Winning ways of personal service
A public service should be what it says on the tin. It is self-evident that those of us employed in the public sector should provide people with the information, services and facilities they require within their entitlement, and with as much courtesy, effectiveness, and efficiency as possible.
The image and dominant perception is very different. It seems our mission in life is to frustrate people and deny what they want and are entitled to by making the process over complicated and in accessible. Add a large dose of surliness and obstruction from staff, and the tabloid image is secured.
The problem for us, of course, is that we all have experiences which reinforce this stereotype. I feel deeply ashamed when friends and family report difficulties in dealing with their local council, in particular.
In one sense, this is the right reaction. Unless we take individual responsibility for what happens, difficulties cannot be worked through, and reasonable standards set.
Certainly, we must keep all this in proportion. Customer care and flexibility in the public sector has improved substantially through the four decades I have been around. However, we can never be complacent. We must model ourselves on the best, and ruthlessly innovate to ensure people respect what we do and the way we are doing it. They deserve nothing less.
All this came home to me very starkly in my first personal transaction this year. A very unusual and minor difficulty turned up regarding my pension entitlement. At my time of life, these things assume greater importance, so I thought I should sort it out.
The short answer is that a reasonable outcome was achieved substantially within 36 hours. What struck me most though was the courtesy, attention to detail, delivery on promises to ring back, and the sheer helpfulness and pleasant attitude from all four of the people I spoke to in two local government pension fund administrations.
Given that the issue was a very unusual one, stretched back to 1987 and I was out of time by decades, the approach taken was truly outstanding.
So, one very satisfied customer. On inquiries, both funds have very high customer satisfaction ratings, generally. Well done to an often un-sung group of public servants. n
The image and dominant perception is very different. It seems our mission in life is to frustrate people and deny what they want and are entitled to by making the process over complicated and in accessible. Add a large dose of surliness and obstruction from staff, and the tabloid image is secured.
The problem for us, of course, is that we all have experiences which reinforce this stereotype. I feel deeply ashamed when friends and family report difficulties in dealing with their local council, in particular.
In one sense, this is the right reaction. Unless we take individual responsibility for what happens, difficulties cannot be worked through, and reasonable standards set.
Certainly, we must keep all this in proportion. Customer care and flexibility in the public sector has improved substantially through the four decades I have been around. However, we can never be complacent. We must model ourselves on the best, and ruthlessly innovate to ensure people respect what we do and the way we are doing it. They deserve nothing less.
All this came home to me very starkly in my first personal transaction this year. A very unusual and minor difficulty turned up regarding my pension entitlement. At my time of life, these things assume greater importance, so I thought I should sort it out.
The short answer is that a reasonable outcome was achieved substantially within 36 hours. What struck me most though was the courtesy, attention to detail, delivery on promises to ring back, and the sheer helpfulness and pleasant attitude from all four of the people I spoke to in two local government pension fund administrations.
Given that the issue was a very unusual one, stretched back to 1987 and I was out of time by decades, the approach taken was truly outstanding.
So, one very satisfied customer. On inquiries, both funds have very high customer satisfaction ratings, generally. Well done to an often un-sung group of public servants. n
