Ryman Healthcare gets the gold for customer service

Ryman Healthcare gets the gold for customer service

It’s two in a row for the retirement village operator

Ryman Healthcare has done it again – New Zealanders have voted the Kiwi company top when it comes to providing exceptional customer service in the retirement sector.

For the second year running, Ryman Healthcare has taken out the gold in the Reader’s Digest Quality Service Award as the retirement village operator that Kiwis believe best demonstrates excellent customer service. Bupa was the runner-up.

Ryman Healthcare Managing Director Simon Challies said he was delighted with the repeat result, but was quick to add that the company would not rest on its laurels.

“This award is great recognition for the incredible hard work, dedication and kindness our staff show towards our residents and their families.

“But we don’t take that for granted. We continue to work hard to earn and improve on that reputation.”

Mr Challies said a number of initiatives had been recently launched to improve the service Ryman Healthcare residents and their relatives had come to expect.

These included Ryman Delicious - a complete revamp of village food menus to give residents meal choices prepared and beautifully plated up by trained chefs; a new electronic medications system called 1Chart; and myRyman, a tablet-based nursing app which provides a live history of everything to do with each resident including all medical records. MyRyman is designed to eliminate paperwork, allowing staff to spend more time to look after residents.

The company had also commissioned designer Annah Stretton to come up with a beautiful new floral-inspired uniform which, as well as giving staff a boost, had brightened residents’ days.

“We wouldn’t win awards like this without every one of our 4,500 staff doing their bit so it really is a great accolade for them,” Mr Challies said.

The annual Reader’s Digest survey, which canvases a representative sample of 1,500 New Zealand adults on over 40 different categories, is conducted by independent market research agency Catalyst Marketing and Research.

Reader’s Digest introduced the Quality Service Awards in 2015, offering consumers the opportunity to share their views about companies that consistently deliver the very best customer service, but also to provide the public with a list of companies they can turn to knowing that’s what they can expect.

To qualify for the survey, respondents had to have used the service provider they were questioned on.

They were then asked to rank their experience according to questions on subjects including personalisation, reliability and satisfaction.

Reader’s Digest managing editor Louise Waterson said the category winners could be especially pleased with the results, given the survey had also revealed that New Zealanders were quick to reward exemplary service with repeat custom and information sharing.

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