Operational Reporting - Essential Energy

Mid North Coast
Tocal and Macksville Field Days – provide us with an opportunity to
meet our customers, demonstrate what Country Energy does and respond
to their enquiries – it’s a great way to connect with our customers.
Country Energy has formed partnerships with two communities in the
Lower Hunter region, Gresford and Vacy, to improve local amenities.
We upgraded the lighting at the Gresford showground to enable extra
events to be run and bring more people to the area. In consultation with
the Vacy community, we replaced unsuitable vegetation growing adjacent
to powerlines in the Vacy Memorial Park with more appropriate species
to promote public safety and network reliability – and increase the
visual amenity.
Northern
Greater Northern Skills Development Group – formed to promote skills
development and training for industries and communities throughout
the region, the group conducts annual Regional Training Awards and is
actively involved in improving vocational education and training. As a
major sponsor, Country Energy supports the group by providing business
skills, experience and advice.
NIAS ‘Energise’ Sports Science Program – previously, talented athletes
from across the region under the Northern Inland Academy of Sport’s
numerous programs had to travel to Sydney for important fitness and
ability testing. Through Country Energy’s ‘Energise’ program, this critical
performance element can now be carried out within the region and
provides ongoing development for the athletes and coaches.
North Western
Community Development Employment Program (CDEP) – assists
Indigenous people to gain work experience and entry into the workforce.
Mudgee Small Farm Field Days – are a highlight of the North Western
region’s calendar, injecting over $5 million into the area and attracting
around 30,000 people annually. Country Energy has sponsored this event
for the last 10 years, and our support has ensured the event continues
to grow and promote rural and regional industries.
Measuring stakeholder satisfaction
The Community Stakeholder Net Promoter Score measures how
likely stakeholders such as local councils, mayors, media, industry
associations and business groups are to recommend us to other
organisations.
The Net Promoter Score is widely used by a range of organisations
across a number of industry sectors and provides excellent performance
benchmarking.
Our Community Stakeholder Net Promoter Score for 2007–08 was
26 per cent, substantially exceeding our target of 15 per cent. This result
places us among the leading Australian organisations with the highest
levels of stakeholder satisfaction and corporate reputation.
Consulting with customers and their communities
Rural Advisory Group
When Country Energy formed we established a Rural Advisory Group
(RAG) to maintain close connections with communities across our
network footprint to act as a vehicle in giving rural and remote customers
a voice. There is no formal legislative requirement to have this forum –
we’ve chosen to form this unique group to gather feedback and identify
issues affecting our regional customers.
The group comprises 11 members from across the state’s rural sector,
including cotton farmers and irrigators, crop and grain growers, wool and
primary producers, rural health and the Country Women’s Association.
We aim to ensure that equal consideration and opportunity for feedback
is given to all customer issues by choosing members who live and work in
different geographic and demographic areas and who are representative
of, and respected within, their communities.
The group meets quarterly at different locations across our footprint
and in 2007–08 met in Buronga, Dubbo, Tamworth and Lightning Ridge.
They receive presentations from Country Energy’s senior management
on topical issues and act as a sounding board for upcoming decision
making on company direction. Group members use the meetings as
an opportunity to present back to the business on current issues and
challenges facing the customers and locations they represent.
The group has initiated and driven many successful customer and
community solutions, such as time stamping on our Interactive Voice
Response (IVR) messaging, a direct result and recommendation of
input and advice received from the meetings.
Country Energy is among
Australia’s leading organisations
with the highest levels of
stakeholder satisfaction and
corporate reputation.
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