Type of Business: Provider of cable, entertainment and communication products and services
Connecticut employees: 1,425
Connecticut locations: 14
Headquarters: Berlin
Company contact: Suzan W. Persutti, vice president of human resources
Top local executive: Douglas R. Guthrie, senior vice president, Western New England region
Founded: 1963
A customer focused company like Comcast has learned a thing or two over the years about delivering top notch service. It’s why they work so hard to keep their employees satisfied.
“We approach our business from the perspective that a superior customer experience results from a superior employee experience,” explained Suzan Persutti, vice president of human resources for Berlin-based Comcast’s Western New England Region office.
“We stay very close to our employees through surveys like the one used for the Best Places to Work Award, but also through our Credo Speaks employee engagement survey, which measures all different aspects of an employee’s experience. And we ensure that our compensation and benefits package stays best in class,” she said.
Douglas Guthrie, who heads Comcast’s western New England region, added that ranking high in surveys such as these is an important business barometer for Comcast. The most recent Credo Speaks survey, he said, placed the New England region tops in their corporate division and number 5 among all 21 regions nationally.
“When compared with our business results,” he explained, “we’re able to demonstrate that an engaged work force really does lead to great business numbers and an improved customer experience. It’s all connected.”
Guthrie’s region grew over the past year, as his office took on added responsibilities and new service territory, including the entire state of Vermont. Comcast hired 222 new employees last year, significantly reduced turnover in their call center operations, maintaining a rate that is half that of the industry, and expanded their business services group. In addition, they recently rolled out X-FINITY, the next generation of cable services that offers customers the ability to bundle HD TV, internet and phone services.
It has been a busy year, Guthrie admitted, but it was just as he anticipated at the start of 2009 when Comcast launched a new year of business under the theme, Dream Big.
“It was all about challenging ourselves to stand out in terms of customer satisfaction, improving the customer experience,” he said.
His team approached this goal in a number of ways.
“First,” he said, “we put our customer guarantee right out front, challenging ourselves.”
Comcast does this, he explained, through things like the Customer First survey, which provides every customer the ability to rate the service they have received. They committed more than ever to employees by adding new training, resources and leadership opportunities through programs like Leaders of Tomorrow, and increased skill training at Comcast University. They engage employees in the customer decision making process, Guthrie said, through programs like the For Our Customers (FOCUS) Project, and by incenting and rewarding employees more frequently through a quarterly pay for performance bonus program, Quarterly – Employees Achieving Results Now (Q-EARN ).
