As part of our colleague recognition initiatives, we invite colleagues from across the business to share the positive feedback they have received. Based on this feedback, a shortlist of colleagues are invited to lunch with members of our executive team to celebrate the fantastic recognition they’ve received.
Our nominees this quarter, who enjoyed lunch with chief operating officer Paul Taylor and director of volume claims Mick Murphy, were Jody Ridge, Nicola Giles, Debbi Weston, Nicola Leary, Julie Loftus, Hansa Rashid, Sabiha Goolab and our winner, Gemma Racz.
We spoke to Gemma about her 14 years at Minster Law, where she began in Private Client and Conveyancing. She moved to our personal injury department as an assistant and continued to develop her career in case management. Gemma joined our complex cases training academy and joined the team in October 2021.
One of Gemma’s recent clients said: “I know I have thanked you in the past but I just want to say that you have looked after my interests in an exemplary and very professional way and your efforts to bring this situation to a satisfactory conclusion are very much appreciated.”
We sat down with Gemma to find out more about her and the great service she provides.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
I am able to see a case through to the end, dealing with all aspects of a claim from start to finish, initial claim investigations, dealing with liability, resolving fault and obtaining the medical evidence to support the claim through to settlement.
I also enjoy the client care aspect, supporting clients through, it can be a stressful and challenging time for clients and explaining the process, so they understand what to expect as part of the compensation journey.
How do you provide excellent service to customers?
Taking the time with my clients, ensuring they understand where their claim is at and what happens next.
It’s important to understand their individual concerns, whether that is recovery, returning to work or the financial impact.
If you were to run a customer training workshop, what customer excellence tips / learnings would you give to others?
Set realistic expectations and provide next steps. If a client understands where their claim is in a process, how long it can take to get to the next stage and are updated once something has been achieved / completed, they trust the process and are more engaged.
How did you find the Great Service lunch?
I enjoyed meeting other colleagues from other departments and areas of the business.
It was nice to hear everyone’s feedback and also to be reminded about supporting colleagues, not just clients, with Jody from HR getting nominated for her great service to colleagues.
It was also nice to talk to the executive team and get to know them as real people.
I think it says a lot about Minster Law that the executive team takes the time to spend time with colleagues.
How did you feel when you won Great Service and a place in the finalist for Minster Law’s annual awards ball?
I was surprised, there were some fantastic feedback for other colleagues and was genuinely shocked. It is nice to recognise colleagues in this way.
I didn’t realise winning meant I would be part of the finalist nominations for the ball – wow.