HK is a Danish trade union and unemployment fund with close to 230,000 members, which makes it the second largest in Denmark. They want everybody to be able to come into contact with member services in a way that suits them, regardless of profession or age.
Thus, the digitalization of the customer meeting is not a step away from personal service, but rather an important part of the strategy of increasing the service level by catering to those who prefer to find their own answers on the web, or who prefer to communicate digitally.
“The primary goal with our digitalization journey is to offer our customers even better service”, says Debbie Hedegaard, Knowledge Manager at HK.
Every week HK manages several thousands of requests from their members, and as the answers can have a great impact on the members’ lives and economy, they have to be right.
Important information was hard to find
HK had a lot of information stored in different physical and digital locations. Much was gathered on the intranet, but as it was sorted based on department it could be difficult for persons from different parts of the organization to locate it. This in turn led to the staff taking steps to make their workday easier, such as printing documents that were saved in folders.
“Important information does not belong on paper in folders or on notes on desks. The minute you print a document it is obsolete. If we make sure that the information is easy to find, and up to date, our personnel will not need to create workarounds”, says Debbie.
As HK has to be absolutely certain that the information they give their members is correct, and that all members get the same answer regardless of whom they talk to, a lot of time was spent verifying that the information they shared with the members was correct and the latest version.
Knowledge strategy with the right partner
In 2019 HK launched a knowledge strategy as a part of the journey toward the digitalized customer meeting, aimed at taking service to the next level and offering contact methods that suit all members. As a part of the strategy HK implemented the smart knowledgebase Telia ACE Knowledge. They have created two different interfaces for sharing information, internally and externally.
“For us it was important to choose a solution that we were certain would integrate well with our current platform, and to collaborate with a supplier with a clear strategy for the digital customer meeting.”
ACE Knowledge is primarily used for member information, but also serves as the organization’s memory bank. The solution lifts the knowledge out of the departmental silos and makes it possible for the information to flow seamlessly between people and departments.
Accessible information key to better service
With ACE Knowledge, all member information is gathered in one place. The staff knows where to turn to find answers to member questions and can feel entirely certain that they have the right version of the information. HK has a structure with categories and tags that makes it easy to search, even for people who do not know the ins and outs of the organizational structure.
“Our employees feel that it is easy to search in the database, and it is especially beneficial for new hires. The solution serves as a support in the dialogue with the members, and will be beneficial for future implementations of self-service tools”, says Debbie.
Simplicity for the staff is key for making it really easy for the customer, but the main purpose of all of HK’s digitalization initiatives is to generate value for the members.
Facts about HK
Organization: HK Danmark
Industry: Trade union
Market: All over Denmark
Customer requests per year: 300,000 (excluding direct contacts with the unemployment fund)
Customer meeting channels: Chat, email, phone
