KEY POINTS:
Name: John Healy.
Occupation: National manager, Roadservice, AA.
Age: 50+.
Working hours: 40 to 50 per week. The AA encourages work/life balance.
Pay scale: Senior package.
Qualifications needed: At least 10-15 years in senior operational management positions and success in people-based service industries. An academic qualification in business management is beneficial.
Describe your job.
I am primarily responsible for keeping New Zealanders moving - ensuring Roadservice gets AA Members' vehicles moving again as quickly and cost-effectively as possible, and investigating ways to use new technology to improve the service we provide.
The AA has more than 1.25 million members, creating 700,000 calls each year and with more than 500,000 requiring breakdown assistance each year. I am responsible for over 220 staff, plus a contractor network of around 400.
Your background?
My first job was as a radio technician with Telecom NZ (previously NZ Post Office), later moving into satellite technology, network management and various operational management positions - completing over 30 years with the one company. In 2001, I was part of a start-up IT company - Oxygen Business Solutions, a subsidiary of Carter Holt Harvey - setting up and managing the desktop support environment. I was "seduced" back into telecommunications briefly, firstly with GDC Communications and then with Wired Country. I took up this role with the Automobile Association in 2005.
Why do people call Roadservice?
Many problems requiring roadside assistance are preventable. Forty per cent of breakdown problems are battery related - lights left on, doors left open, faulty batteries/alternators. Another 40 per cent of callouts are for flat tyres, lockouts (keys left in the car, faulty or jammed locks) and out-of-fuel problems. Only 15 per cent or so of the callouts we attend are mechanically related.
Is it harder to provide roadside help as technology changes?
Technological advances have introduced exciting challenges for Roadservice - in the vehicle and in the tools and systems our people use to take a member call, attend at the roadside and diagnose the problem. Modern cars are more complex and therefore we're limited in what can be done at the roadside for electrical or mechanical breakdowns. Even a simple battery replacement has to be matched to the car's specific requirements. In addition to having to keep our Roadservice technicians and contractors up to date with vehicle changes we also need to provide state-of-the art diagnostic/test equipment as tools of trade.
Why is your job important?
The AA has been around for over 100 years and breakdown assistance is still largely the reason people join.
Our Roadservice reputation is essential to the association's continued success and my job is to ensure the service we provide continues to exceed our members' expectations, while also keeping the cost down so that we can maintain our membership subscription rates which have not risen for 15 years. Utilising technology to develop service solutions is an important part and so is leadership.
What are the job's main challenges?
Finding innovative and cost-effective ways to meet our call taking and roadside attendance targets during peak busy periods.
You must hear some funny stories.
We get all sorts of requests.
A businessman, in a hurry to get to a meeting, had locked his keys in his car. When our service officer arrived the member was agitated and keen to get on his way. This was achieved quickly by the service officer reaching through the already open passenger's window to retrieve the keys.
Pets, left free to roam in cars, lock the car (with the keys in it) by stepping on the door lock button. Similarly, mum giving the infant the keys (complete with door remote) to play with and the infant locking her out, while she is outside the car, happens often enough to keep us entertained and the mums embarrassed!
There was a guy who called the service saying his "car had water in the carburettor". When asked how much, he said, "About a swimming pool full!" We sent a tow wagon!
Your strengths?
I have a passion for delivering excellent customer service efficiently. My strengths stem from my experience in senior operational management roles and an extensive technology background. It is essential to have good people skills as people must be clear about what they are responsible for and be motivated to do it. Being able to quickly assess operational data and make effective decisions is essential.
Advice to those interested in a similar role?
If you like the challenge of managing a high-volume operation delivering a number-one service, then make sure you are committed to seeing it succeed. If it is a large, people-based operation, being able to understand people and having well-grounded people skills and a desire for working smarter are essential. Experience in the effective implementation of change is also beneficial.
