• Develop customer insight (ie research customer expectations and experience)
• Design services around customers (ie incorporate customer voice in how services operate)
• Respond to individual user needs within available resourcesSupport employees to provide excellent customer service.

The Priority Delivery Plan for S8 involves three initial elements:

• All major service delivery agencies and government business enterprises will be required to measure and report on customer satisfaction:
• Current results/status reported by 15 January 2008
• Conduct and report results of Customer Satisfaction Surveys by 30 June 2008

All major service delivery agencies and government business enterprises will be required to have robust customer feedback systems (which includes complaints and compliments):

• Current results/status reported by 15 January 2008
• Implement an online customer feedback system by 30 June 2008

Agencies will be required to implement Customer Service Principles which will be reported annually through CEO Performance Agreements. It is expected that lead agencies will work with partner agencies to ensure consistency of approach to customer service improvement, where appropriate. Sharing of innovative approaches to increase levels of customer satisfaction will be encouraged within and between agencies. A critical feature will involve support for employees to provide excellent customer service. I have asked the Director General of Department of Premier and Cabinet to actively work with the Chief Executives Committee and CEO Clusters to drive implementation of this priority. Ministers are requested to bring this Memorandum to the attention of all public sector agencies within their portfolios.

Morris Iemma MP Premier

This Memorandum supersedes:~Memoranda 92-31 - Customer Service in the Public Sector. 93-11 - Customer Service in the Public Sector. Finalisation of Guarantees of Service. 94-44 - Guarantee of Prompt Service. 94-45 - Quality Customer Service. 95-29 - Frontline Complaint Handling.Circulars95-25 - Implementation of Total Quality.96-8 - Quality Customer Service - Further Implementation.

NSW CUSTOMER SERVICE PRINCIPLES

BACKGROUND

Customer Friendly Services is one of the two goals in the State Plan that are the responsibility of all agencies (the other is Strengthening Aboriginal Communities).The Customer Service Priority (S8) seeks increased customer satisfaction with Government services. The S8 target is to measure, report and improve customer satisfaction with agency services.The four NSW Customer Service Principles for the NSW public sector identify key directions agencies will take to improve customer satisfaction with government services, and provide a basis for monitoring progress.

The proposed NSW Customer Service Principles are:

• Develop customer insight (ie research customer expectations and experience);
• Design services around customers (ie design services around customer needs and approaches rather than bureaucratic structures);
• Respond to individual user needs within available resources (ie use a range of approaches to meet different equity needs; and
• Support employees to provide excellent customer service (ie ensure employees have the right information, training, performance management and policies to support excellent service).

DRAFT NSW CUSTOMER SERVICE PRINCIPLES

The Department of Premier and Cabinet will work with agencies over the coming months to finalise specific, relevant strategies to assist individual agencies to measure, report and improve customer satisfaction with agency services.

1. Develop customer insight (ie research customer expectations and experience)

Supporting strategies:

• Agencies undertake regular research to identify those aspects of the service experience that are important to customers.
• Agencies undertake regular assessment of customer feedback, priorities and expectations of key services.
• Agencies regularly assess customer satisfaction with key services (the customer experience).Customer satisfaction measures include, where appropriate, dimensions such as the timeliness or reliability of the service, the knowledge and competence of staff delivering the service, the courtesy or helpfulness of staff delivering the service, the fairness with which the customer is treated, the accessibility of the service, the accuracy of information provided and the physical environment in which the service is provided.
• Agencies are encouraged to benchmark customer satisfaction with agencies delivering like services in the public or private sectors, as appropriate.Agencies undertake customer segmentation analysis and seek to ensure the views of all major customer segments are included in measurement strategies.Agencies provide easily accessible public reports on customer expectations, priorities and satisfaction. Such reports will seek to incorporate trends over time and targets for future performance.
• Agencies link customer satisfaction measures with key performance measures for the same services in order to interpret satisfaction levels in the light of actual performance outcomes.
• Agencies delivering like services (such as transactional services, or services within the same policy sector) work together to develop measurement and reporting standards that facilitate the comparison of customer service and performance outcomes.
• Agencies use technology to encourage customers to provide feedback and interact with agencies.
• Agencies develop strategies for using information on customer expectations, priorities and satisfaction to improve service delivery.
• Customer feedback is used to inform service improvements and redesign.
• We will report existing agency specific performance and satisfaction indicators and where necessary develop new measures.
• Establishing a co-ordinated framework to ensure customer satisfactions results are incorporated in implementation plans for improved service delivery. Ensuring complaint handling procedures satisfy the NSW Ombudsman's guidelines.

2. Design services around customers (ie design services around customer needs and approaches rather than bureaucratic structures)

Supporting strategies:

• CEOs, executives and managers encourage and facilitate innovation and collaboration within and across agencies.
• Separate services provided by multiple agencies are redesigned, coordinated, co-located or provided in other ways to meet the integrated needs of customers.
• Current and potential customers are consulted in the design, development, operation and evaluation of services.
• The experiences of employees, including those on the frontline, are regularly sought to improve services.
• Proven technologies are adapted to improve services.
• Collaborative approaches to training are encouraged within and across agencies.
• Employees, including those on the front-line, are encouraged to simplify processes, reduce red tape and provide cost-effective services.
• Agencies develop, update and publish service standards (to replace guarantees of service).
• Updating agency Guarantees of Service, documents to reflect results of customer satisfaction surveys and Ombudsman's guidelines.
• Ensuring each agency has a Guarantee of Service displayed in a public place.

3. Respond to individual user needs within available resources (ie use a range of approaches to meet different equity needs)

Supporting strategies:

• Where appropriate, individual users of services have a choice of service providers.
• Where appropriate, customers have a choice of means to access services (for example, by telephone, mail, face-to-face or the Internet).
• Services are provided in ways that meet the needs of customers with different geographical circumstances (regional, rural and urban NSW).
• Services are provided in ways that meet the needs of customers from different demographic backgrounds (people from culturally and linguistically diverse back grounds, older, children and young people, people with a disability and women).
• Citizens have opportunities to actively participate in public services through community activities (such as volunteering and participating community groups) and personal activities (such as adopting healthy lifestyles and positive parenting).

4. Support employees to provide excellent customer service (ie ensure employees. have the right information, training, performance management and policies to support excellent service)

Supporting strategies:

• Agencies support employees to develop and deliver services that meet the needs of customers.
• Agencies promote customer-focused strategies within and across agencies.
• A clear and consistent message regarding the importance of customer service is communicated across the agency and embedded in agency systems.Customer focus is embedded as a core capability in all HR functions including workforce planning, position descriptions and recruitment, performance management, training and development strategies, including induction.
• Customer service 'champions' are identified and supported within the agency.
• Employees, including those on the frontline are provided with training, resources and support to deliver customer focused services.
• Continuing to foster a culture of customer services by identifying, 'customer service champions' in each agency and publicise best practice techniques from the public and private sectors'