Avon’s century-old legacy embraces the future of employee service with Zendesk

Untangling the past to move forward

Transforming employee service at a company as established as Avon came with its share of complexities. Years of growth across different geographies had left a patchwork of tools, practices, and expectations. “You can imagine the legacy that’s there,” says Michalska. “Numerous systems, platforms, solutions – or even a complete lack of them.”

But the challenge ran deeper than technology. Cultural and behavioural habits, shaped over decades, were hard to shift. “People were used to doing things in a certain way – calling someone, walking over to a desk, or relying on personal connections to get things done,” Michalska explains. Moving to a digital support model meant changing not just systems, but mindsets.

The team also faced inconsistent processes across regions, many of them overly complex or outdated. Without a unified approach, maintaining service quality and efficiency became increasingly difficult. “The complexity around how we’ve been doing things in the past – and in some areas still do – created real inefficiencies,” says Michalska.

Underlying it all was the need to balance global consistency with local flexibility. Avon needed a solution that could scale intelligently, without forcing a one-size-fits-all model. “We didn’t want to just drop global processes onto markets,” Michalska notes. “We had to understand what would land well – and what would get in the way.”

For Avon, the challenge wasn’t just modernisation. It was evolving thoughtfully – without compromising the care, trust, and authenticity that had defined the brand for over a century.

Performance that builds trust

What began as a support rollout quickly evolved into the backbone of Avon’s global People Services model – powered by Zendesk, and grounded in empathy, adaptability, and long-term impact.

Since implementing Zendesk, Avon has reached new levels of speed, satisfaction, and service quality. The team now maintains an exceptional 98.4% employee satisfaction rate, even in the midst of a large-scale organisational shift. “We are still going through a major transformation and yet our people are happy with the way we service them,“ says Michalska. “That proves we’re keeping the promise.”

This shift has translated directly into performance. Avon now resolves most queries in just over 4 hours on average, far exceeding expectations for a newly centralised function. “There were fears that shifting from legacy practices would mean people wouldn’t get things done,” Michalska reflects. “But that fear is behind us. We can see we’re delivering both quality and speed.”

Zendesk has also become a tool for trust. With the satisfaction survey fully embedded into the workflow, the team doesn’t just collect feedback – they act on it. “We have it fine-tuned now,” says Michalska. “We can react to negative situations spot on and understand what went wrong.” Every piece of insight becomes an opportunity to improve – not just processes, but relationships.

Even more telling is how Zendesk supports Avon’s broader People strategy. “It contributes directly to our operating model,” Michalska explains. “We’re not just resolving tickets. We’re shaping the employee experience in a way that aligns with the transformation of our People function.”

What Avon has built is more than an efficient support engine – it’s a foundation of confidence. A system employees trust. A model the team believes in. And a platform that’s helping Avon scale its purpose, without ever losing sight of its people.