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Before taking on the London 2012 role, Linda’s task was to make flying fun as Head of Customer Service at Virgin Atlantic – focusing on low cost, high value. She applied the same principle of ‘magic touches’ at the Olympics, organising 15,000 Games Makers and contractors to host 9 million spectators. Linda offers practical examples of the critical gains to be had by engaging both front of house teams and those who drive the engine of the organisation.
Linda Moir was in charge of the front-line Events Services at the London Olympic and Paralympic Games. She was responsible for planning and implementing a customer-service strategy, organising 15,000 volunteer Games Makers plus private sector contractors, and facilities to welcome over nine million spectators.
London 2012 was the first Games to view ticket-holders as customers - previously they’d been viewed as secondary to the sports. As a result, London 2012 is widely regarded as the most successful and best-run Olympics in the modern era. The use of the Games Makers was seen as crucial to this success, and an innovative approach to dealing with the public which was the basis of a plan to make attendees feel part of something special.
Before the Games, Linda was Virgin Atlantic’s Director of Customer Service. Richard Branson hired Linda with the remit of ‘making flying fun’. In her time Virgin became leaders in customer satisfaction (a key element to the Virgin brand), topping surveys and winning numerous awards. Combining customer service and HR, Linda overhauled recruitment, training and development programmes for 5,000 Virgin cabin crew to meet her goals. She gave staff the freedom to deal with customers their own way, instead of dictating policy, and established a philosophy of ‘brilliant basics - magic touches’.
Prior to Virgin Linda was HR Director for the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) during its transition from public to private ownership. It meant handling significant challenges both internal and external in such a sensitive, important sector dominated by regulation and unionised staffing. She joined NATS after working for BA where she was involved in transforming the business from its introspective, state-backed roots to a modern, customer-centred brand.
Linda speaks about the culture of a customer-focused organisation and how change can be implemented to the benefit of the business and individual employees. She looks at how organisations can change, and how leaders play their part.
