“Measure To Improve” Government Service

Mr. Speaker, the following is an excerpt from the Speech from the Throne read by His Excellency the Governor on 4th November, 2011: “To meet the needs of stakeholders, your Government has tasked the Public Service to increase efficiency and professionalism in the delivery of programmes and services. The Government believes that poor service reflects badly on its entire organization. The concept of service and what determines its level of quality must be understood by all members of the Civil Service from top to bottom.”

Mr. Speaker, the “Measure to Improve” initiative, promoted and coordinated by the Department of E-Government, has as its primary goal the achievement of improved customer service, greater efficiency and heightened staff morale throughout Government. The initiative also has potential for realizing cost reductions. The technique used attempts to create a repetitive upward spiral of improved service, improved feedback and improved morale that leads to even better service, principally as the result of three key actions – Staff Empowerment, Achievement and Recognition/Reward [EAR]. The acronym is particularly apt, the initials aptly spelling the word “EAR”, – as it involves Departmental managers listening to not only their customers, but also their own staff.

Mr. Speaker, the subjective measurement of customer satisfaction through a random survey is a fundamental component of the “Measure to Improve” initiative. This process has worked well with other organizations and is now working well in Government also. More Departments are becoming involved in the initiative, rising from six to nineteen by the time of the Department’s third quarter survey, with other Departments hoping to embark upon the initiative in the near future.

Mr. Speaker, the survey is at minimum one simple question that can apply to any Government Department, irrespective of its function or whether the person surveyed has contacted the Department recently or even at all. Respondents are asked to rank their satisfaction on a 5 point scale from very satisfied to very dissatisfied based upon perception, experience, hearsay and/or personal experience. The results from the survey are used to establish two key performance indicators: customer satisfaction and public awareness of the services of the respective Department, the latter based on the percentage of the population with an opinion on their performance – good or bad.

Mr. Speaker, the survey sample and population size, along with the random selection method, ensures that the results are representative of the Bermuda population within the specified margin of error, that is, accurate to +/- 5% 95% of the time. To remove potential bias, the results are first adjusted for any demographic differences between the sample and the census (age, gender etc.), enabling a meaningful comparison with results of other Departments or past results of the same Department.

Mr. Speaker, a third key performance indicator also being measured is the ratio of complaints to compliments for each Department. This information is obtained by a second generic open question asking for suggested improvements, likes and dislikes or an explanation of the score given in the last question. From this data, information can be gathered specifically on impact areas such as communication, policy, regulation, Departmental service areas and recent changes in services or fees.

Mr. Speaker, measuring public response to Government services through the gathering of customer insight data has become best practice in the private sector and within Governments around the world. It is a foundational step which enables targeted improvements to services which result in a positive impact for the greatest number of clients. The “Measure to Improve” initiative provides a single common and standardized framework across a range of Departments for facilitating better service and greater efficiency.

Mr. Speaker, I am extremely pleased with all that the “Measure to Improve” initiative and the Government Departments actively engaged in the programme are accomplishing in terms of increasing efficiency and professionalism in the delivery of programmes and services. We look forward to a steady increase in Departmental participation during the days ahead.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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