Nottingham Call Centre Receives International Innovative Employer Award
October 2008
Domestic & General (D&G) have received international recognition for their recruitment practices in Nottingham. The Group have been confirmed as an award winner in the AARP International Innovative Employer awards in recognition of their age diversity focus. This ensures that all age groups both applying and starting work at the Talbot Street call centre are recruited and trained in a way that meets their needs and ensure that no bias can enter the decision making process. The company was supported in this by TAEN, the age and employment network.
AARP, is a US based not for profit organisation which represents the interests of over 40 million members who are aged 50 and over. They are an international organisation, with a provenly effective lobbying function for this age group, and with membership mainly within the US.
The award, which has eight international winners, four of whom are based in the UK, is designed to recognise non US based employers who have demonstrated innnovative workforce or human resource procedures that address issues relevant to workers aged 50 and over.
Domestic & General, which is the UK's largest specialist provider of service contracts on domestic electrical equipment, employs over 700 people at their Nottingham call centre which opened in 1997.
Comments Caroline Huggett, D&G's HR Director, ''We aim to reflect all key demographics where we have operations. Positivity about age at both ends of the spectrum has been a key focus for many years. We are delighted to have received Age Positive awards within our UK market over several years which reflect our practice of tailoring recruitment procedures and our training around the needs of the individual to ensure that no one is disadvantaged. Our call centre advisers deal with calls from people with appliance breakdowns and thus disruption to their homes. We find that older advisers not only have good attendance records and mentor younger colleagues but are very empathetic on the phone with our customers. After all they have probably dealt with the same issues in their own home life. The AARP award, gained under the guidance of TAEN, takes our recognition from the UK onto an international stage and is a development of which we are very proud'.
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NOTE TO EDITORS
Domestic & General is the UK's largest specialist provider of domestic electrical appliance and electronic equipment service contracts. D&G administers service contracts for manufacturers, banks, catalogue companies, independent retailers and also offers a direct to consumer service. The company, founded in 1912 in Western Australia, has worked with electrical appliance product support since the early 1950s. D&G has two call centres in Nottingham and Brighton, an administration and claims centre in the Bedworth, Warwickshire, a mailing house in Coventry and Head Office in Wimbledon, London. It also operates in mainland Europe and Australia.
CONTACT : Lindsey Addison
Domestic & General Press Office
T : 0208 946 7777
lindsey.addison@domesticandgeneral.com
TAEN - The Age and Employment Network is a leading national network of 200 member organisations committed to creating an effective job market which works for people in mid and later life, for employers and for the economy. TAEN champions the contribution that age diversity in employment makes to business success and a healthy society.
CONTACT : Chris Ball
TAEN
T. 020 7843 1591 M. 07768 693938[
Chris.ball@taen.org.uk
AARP is a nonprofit, non partisan membership organisation that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with over 33 million readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP's 40 million members and Americans 50+; AARP Segunda Juventud, the only bilingual US publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
CONTACT : Samantha Edwards
AARP
+1-202-434-2560
media@aarp.org