Government to Launch Service Excellence Policy on July 13

To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public services, the Government will be launching a Service Excellence Policy on Wednesday, July 13.

The policy is part of a wider modernisation initiative being implemented by the Public Sector Modernisation Division (PSMD) in the Office of the Cabinet. It was approved by Cabinet in March 2022.

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, will deliver the keynote address at the launch.

Persons can join the event via the Cabinet Office, PSMD and Jamaica Information Service (JIS) YouTube channels. Persons can also register to join via ZOOM by visiting the JIS website, www.jis.gov.jm.

Speaking at a JIS ‘Think Tank’, held today (July 6) at the agency’s head office in Kingston, Principal Director, Office of the Cabinet, PSMD, Karlene McKenzie Spencer, said that the intention of the policy is to create a culture of service excellence throughout the public sector and “to build the public’s confidence in the quality of the service that is delivered to customers”.

She said that the policy sets out the strategic guidelines that must be taken to achieve service excellence.

Service Excellence is the delivery of service, against agreed standards, that meets and exceeds the needs of internal and external customers.

Mrs. McKenzie Spencer said that in order to achieve service excellence “there must be consistency in the delivery of the highest quality of service as well as consistency in how our service is received by our customers”.

She pointed out that it is important for government to achieve service excellence.

“The government is one of the largest providers of services which impact our lives and our livelihoods. They impact nation building, so it is important for the Government to work with the public sector to ensure that they are delivering service in such a way that eases the way in which we do business with the Government,” she explained.

The Principal Director argued that for service excellence to be achieved, it must become a practice for individuals, public servants and organisations.

“It means that we are changing the way in which we behave, our attitude towards the delivery of services, how we interact and relate to our customers and how we deliver services,” she said, adding that attitudes and behaviours must be changed.

“It is a changing of culture, it is a people change policy and it takes extensive work for us to achieve these changes,” she said.