The solution

In partnership with BRIDGE, Tesco launched a training programme called ‘Living Service’ across five ‘hot house’ stores in the UK. We explored with participants the idea that everyone benefits from giving great service, including employees. We tapped into participants’ intrinsic motivations, to understand what drove them. We focused on shifting attitudes and mindsets, covering areas such as how to choose your attitude, how to connect with customers, how to show customers that you care, how to truly listen, how to become more conscious and proactive. A transformational shift in attitude (and motivation) in turn shifted behaviours and ultimately delivered results. We examined and practised the different levels of service. We worked on personal resourcefulness and explored how employees felt and behaved when they were delivering exceptional service and when they were at their best. We empowered employees to deliver a natural and responsive service using their own drive and resourcefulness.

We successfully facilitated sessions across five stores but we needed to embed these attitudinal shifts at scale, in multiple stores and call centres across the UK. Rather than rely on external trainers, we empowered Tesco’s own employees to act as change champions. We wanted to enable Tesco to sustain this transformation without us. This change needed to be long-lasting and far-reaching. After facilitating the initial five sessions, we trained 200 Tesco employees to run the rest, giving them the role of Living Service Coaches. Each store also nominated 10% of its store population to be ‘Fire-Lighters’ i.e. in store influencers. We carefully selected these ‘Fire-Lighters,’ identifying those who were good at motivating and inspiring, but also selecting cynics whom Tesco were keen to win over.