since Ameriabank is one of those rare banks that  does not just conduct trainings, but is fully involved in the process of service Mindset in its organization, which subsequently influences the change of thinking throughout the country," she said.

Touching upon the program for developing the service Mindset, the expert noted that this is not just a training, but a way to change thinking. "It is important that the training participants understand that they are not just employees of the organization, but are truly the face of the company. They are part of a large, cool organization that is trying to change the service not only at home, but throughout the country," the coach said.

At the same time, Korobkina pointed out the high interest and  involvement of employees in the trainings.  Noting that the latter was conducted for back office employees, she explained: "This segment of the staff will help those employees who work directly with clients (front-line employees) in the context of providing high-quality services. We focus on changing thinking, and our task is to do everything in our power to ensure that the client is satisfied."

At the same time, Korobkina emphasized that in the post-Soviet countries, there is intensified work to improve the quality of the service sector, but not only in the tourism and hospitality sector, but also in the banking sector. In particular, she noted that even some European countries are inferior to Armenia in terms of the quality of services provided.

In turn, the head of the HR Management Service of Ameriabank Anna Vardanyants noted that the primary goal of the program is interaction between the various teams of the Bank. In her opinion, such a format is important because it will allow you to break away from work and look at the situation from the other side, namely from the side of another person.

"During the second stage of the program, back office employees conduct dynamic discussions to identify the problems that first-line employees face in order to help solve them. This is a process that requires activity, dynamism and involvement," she explained.

The relevance of the program, as Vardanyants noted, cannot be exhausted, since the expectations and requirements of clients are constantly changing. "Therefore, at least once every 2-3 years, it is necessary to study your standards in the context of how they meet the requirements of clients today, how the market is changing, etc. Such improvement programs are important because they provide an opportunity to exceed the expectations of your clients," she explained.

In a conversation with journalists, one of the program participants, Ameriabank Sales Team Leader Gayane Barseghyan, emphasized the importance of implementing such trainings, since the latter provide an opportunity to identify some subtleties with colleagues as a result of constructive communication, allowing them to understand how  to further interact with each other so that this leads to significant changes. As a result, according to her, these nuances and subtleties are transformed into major changes related to the quality of life of both clients and employees, with the simplification of work processes and an increase in their efficiency. 

As Barseghyan noted, this program has the best possible effect on the interaction between different Ameriabank teams, since it provides an opportunity to raise all the problematic points that they encounter in their daily work. "And here, managers do not compete, but create new values through more correct communication with their employees, and in a more constructive environment. Previously, I did not know so  deeply about the problems, about how I can be useful and what my contribution is to ensure the end result - namely, to have satisfied and loyal clients," Barseghyan said.

Aneta Korobkina is a trainer, coach and speaker in the field of  first-class service, leadership and efficiency with 12 years of  experience in the restaurant and hotel business in 7 countries (USA, Switzerland, India, Russia, Turkey, Greece and Macedonia). She worked in international hotel chains, including Hyatt hotels, Corinthia Hotels, Radisson Hotel Group, and in numerous individual projects. For the last 5 years, she has been a trainer and speaker at conferences, forums, corporate events and seminars with up to 800 participants. Today, the geography of her activities covers 22 cities in 10 countries, including Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Georgia, Belarus, Hong Kong, India and Latvia. 

She is also a certified DISC Flow coach, a certified trainer, speaker and coach in the method of John Maxwell, a world-famous leadership guru - USA, a certified professional coach - International Coaching Community (ICC) - UK, an accredited trainer in team development according to Belbin (Belbin Team Roles) - UK.