Search past winners/finalists


  • MESA logo

Kerri Evans, Senior Director - DHL

Gold Stevie Award Winner 2012, Click to Enter The 2014 American Business Awards

Company:DHL Express (Canada), Ltd, Brampton, ON, Canada
Entry Submitted By:DHL Express (Canada), Ltd
Company Description:DHL is the global market leader in the logistics and transportation industry and “The logistics company for the world”. In the EXPRESS division, we transport urgent international documents and goods reliably and on time from door to door. Our network spans more than 220 countries and territories, in which some 100,000 employees provide services for more than 2.7 million customers.
Nomination Category:Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category:Maverick of the Year

Nomination Title: Kerri Evans, Senior Director

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated woman since the beginning of July last year (up to 525 words):

Coming from the competitive industry of global logistics; being able to innovate, create, and motivate are essential in providing great results and customer service. Since commencing her role of Senior Director Customer Service in July 2014, Kerri has been able to integrate a ‘as one’ culture within her team.

Immediately, an intensive 30 day restructuring saw team members promoted, moved laterally, all with the focus of keeping our customers and people front and center.

Kerri saw the need to “invest in the people and the results will come”. Revamping the approach to training, ensuring it was a priority, was paramount. Her team led the way in the DHL Certified International Specialist program having 100% of employees fully certified in 25 courses investing hundreds of hours to accomplish. This passion continued to be driven by her core belief in the DHL principal of ‘Right First Time’. In the belief of ‘work hard and play hard’, Kerri introduced voluntary time off, recognizing that some days were too nice to spend inside and challenged her team to schedule staff in the most optimal way allowing for advisors to “opt out of work” when possible to enjoy the summer weather. This empowered her employees to decide their preference, and made strong financial sense. This approach was very well received among the employees. The CS Employee Opinion Survey results improved by 27 percent for Employee Engagement and also improved significantly across all other attributes.

The impact was evident immediately. From a financial point, in less than 2 months, offers of overtime were greatly reduced, that was only the beginning. YoY from Jul 14’-Jul 15’ she reduced overtime by 5290 hrs. This was made even more impressive as no new technology had been introduced that would significantly impact call volumes. With a re-Invigorated, Knowledgeable and Renewed workforce, Kerri focused on performance, after all, DHL Express is synonymous with ‘Speed’ and ‘Can Do’ attitude. Kerri led the Supervisory and Managerial staff in daily meetings promoting best practices for performance coaching. This was not a common practice for a Senior Customer Service Director, but that is why DHL Canada CS has now become known within the network for ‘exceptional’ continuous improvements – a title worn with pride equally among all CS staff. Through frequent communication and recognition, a reduction in Average Handling Time of 29 percent was achieved and celebrated. Again, no new technologies and the quality of the calls were still excellent. Respect inspired Results.

Absenteeism hours from when compared to the same Jan-Jul time frame the year prior saw a reduction of 3421 hrs in lost time.

On pace to handle in excess of 885,000 calls in 2015, Kerri has been able to bring innovative ideas, create an atmosphere for success, and motivate her department to reach new heights never accomplished in DHL Canada CS history. All while increasing customer service performance, delivering a financial savings of over $1,000,000 versus budget, increasing morale, and keeping the customer at the center of everything we do.

“She makes us believe in ourselves, she knows we can do it before we do. “
We’re on our Journey from good to great thanks to Kerri

Provide a brief biography of the nominated woman (up to 125 words):

Kerri Evans

Kerri Evans is the Senior Director Customer Service for DHL Express Canada. Kerri started her career with DHL Express Australia in 1997 as a Customer Service Representative.

In May of 2009, she moved to the USA as Director Key Accounts in Customer Service and supported in the restructure of the USA to support an International-only business model. In 2011, Kerri was promoted to the Global Head of Process and Performance Management for Customer Service where she was responsible for maintaining and ensuring continual process and performance improvements for all 220+ countries DHL operate in globally.

She is dedicated to providing the highest levels of customer service in the industry.

Prior to joining DHL, Kerri held various positions within the Hospitality Industry in Australia.

.