Gov’t Transforming Public Service Delivery

The Government is transforming service delivery to better respond to the needs of the public and create enhanced experiences for customers, through the development of a Service Excellence Policy.

Recently launched by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, the policy outlines key principles and minimum service standards for all government entities.

It also specifies the mechanism by which service excellence will be institutionalised in all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

The goal is to create a culture of service excellence across the public sector that drives the delivery of services that meet and exceed citizens’ expectations.

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Holness said that as the Government establishes a culture of service excellence, all MDAs will be asked to constantly challenge themselves to ensure that the goods and services they provide are designed for the benefit of the customer.

“We must become customer-focused, and this applies to both our internal and external customers. We, therefore, have to set performance standards, improve capacity, promote excellence and establish effective systems of management and accountability,” he noted.

The guiding principles laying the foundation for the new culture of service excellence include being citizen-centred, citizen-focused, having integrity, transparency, respect for human rights, accountability and committed leadership.

The Service Excellence Policy rests on two pillars – people engagement and performance excellence.

The first pillar speaks to creating a people-centric philosophy across government, which ensures that internal and external customers are involved in dialogue and partnership to design and implement services that satisfy their needs.

This involves engaging customers along the service delivery life cycle from design through to delivery and review, providing customers with multiple opportunities to provide honest feedback and employing modern, customer segmentation strategies to better meet the needs of different groups.

It also includes a reporting mechanism for assessments to be done on the service provided by entities and the development and implementation of a recovery process through which customer issues or concerns can be addressed.

“We must request the input of the people we serve and be receptive to their feedback. Negative feedback should not be viewed in a bad way but seen as an opportunity to improve customer service,” the Prime Minister said.

“We must treat everyone with care and respect, mindful that some of our people may be genuinely fearful of coming in to discuss their issues. They may not express themselves clearly… and so that requires empathy, which will inevitably lead to patience,” he added.

The second pillar of performance excellence requires that appropriate structures be in place, with the roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of staff clearly defined and reinforced.

Frequent assessments, monitoring the performance of an entity and staff in relation to service delivery, as well as reskilling and upskilling, also form part of this pillar.

Performance excellence should also be encouraged through appropriate rewards and recognition systems.

“We must always connect the dots. Improved efficiency and service means improved productivity, which has a positive impact on the growth of our economy, which means more jobs, and that our citizens can prosper, and when our citizens prosper, we all benefit.

“When we improve service delivery, we reduce waste, we reduce cost, we receive less complaints, we have happier citizens, we have happier team members and somehow that just dramatically translates to increased global competitiveness,” Mr. Holness said.

The entities responsible for implementing the policy are the Office of the Cabinet, the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, and the Management Institute for National Development (MIND).

To ensure the success of the Service Excellence Policy, Mr. Holness is calling on all public servants to trust in the initiative and to do their best to serve customers diligently.

The Service Excellence Policy provides a comprehensive framework within which customers’ needs are satisfied by the Government as the service provider.

The policy envisions a public sector in which the needs of customers are satisfied through the delivery of integrated, responsive, and accessible services by capable, respect-worthy, and accountable professionals.