Why Great Service is Down to a People First Mindset

Jordan Butcher, Service Director joined Bates IT in 2017 as a trainee engineer with no formal training or industry experience. Less than six years later, he had progressed through a series of technical and leadership roles to become a Director of the business before moving into his current position as Group Service Director with Serbus following Bates’ acquisition.

Jordan attributes his rapid progression to a willingness to take on increasingly complex projects and continually learn on the job.

“I started as a trainee engineer and worked my way through a number of different roles, from engineering and project delivery through to service management and leadership. Every step gave me a better understanding of what good service delivery actually looks like.”

One of the most influential projects early in Jordan’s career was a major electronic patient record deployment at University College London Hospitals (UCLH), one of the largest technology programs ever undertaken by the Trust at the time.

“I started out supporting the engineering side of the project and eventually helped lead it through to go-live. It was a huge program and it taught me a lot about the importance of putting the end user at the centre of everything you do.

“That patient first mindset is something I’ve carried forward into every role since, regardless of the sector. There is always an end user who ultimately depends on the service being delivered effectively, our responsibility is to make sure technology enables them to do what they need to do.”

It was also during these early experiences that Jordan realised the wider impact technology services can have on people’s lives.

“Within my first few days working at Bates, I was supporting systems within the Macmillan Cancer Centre. Seeing how the technology directly enabled clinicians to treat patients made me realise very quickly how important this work is and cemented my belief that this was the industry I wanted to be in.

Today, Jordan remains heavily involved in healthcare projects whilst also working across the wider Serbus group, supporting teams in multiple sectors and identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, share best practice and enhance service delivery.

“You can hit every contractual KPI, but if the people receiving the service aren’t happy, then something isn’t working. Some of the most valuable feedback comes from talking directly to end users, clinicians and stakeholders about their experience. That’s where you learn the most about what’s working well and where improvements can be made.”

That people-first approach also shapes Jordan’s views on AI and technology adoption.

“Whilst AI and automation are dominating conversations across every sector, I believe the real value of technology is its ability to carry out tasks at a speed or scale that humans can’t achieve. It should be used to amplify human expertise, not replace it.

“The approach is simple really. Whether it’s AI, cyber security, service delivery or large-scale digital transformation, successful technology projects always start with the same question: how does this help people do what they need to do better?”