Over the past 18 months, Phoenix have had the pleasure of delivering training in one of the least well known Gulf States, the Sultanate of Oman.   However, whilst it may not have the global status awarded its more famous neighbours – Dubai and Saudi Arabia – it more than holds its own in terms of culture, history and hospitality.

Our experience in Oman focuses on the training we have delivered for Haya Water – a government owned organisation – responsible for building and operating a world class wastewater system in the Governate of Muscat (the capital of Oman).  Having initially delivered some highly successful Presentation & Time Management Skills events, we were then asked to design and deliver a Customer Service programme for team members throughout their Commercial Department.  Crucially, the programme had to go way beyond the simple straightforward transfer of skills – it needed a permanent legacy!

To begin with, we designed a 3 tier accredited programme, with an exam at the end of each level.  The participants duly responded to this challenge and so far we have awarded 8 Distinctions and 16 Merits which really is a fantastic effort.

With the customer service skills of the team developing nicely, the next step was to provide Haya Water with something more sustainable and to achieve this we created a ‘Developing your People’ programme.  Also known as Level 4, the most outstanding participants from the Customer Service programme were joined by two colleagues from the Training Department and we set to work ensuring that they would soon be able to train, coach and develop their colleagues with little or no external assistance.

Delivered over six days, in two separate sessions, each participant has also been required to build their own portfolio, recording every time they have had the opportunity of putting their newly learnt skills into practice.  In addition, they all delivered a range of developmental team events and presentations which were observed by myself and one of our Senior consultant’s, Richard John.  I am delighted to say that the standard was extremely high indeed and the take up of skills was even better than we could have expected.

Haya Water are now well on their way to having a fantastic internal resource that will enable them to develop the customer service skills of individuals throughout the organisation without relying on external providers like us!  All in all it’s clear evidence of how by working in partnership with our clients, we can create sustainable solutions with long term benefits.

Client Testimonial

Customer service training is notoriously difficult to deliver effectively.  Working closely with Haya Water – a newly formed wastewater company, with a Customer Service department fully manned by Omanis with no previous experience of utility customers – Phoenix rose to the occasion brilliantly, not only understanding the local culture and developing a fan club from the Haya Water staff but also delivering a superb programme with very fast and effective results.  Success can be demonstrated by the fact that the recently qualified and highly enthusiastic staff set to and organised a series of workshops to deliver their newly acquired knowledge. They were able to hold their own against project engineers, consultants and contractors and persuade them how important that the right approach be used to ’surprise’ our customers with superb service.  Hats off to Phoenix.” – Omar Al Wahaibi, CEO