Tell us a little about yourself. What does your job at Telefónica involve?
Since joining Telefónica, I have been involved in transformative projects to create efficiencies, improve workflows, add value for our customers and provide more agile environments for our colleagues.
In my seven years at Telefónica Spain, I have worked in Operations, in Business After-Sales. From improvements to processes such as Change Management and Critical Business Incident Management, to being responsible for the Datainternet Service, my focus has always been on the value we offer our customers, ensuring the continuity of their business through our stable and efficient services.
I currently lead different lines of work for the functional and business design of a new ticketing platform to optimise E2E incident management in Business Operations, within the CEM Valora project. This is a key transformation project to modernise our flows, facilitate day-to-day work, resulting in better service for our customers, working without silos, with an end-to-end quality vision.
How are processes and workflows optimised in the telecommunications sector?
Optimisation begins with understanding. To do this, we must talk to those who are involved on a daily basis, understand what they do, why they do it and what problems they encounter. Only then will we know what we can improve and optimise.
In the specific case of telecommunications, we are surrounded by technology, which makes it a very fast-changing sector. What is the latest thing on the market today will be the latest thing… at the bottom of the list tomorrow. Because of this, processes that were conditioned by the capabilities of their tools are now benefiting from new language models, databases and platforms, creating more conducive and simpler working environments.
This also applies to new services and facilities we offer, as we must not be weighed down by the baggage of the past.
How does the way you operate influence the value you offer to customers?
Like any service, we no longer offer a product to the customer: we offer an experience. And we don’t sell the Internet, we connect people through our value-added services.
Whether through proactive monitoring, rapid response or tailored solutions, the way we operate defines how customers feel when they interact with us. We don’t just provide ‘Internet’; we provide business continuity, peace of mind and responsiveness. That is the real value.
And we measure our success through customer satisfaction, because that is what guides every operational decision and every improvement we implement.
How can service continuity be guaranteed through innovative solutions and strategic thinking?
Each customer has their own business. And each customer is affected by something different. That’s why we need to understand what the customer needs and what is not essential.
For example, a customer has two web pages that are down. Same failure, same problem, same solution, same team to resolve it. They seem the same, but one affects the corporate intranet and the other affects their sales website.
That’s why it’s very important to understand the customer’s business and create a strategy to manage their service. Some premises are:
- Know the customer’s schedule and be informed about special events such as shareholder meetings or Christmas campaigns. This gives us an idea of when we can make changes without disrupting their business.
- Offer service redundancy so that a backup is always available.
- Be proactive by observing the client’s needs and the continuity of their service. This can be done through monitoring and dedicated client teams.
- Seeing through the eyes of the client and training our team to lead change is essential to stay ahead of their needs and ensure the continuity of their business.
What is the purpose of organisational transformations in service management and analysis?
Everything around us changes and evolves. Where others see uncertainty, we see opportunities to adapt and solve new problems that arise. To do this, we must transform ourselves through continuous improvement.
Transformations allow us to offer more and better services to our customers. Because it’s not all about technology. It’s how we put it into practice through processes and procedures.
And no, transformation is not easy. In addition to technical complications, there will always be some resistance to change. Our mission is to make people understand why we are driving this transformation, for what purpose, and how it will benefit users.
All transformation must seek to improve services to offer more value and provide simplicity so that colleagues on the front line can add value in new tasks, rather than worrying about rudimentary actions. Listening, learning and constantly evolving is what turns transformation into real and lasting improvement.
What is the usefulness of continuous learning when it comes to improving professional skills or taking on new challenges?
For me, continuous learning makes me feel active. It makes me feel that I am making the most of my time. And this gives me the momentum to always strive for more, to not stagnate, and to face new challenges with enthusiasm.
And we can take this to the professional level, as this same momentum translates into taking on new challenges, responsibilities and objectives, which is exciting.
To give an example, I am testing myself in something totally new to me, such as Social Media and Communication. I am part of the InfluenSERs initiative led by Sergio de la Calle, where we try to share our impressions, values and sense of belonging to Telefónica through LinkedIn posts to increase the value of Telefónica’s Employer Brand.
We have managed to increase Telefónica Spain’s metrics and numbers on this platform, so we understand that the initiative is yielding good results and that the objectives are being met. In my case, I am gaining new professional skills such as brand management, marketing and networking, among others.
Empowering our team to lead change starts with ourselves, and that continuous learning is the basis for taking on any new challenge.
Which people working at Telefónica would you nominate for this interview who you consider to be excellent at their job?
Everyone who works at Telefónica could be nominated, as all their stories are worth telling and reading.
I cannot imagine my time at Telefónica without my manager Gustavo Villaseca Sánchez, or without Jerónimo Valverde Martínez, both members of the Business After-Sales Data Services Centre.
Cynthia Monleón is someone who lives for others, training, motivating and empowering them.
And to add people outside my department, Rodolfo García Peñas would have a lot to contribute in a space like this.
