Thozama Mbulawa
IT Service Desk Manager
Johannesburg
Summary
Enhance team performance and maximize customer satisfaction by strategically managing calls and implementing process improvements. Talented leader offering top-notch abilities in program management, interpersonal communication and administrative oversight. Successful at training and mentoring employees to promote culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
Work History
IT Customer Service Manager
Norton Rose Fulbright
Johannesburg, South Africa
10.2023 - Current
- Managed complex customer issues effectively, navigating multiple internal resources to identify and implement the best possible solutions.
- Resolved customer complaints while prioritizing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Developed strong relationships with key clients, ensuring their needs were met consistently and promptly.
- Facilitated clear communication between departments, ensuring seamless resolution of customer concerns in a timely manner.
- Management of the local Customer service team and the IT training team to drive a high-performance ethic whilst maintaining the optimum levels of professionalism and responsive customer service.
- Ensuring that customers obtain the best advice with both proactive and prescribed training on using the Firms products and services, within a culture of continuous improvement geared to customer needs.
- Ensuring service desk staff deliver a consistent message to customers with focused communication, courteously, by a variety of mediums, telephone, email, self-service, chat and face-to-face encounters.
Investigating and ensuring a speedy resolution to customers’ problems, either within the team structure or by personal review and problem management of complex or long-standing problems that have been appropriately escalated or identified.
• Handling customer complaints or any major incidents in a timely professional manner.
• Instilling an ethos of quality in the support team in South Africa and influencing this ethos across the group.
• Adherence to process and SLA targets as agreed within the service management framework and feeding into vendor management processes to improve provided services.
• Analysing statistics or other data to determine the level of customer service the Firm is being provided with. Reporting on these statistics on a monthly basis.
• Drilling down to the source of recurring issues, variations in services (staff, process or IT service) and championing/delivering definitive measured improvements as part of the continuous improvement programme. Agreeing and improving on first time fixed rates and showing improvement in response time, customer feedback and quality of recording and feedback/communication processes.
• Identifying the need for and producing high quality business focused written information for customers, including user guides, crib sheets and training/e-learning material and seeking
improvement by feedback and peer review of such
deliverables. - Took ownership of customer issues and followed problems through to resolution.
Senior Service Desk Analyst and IT Trainer
Norton Rose Fulbright
Johannesburg
12.2019 - 10.2023
- Supervise junior Service Desk Analyst and learners
- Manage and prioritize requests and incidents
- Handling customer complaints
- Ensure that team resolves customer problems speed
- Ensure that all calls are logged and updated on ServiceNow
- Act as an escalation point for unresolved or escalated incidents
- Train new joiners on IT systems; train existing users on new and old systems
- Communicate to staff of any unexpected upgrades or upcoming training
- Transfer knowledge to junior staff to improve their skills and serviceability of the Service Desk Team
- Assist with setting standby rooster and weekly rooster
- Assist with running a proactive Service Desk environment and providing the highest form of customer service to users daily.
- Reduced ticket resolution time with thorough problem analysis and effective troubleshooting techniques.
Business Consultant
Mbana Inc Attorneys
Johannesburg
01.2019 - 11.2019
- Increased client satisfaction by implementing tailored solutions for their unique business needs.
Service Desk Analyst
Norton Rose Fulbright
08.2014 - 12.2018
IT Helpdesk Analyst
Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs Attorneys
01.2011 - 07.2014
IT Helpdesk Analyst
Deneysreitz Attorneys
04.2008 - 12.2010
Education
Bachelor of Commerce in Information and Technology Management - Information Technology
Mancosa
Durban 07.2024 - Current
Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals
Microsoft
Johannesburg, South Africa04.2024
ITIL Foundation -
Torque-IT
Higher Certificate in IT - undefined
UJ
IT Certificate -
ITT Centre
Skills
Good analytical skills
Innovative
Clear communication skills
Customer Service & Leadership
IT Trainer, Change & Project Management
Good problem-solving skills
Technical support expertise
Problem Resolution
Strategic Planning
Team Leadership
Time Management
Staff Development
Websites
References
- Maurae Wooding, Norton Rose Fulbright, CIO, +27 82 499 1725
- Prenesh Seethal, Norton Rose Fulbright, IT Manager, +27 79 509 4818
- Pumzo Mbana, Mbana Inc Attorneys, +27 76 819 3886
Timeline
Bachelor of Commerce in Information and Technology Management - Information Technology
Mancosa
07.2024 - Current
IT Customer Service Manager
Norton Rose Fulbright
10.2023 - Current
Senior Service Desk Analyst and IT Trainer
Norton Rose Fulbright
12.2019 - 10.2023
Business Consultant
Mbana Inc Attorneys
01.2019 - 11.2019
Service Desk Analyst
Norton Rose Fulbright
08.2014 - 12.2018
IT Helpdesk Analyst
Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs Attorneys
01.2011 - 07.2014
IT Helpdesk Analyst
Deneysreitz Attorneys
04.2008 - 12.2010
Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals
Microsoft
ITIL Foundation -
Torque-IT
Higher Certificate in IT - undefined
UJ
IT Certificate -
ITT Centre