The customer relationship teams at Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) are a key part of the company's army of critical workers,supporting their colleagues in the field to ensure that customers continue to get the best possible service in these unprecedented times.
Each of SSEN's seven regions has its own Customer Relationship Manager, and in the South East region, which takes in Aldershot, Petersfield, Basingstoke, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, that's the role of Jasmin Myhill.
Jasmin who, like the majority of SSEN staff, is currently based at home in line with Government social distancing guidelines, explains more about her role:
"On a day-to-day basis, the primary focus for me and my team is the welfare of the 750,000 customers we serve across the region and that focus has never been more important than in recent weeks."
Pre-lockdown Jasmin was regularly on the road, meeting with a wide range of stakeholders across the region, giving talks at parish councils, meeting with councillors and sitting on local resilience groups. The introduction of the new Government guidelines has meant a lot of logistical changes to Jasmin's day-to-day working, but one thing that hasn't changed is the company's commitment to excellent customer service:
She explains:
"While we can't speak to our customers and stakeholders face-to-face at the moment, we're still proactively keeping in touch with them in whichever way suits them best, which could be social media, emails or phone calls, as it's really important that they're kept up-to-date with the critical work we're doing to keep the power flowing and, just as importantly, how we can help them in emergency situations."
The safety of its customers and staff has always been SSEN's number one priority, and this continues to be the focus, as Jasmin explains:
"Even before lockdown was announced, we had introduced our own additional safety and hygiene measures which now sit alongside our mandatory pre-work risk assessments. This means that if we do need to visit a customer's home as part of our critical work, we're fully compliant with the Government guidelines, keeping them and our colleagues safe."
These are challenging times for everyone, and Jasmin is proud of the work that SSEN is doing to keep the power flowing for its customers:
"I count myself as very fortunate to work with a team who, regardless of the circumstances, have the ability to work safely and efficiently while understanding the needs of our communities and the importance of communicating, both with customers and colleagues alike."