Building top-class HR support services

A unique approach

FirstCare is the leading UK authority on workforce well-being and productivity. Since 2006, it has pioneered techniques that reduce the huge personal and financial costs of lost working days in large organisations. The business helps to identify, understand and respond to employee needs quickly, such as illness, injury or bereavement. Customers range from FTSE 100 companies in manufacturing and transportation to NHS Trusts and the police.

FirstCare provides proprietary management tools and 24/7 nurse-led support to simplify day-to-day administration and deliver real-time insights. This unique approach, combining clinical expertise with advanced data systems, enables HR and wider leadership teams to support staff, manage risk and reduce costs.

To support the demands of a rapidly growing business and maintain its market-leading position, FirstCare embarked on a digital transformation. The aim was to successfully transition from a rigid on-premises solution while redesigning and improving both the member and colleague experience from the ground up.

“Any downtime or service degradation seriously impacts our clients,” said Ed Lane, Head of Operations at FirstCare. “As well as greater resilience, we needed to improve data access, software integration and operational efficiency so our members could have better conversations and the right level of support.”

Proven cloud innovation

Specialist customer experience partner Kerv helped scout the market and benchmark suppliers against the company’s 15 key requirements. “Along with extensive reporting and analysis, Genesys Cloud provided the best fit in terms of SIP trunking, open APIs and overall flexibility,” said John Coyne, Head of IT, Data and Compliance at FirstCare.

Inbound, outbound, callbacks and emails now are managed effortlessly in a blended fashion from one omnichannel desktop. Integrating the Genesys Cloud platform with the company’s back-office systems and JIRA CRM platform further improved productivity and member experience. Payroll system changes are next, allowing the company to automatically capture extra shifts within employee payslips. This is another innovation that couldn’t be made before deploying Genesys Cloud.

Superior advisor and member experience

FirstCare advisors and nurses quickly understood Genesys Cloud technology, typically only taking a few hours to pick up the new system. “They like the new features, such as peer and supervisory support via live chat or video calls and feel more engaged and in control when dealing with members,” said Lane.

For instance, automating caller ID verification has saved around 30 seconds per call and slashed the time it takes staff to access information and link call recordings within the CRM system. Members have more options to self-serve and can request a callback or complete a short survey and leave feedback — more services that weren’t previously possible.

“Work quality has improved year-on-year, with scores increasing by 6%,” added Lane. “Moreover, we’ve seen a fourfold reduction in employee attrition rates, again pointing towards increased job satisfaction.”

Managing one month’s call volume in a week

FirstCare stayed tightly aligned to the COVID-19 timetable and fast-changing advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO), leading scientists and the UK government. It was often the first port of call for members seeking clarification on issues that arose from televised daily briefings. This confusion resulted in additional inquiries from members who wanted clarity on top of the heightened volume of sickness absence calls. During March and April 2020, average daily traffic rose by 70% from the previous two months.

“We had to handle one month’s call volumes within the first week, while at the same time redeploying 150 worried employees to safe home working,” recalled Coyne. “To overcome this, we adapted our protocols and care pathways daily. This included on-the-fly changes to IVR menus and messages, ensuring our team and service users always received expert advice and the latest information.”

Crucially, FirstCare digitised entire processes and introduced COVID-19 control protocols within days. “Through better call prioritisation, our nurses were able to improve triage efficiency, make more timely interventions and get members at serious risk referred quickly,” said Suzanne Marshall, Clinical Governance Officer at FirstCare. “This undoubtedly helped to save lives.”

FirstCare also used Genesys Cloud to deliver the first fully virtual absence and nurse advisor inductions.

Solid foundation for 300% growth plan

FirstCare serves multiple NHS trusts, so any drop in performance directly affects its clients’ ability to staff safely. Near-live data is critical to ensuring these needs are met.

“Through daily use of Genesys Workforce Engagement Management, our resource planning manager was able to accurately pinpoint requirements down to 15-minute segments,” said Lane.

The company has laid a solid foundation for achieving its 300% growth plan. It was the first absence-management provider in the UK to become ISO27001 certified. Now, biannual quality audits are more straightforward. Bringing screen and voice recording together has cut the time an assessor needs to undertake an audit in half.

Other results included a 63% year-on-year drop in abandoned calls — excluding COVID-19 impact during March/April. Advisor and nurse occupancy levels have improved. Average handle time has been reduced by 30 seconds, saving around £80,000 a year. Members can now close absences using IVR, which has cut inbound demand and costs by over £100,000. And chat and email third-party object routing has saved an additional £125,000 per annum.

In the first four months, over 1,100 customer satisfaction surveys were completed, with an average score of 88.7%.

“We’ve not only managed peak demand, but also raised our game — safely migrating to home working while improving the quality, speed and effectiveness of services,” concluded Lane. “As a result, we now have a significantly more agile business model and resilient disaster recovery plan, enabling the business to navigate COVID-19 challenges and save members’ lives.”