Talent Centric
Rebuilding
after turmoil
After a period of turbulence, home assistance
company HomeServe has returned to growth
under the leadership of CEO Martin Bennett.
I
n 2014, repairs group
HomeServe was fined £30.6m
– the largest retail fine to date
by City regulator the Financial
Conduct Authority – for mis-
selling insurance and mishandling
customer complaints.
“We weren’t doing a great job for
customers,” admits Martin Bennett,
who became CEO of the UK business in
January 2014, following a year as group
chief operating officer and three years as
group chief financial officer.
Since Bennett’s appointment, the
company has been rebuilding the brand
from the inside out – by concentrating
on the needs of employees. “The fall-
out with the regulator gave us a chance
to reassess how we were doing for
customers,” Bennett says. “At the heart
of achieving our ambition is making a
strong link between customer and
employee expectation.”
Founded in 1993 by Richard Harpin
(who is still group CEO) as a joint
venture with South Staffordshire
Water, HomeServe grew rapidly before
demerging from the water company in
2004 and becoming a plc.
alexandermannsolutions.com
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Today, HomeServe operates in five
countries, working alongside major
utility and energy companies. It has
some 2.2 million customers in the UK
and 7.5 million worldwide, providing
home assistance across water, electrics
and gas. In 2017, it was recognised as
most improved company in the UK for
customer satisfaction in the services
sector, attributed by Bennett to the new
emphasis on customer promise.
“We started out on a journey to
produce a customer charter and focused
all our energies on ensuring customers
would get a great service,” he explains.
But while he is pleased with progress
around the customer charter, Bennett is
clear that ensuring the firm’s 3,000 UK
employees are engaged, developed and
talented will decide the business’ success.
“Our people come first, customers
second and shareholders third. If our
people are happy, they will take care of
our customers and that will give us a
successful business. If I had my chance
again, I would create people values before
customer values,” he admits.
Communication
Martin Bennett
CEO,
HomeServe
Martin has 25 years of
international business
experience working
for multi-nationals,
family-owned businesses
and professional
service firms.
homeserve.com
When Bennett became CEO in January
2014, employee engagement stood at
around 56%. “We weren’t clear what
we wanted from our people. We had
negative publicity and this reflected in
our engagement score. Since then, we’ve
tried to get clear about what we expect
from people and their role in delivering
strategy,” he says.
Twice a year, the company holds
‘cascade’ sessions – where staff are
brought together to hear where the
PEOPLE PROMISES
AT HOMESERVE:
• Dare to care • Do the right thing
• Own it • Always improve
• Win together: trust each other