Innovative Citizen-Centred Services Through Collaboration

Bernadette De SouzaProgram Director, Institute for Citizen-Centred Service

November 2009

“ … working with governments across Canada and around the world to improve citizen satisfaction with public sector service delivery…Canada's focus on self-examination and its relentless pursuit of user feedback have allowed it to continue to build what is clearly one of the world-leading customer-focused government programs …set[ting] the standard for the rest of the world.”

- Accenture

• Canada established an innovative public institution, formed and funded by all three levels of government across Canada, and governed by a public sector Board of Directors – a Community of Practice where all jurisdictions are equal

• Focus is on citizen engagement by identifying service needs and expectations, service satisfaction, and priorities for service improvement, and then working together to respond in practical, effective ways

• Provides the horizontal platform for the public sector to take action in a collaborative, seamless, coordinated way, working together to achieve cost-effective solutions, higher levels of public trust, and higher levels of citizen satisfaction with government service delivery

Approach: A Strategic Focus

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• Brings together senior government executives in a common cause, having a significant impact on information technology/e-government and service manager communities and their performance

• Creates the structure for these communities to work together to meet citizens’ needs in a very focused way

• This strategy is seen to be a significant contributor to Canada’s success as a world leader in citizen-centred service

• Result: Citizen satisfaction with service delivery is steadily rising in Canada

Approach: A Strategic Focus

Collaboration is Key: A Secret to Canada’s Success

• An essential part of Canada’s research-driven service improvement strategy – an inter-jurisdictional platform on which inter-governmental research is conducted, and through which expert knowledge is documented and disseminated

• As a not-for-profit organization created in 2005, the ICCS is supported by:

• The Public Sector Service Delivery Council (PSSDC), • The Public Sector Chief Information Officer Council (PSCIOC)

and• Federal/provincial and municipal governments from across

Canada

Government Transformation and the Public Sector Service Value Chain

The Public Sector Service Value Chain*

Modern and Transformed GovernmentModern and Transformed Government

Strong services internally and externally contribute to confidence in the public service

Engaged Engaged & &

Supported Supported EmployeesEmployees

Internal Internal ServicesServices

External External ServicesServices

TrustTrust& &

ConfidenceConfidence

CitizenCitizenServiceService

SatisfactionSatisfaction

*Heintzman and Marson 2003*Heintzman and Marson 20036

• Citizens First (1-5)

• Taking Care of Business (1-3)

• Answering the Call

• Clients Speak

• Public Sector Service Value Chain

Research is the basis for service improvement!

Research Agenda: Collaborative Interactive Research

Performance Measurement - Highlights from ICCS Research

Objectives• Assess government performance in providing services,

comparing to previous years

• Determine the factors that drive customer satisfaction

• Identify priority areas for improvement, year over year

• Monitor progress against key performance indicators

• Understand privacy and security priorities of citizens

• Focus on the experiences of persons with disabilities

• Provide more insight into factors that contribute to confidence in government and in the public service

Research Methodology• All research is developed collaboratively by the service delivery

community

• Citizens First and Taking Care of Business are national surveys of 6,000 citizens or businesses in every Canadian province/territory designed to gain a deeper understanding of how they experience government services

• This knowledge enables service leaders and providers to direct service improvements based on empirical evidence

• The results presented in the reports are based on the weighted sample in which the number of respondents aligns with the actual population of the partner jurisdictions

• Each iteration of the survey is designed to enable comparison of service quality scores with previous iterations

• Citizens First is a national survey of citizens across the country who use all levels of government services - published every two years to explore Government service delivery from the perspective of citizens – first launched in 1998

• Collaborative “Action Research”: Citizens First promotes regular interactive citizen engagement through citizen surveys, focus groups, and research reports to document citizens’ expectations, satisfaction, drivers of satisfaction, and citizens’ priorities for service improvement

• Research results from Citizens First provide actionable recommendations that governments and service managers can use to improve service delivery to citizens

Tools Used: Listening to Citizens

Tools Used: Listening to Business Clients

• Taking Care of Business was a landmark study published in 2004 that explored Government to Business service delivery from the perspective of the business community

• Taking Care of Business 2, published in August 2007, builds up information previously gathered and offers actionable recommendations to improve service to business

• Taking Care of Business 3 will be launched in 2009. It will build on previous studies and provide more actionable recommendations as governments strive to transform and improve services as they emerge from the global financial situation

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Tools Used: Telephony - Answering the Call

A Study in Contradictions

• The telephone, dubbed the ‘People’s Channel’, is the most popular channel for accessing government services

• Despite this, the telephone channel consistently delivers some of the lowest satisfaction scores

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• A bank of questions for public managers to help them engage clients, measure the right things, and improve service to citizens based on best practices

• Managers use the CMT to construct a client satisfaction survey by selecting questions that meet the needs of their organization

• CMT identifies a set of “core” questions that measure key drivers of satisfaction, based on knowledge gained through Citizens First research

• Tool is used by public organizations to survey customers and benchmark against best-practice organizations

Tools Used: Common Measurements Tool(CMT) and Benchmarking

CMT: A Foundation in Research

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DRIVER CMT QUESTION

Extra Mile Staff went the extra mile to make sure I got what I needed. How much do you agree with the statement?

Knowledge Staff were knowledgeable and competent. How much do you agree with the statement?

Fairness I was treated fairly. How much do you agree with the statement?

Outcome In the end, did you get what you needed?

Timeliness Overall, how satisfied were you with the amount of time it took to get the service?

Benchmarking Analysis and Methodology

• Service Gaps: Understand the difference between what a client expects to get and how they perceive the actual service experience

• Service Standards: Understanding what a client believes to be an acceptable level of service (e.g. waiting time, number of clicks)

• Satisfaction/Importance Matrix: Assessing satisfaction scores relative to importance scores

• Drivers of Satisfaction: Understanding what drives satisfaction in your service area

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Research Results

In Canada, five drivers account for customer satisfaction across the full range of government services, for both citizens and business:

– Timeliness: the single most important driver across all services and all governments

– Staff: Customers appreciate knowledgeable staff who treat them fairly, “go the extra mile", and make that extra effort

– Positive outcome: “I got what I needed”

– Ease of access: critical issue including channel integration; integrated services

– Citizens’ recent experiences with public services

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For Routine Services, Citizens Say…

5 to 9 minutes The maximum time to wait in any lineup at a government office.

2 people The maximum number of people you should have to deal with in order to

get service at a government office.

15 minutes A reasonable amount of time to spend travelling to a government office,

one way.

30 seconds An acceptable amount of time to wait on hold on the phone before you

speak to a person.

2 people The maximum number of people you should have to deal with in order to

get the service on the telephone.

Same day When you should receive a reply to a voice mail or email, if you leave your

voice mail or email at 10:00 AM.

1 to 2 weeks The acceptable length of time to wait from the day you send the letter until

the day you receive a reply by mail.

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The Internet has “come of age”

• The initial CF study (1998) had no questions about internet use – government services online were barely visible

• Today, internet use is practically on a par with visits to government offices and telephone use

• 47% of citizens used the internet during their “recent experience”

• Perhaps surprisingly, the internet is not displacing traditional channels. Citizens use the internet as a complement to, rather than as a replacement for, other channels

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The People’s Channel Remains the Phone

• The people’s channel, the telephone, remains the most commonly used channel in government services

• In terms of satisfaction, walk-in offices and the internet rate high, while the phone continues to rate considerably lower

• Citizens have more access problems on the phone than in any other channel

• Busy lines, difficulty finding the right number, trouble with automated phone systems, difficulty understanding the person at the other end, and waiting on hold all contribute to frustration

• Solving phone problems is essential because these problems manifest themselves in lower overall ratings

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Privacy and Security for Online Services

• Governments need to balance privacy and security with ease of access

• Concerns about internet security and identity theft have become more prevalent in recent years

Trends in Service Quality

64

67

6160

65

61

55

65

75

Service quality(0-100)

Citizens First:18 federal services

Year

TCOB: 31 services,

all levels

1998 2000 2002 2004 2006

NATIONAL RESULTS22

Top 10 Priorities for Change Within the Telephone Channel

1. Telephone numbers that are easy to find2. 1st call resolution3. Faster service - reduced wait times4. No busy signals5. Well-trained, happy, caring service agents6. No annoying messages7. Eliminate IVR entirely -- if not, “0” option available8. Voice messages returned quickly9. Accountable, continuous service10. Accurate, consistent service – quality control

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The Path Forward: Best Practices

• The results of Citizens First and Taking Care of Business Studies are relevant to every member of the public service across Canada. They give service providers and their leadership critical intelligence on what citizens experience, expect, and want in terms of delivery of government services

• At a high level, action in 3 areas is paramount to successfully achieving a truly citizen-centred public service that delivers services responsively and responsibly:

1 Service Improvement

2 Research

3 Training and Communication

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Best Practices

• Action in three areas is key to successfully achieving a truly citizen-centered public service:

• Make every service an excellent service: Improve public sector performance on the drivers of service satisfaction and the drivers of confidence in government

• Put the latest research into action: Build empirically-grounded service improvement. Research the quality of the services your organization provides using the Common Measurements Tool and act on the findings

• Provide training to develop service skills and knowledge: Governments should commit to developing excellent public service providers through professional training based on research and best practices

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Best Practices: Define a Service Improvement Strategy

• The key to better service lies in improving performance on the 5 key drivers of satisfaction, especially timeliness

• To increase confidence in government and the public service, leaders and providers must focus on:

• Public service management (strong leadership and competent managers)

• Public service that is in touch with its communities• Providing positive experiences with services• Maintaining an honest and fair public service

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Best Practices: Services OnlineThe results of the surveys contain some considerations for the use of electronic channels in the public service:

The internet is now nearly as prevalent as visits to government offices or the telephone and has become a channel of choice for many respondents – service providers must inform citizens about online offerings

People who experience difficulty with access online often move to the telephone. Service providers that offer a help desk or call centre should record the details of access problems and offer feedback to web designers

Given that use of the internet is growing, but use of other channels is stable, the internet is not replacing other channels. Service managers should now focus more closely on channel integration than migration

Best Practices: Research

• To build empirically-grounded service improvement, governments should continue to use research data from Citizens First and Taking Care of Business studies

• Each study should build on knowledge gained. Future studies should advance three priority areas:

• Refining the Confidence Model to include issues that affect citizen confidence in service delivery such as views of policy

• Tracking key information on service satisfaction and reputation as well as the patterns of channel utilization, privacy and security

• Benchmarking: As other countries are now licensing Citizens First and Taking Care of Business, future research projects will offer comparisons between international jurisdictions

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Best Practices: Training and Communication

• Developing talented, responsive public service providers requires leadership, commitment, knowledge and training

• Leadership should be committed to empowering staff through training and coaching to achieve required knowledge and skills

• The ICCS Certified Service Manager Program provides a way to do this and enhance the links in the Service Value Chain between engaged employees, highly satisfied clients and greater confidence and trust in government and the public service

• Make research results and lessons learned available to staff, provide them with an overview of research findings and recommendations for service improvement that they can use in their day-to-day functions

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Lessons Learned• Remain client-focused and responsive to client needs

• A service culture is imperative to service improvement

• Collaboration is key – consult, engage and partner with the community

• Research is basis for service improvement - powerful if action oriented

• Progress in incremental stages - start with baby steps - build credibility

• Keep the Service Value Chain in the line of sight: research shows a 2% rise in employee engagement drives a 1% improvement in customer satisfaction

• Constantly support the national agenda – political engagement is growing

• Having an Institute in place facilitates wider and faster adoption and innovation

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