How Customer Satisfaction Measurement Can Lead to Meaningful Service Transformation and Concrete Performance Gains

Institute for Citizen-Centred Service Cody Dodd Research Program Manager September 2012

Presentation Outline

1. Introduction: ICCS 2. Citizens First 3. Taking Care of Business 4. Common Measurements Tool 5. Lessons Learned

1. The Pan-Canadian Experience

• Citizen-Centred Service “approach” is becoming the “service culture” in Canada

• Action research (voice of citizen) continues to drive strategic and tactical

agenda • Meeting the increasingly demanding service expectations of citizens and

business requires collaboration and integrated service solutions (e.g., single-window)

• Success in delivering government services faster, better, cheaper is

raising trust and confidence and demands for “more please” • Canadian efforts are now moving from transactional to more complex

relational (social services, education and health care) and back-office (IT, HR, Financial) services.

1. The ICCS

• A collaborative venture (not-for-profit) that engages all orders of government across Canada as well as internationally

• Promotes and supports improved service delivery by listening to and

acting on the voice of the citizen • What we do:

– Support two National Service Delivery Councils – Manage Inter-Governmental Research agenda – Gather, Preserve and Disseminate Knowledge and Innovative Practices – Provide both Standardized and Customized Tools and Learning content – Build Capacity

1. Citizen-Centred Service Defined

• “Citizen-Centred Service incorporates citizens’ concerns at every stage of the service design and delivery process; that is, citizens’ needs become the organizing principle around which the public interest is determined and service delivery is planned.”

- Deputy Ministers’ Task Force on Service Delivery Models (Ottawa, 1996)

1. Public Sector Service Value Chain Strong services internally and externally contribute to confidence in the public service

Engaged

& Employees

Internal

External Services

Trust

Confidence

Citizen Service

Satisfaction

*Heintzman and Marson 2003

Citizens First

Taking Care of Business

Common Measurements Tool Certified Service

Management

1. Public Sector Service Value Chain

Source: Province of British Columbia and Region of Peel. (2008) Public Sector Service Value Chain – Linking Employee Engagement and Customer Satisfaction

2. Citizens First

CF6 (Part 1) Satisfaction with Services and Assessments of Recent Interaction

–Ratings of the quality of 90+ services, across jurisdictions

–Deconstructing a recent service experience: drivers of satisfaction, channels used

CF6 (Part 2) Emerging Areas of Interest

–Co-location of services –Service standards and expectations:

unexplored traditional and new service channels

–Possible application of digital technologies and social media

–Service options and controlling costs

Citizens First (and Taking Care of Business) are a series of research products that help capture the voice of government recipients of services through robust national surveying.

2. Service Quality

• Satisfaction – A service quality rating – As a starting point, satisfaction can be seen as a

being an outcome of ‘quality’ service

• Service Quality Index – Combining satisfaction scores across a large

number of government services enables a long-term lens

2. Satisfaction Ratings

2. Service Quality Index

* The average is of ‘satisfaction mean scores’ from 26 services from 1998-2008 and 25 services in 2012

2. Drivers of Satisfaction

2. Importance vs. Performance • By examining the performance of governments on key drivers against how

important each specific element is, it is possible to obtain an even clearer sense of the priorities for improving service delivery.

• Compare this to 2002, where 44% of did not feel confident they could readily access the services they needed.

2. Providing More Actionable Insights

Channel Preferences

2. Providing More Actionable Insights

Channel Efficiency

2. Providing More Actionable Insights

Percentage of those who used only one channel compared to those who used multiple channels.

2. Emerging Analytical Insights • Although broad drivers are validated study after study and across multiple

methodologies, program-level users wonder if their unique context shifts the rank and order of these drivers.

• In CF6, we bundled responses according to ‘service type’ and other categories to better understand service quality within these contexts.

2. Emerging Analytical Insights

Driver

Type of Municipal Services

Garbage collection

or disposal Recycling Snow

removal Road

maintenance Traffic

Management Drinking

water

Service is provided in a timely manner X X X X

Government provides all the information about this service that I need X

Staff would go above and beyond to solve a problem X

Staff go the extra mile to provide good service X

Service staff demonstrate they know and understand client needs X

Service meets my expectations X X X X X X

Service provides good value for tax dollars X X X X

Service gives me what I need X X X X X X

Service was done properly X X X X

2. The Road Ahead

• Going beyond ‘satisfaction’ as the core measure of service quality

Expectations •Expectations arise from past

experience and current needs

Access to Services •Knowing how increases

satisfaction and confidence Problems decrease satisfaction

Service Experience •Drivers of satisfaction at the

point of service delivery are Timeliness, Competence, Extra Mile, Fairness, Outcome

Perception of SQ •Client ratings of service quality

depend on Expectations, Access, and the Drivers

Service Improvement •Improving service delivery

processes drives the entire cycle upward

3. Taking Care of Business

• In 2004, the first Taking Care of Business (TCOB) report was published by the Institute for Citizen-Centred Service. It was modeled on Citizens First, but focused on the perspectives of Canadian businesses with respect to the delivery of government services.

Canada Best in

class* Issue 2007

TCOB2

2010 TCOB3

2010 TCOB

3

Good service from government is essential to a healthy business climate

87 81 85

This business gets good value for its tax dollars 47 47 59

Governments in this country conduct their business in an open and accountable manner

42 43 48

Government policies and regulations contribute to a level playing field for businesses in my sector

46 44 47

I can easily access any government service that I need for my business

55 55 62

I can easily access information I need to comply with government regulations

59 58 62

• Views on government performance (TCOB3, 2010)

3. Taking Care of Business

4. The Common Measurements Tool

• Jurisdictions have also benefited extensively from the program-oriented Common Measurements Tool (CMT), an instrument that enables measurement of public performance at the service-level and identification of important factors that affect user satisfaction levels.

• A critical dimension that makes the CMT so powerful is the use of drivers

Previous Experience

Ease of Access

Staff

Timeliness

CLIENT SATISFACTION

Outcome

3.00

3.20

3.40

3.60

3.80

4.00

4.20

4.40

4.60

4.80

5.00

Other JurisdictionsYour Organization

4. CMT Benchmarking Benchmarking Report – Jurisdiction by Jurisdiction – Overall Satisfaction

Organizations (Anonymous)

Sat

isfa

ctio

n M

ean

Sco

re

4. CMT Example New Zealand Ministry of Justice

4. CMT Example New Zealand Ministry of Justice

5. International Perspective

• New Zealand – State Services Commission (Kiwis Count and CMT)

• Australia – Department of Human Services • United Arab Emirates – Municipalities

5. Emerging Priorities

Focus on the “end-to-end” process

Consider the totality of the service experience, not just the service interaction itself Journey mapping – Map the client experience (by type of interaction) against current processes, identify gaps and address misalignment

Citizens have expectations before they interact with government – how do I get the service? what are the best ways of accessing the service? what is the process? how long will it take? Properly managing citizens’ expectations at each step in the “experience”, across all delivery channels, could also positively impact citizen satisfaction – clearly indicate turnaround and wait times

Manage expectations at all stages

Greater emphasis on “soft skills”

The next wave of improvements in service delivery may come not only from technological improvements, but by increasing the “emotional intelligence” (EQ) of delivery mechanisms (not restricted to only those involving a “human” interface). Particularly important for certain client groups, types of transactions/interactions

Measure progress in two dimensions

Improvement against your own metrics. And, most importantly, compared to other non-government service experiences. This will be particularly important with respect to the ever-changing/ever-improving online environment

Continue the drive online

In an era of deficit reduction, the best opportunities for cost efficiencies exist in driving additional services online and ensuring citizens can complete the interaction/transaction in this mode Some types of interactions or “baskets” of services may lend themselves more to this channel (routine) Streamline the multi-channel experience

Segment by service type

Continue the drive online

Backroom improvements to enhance consistency in delivery of services across channels in a coordinated manner. For example, to help clients navigate to preferable channels (e.g., more efficient channels depending on their place in a service lifecycle), set up referrals. Online channels in particular have been identified as strong ‘referral’ channels.

It’s helpful to look at the performance of services and the drivers of service satisfaction by type or category of services, bundling together “like” services. CF6 is a first cut at this approach which will be further refined. Additional discussions on how to categorize services are necessary and additional baskets (i.e., high/low/no touch services) may be useful. How does this help? The nature of the motivation to obtain the service, the interaction and the citizen’s expectations may vary quite markedly according to the type of service. This type of analysis offers another lens through which to view the citizen’s service experience, and learning that could be valuable in breaking down the tendency toward bureaucratic silos.

5. Emerging Priorities

• Governments Made Service a Key Strategic Priority – Creation of Single Window Service organization (e.g. Service Canada. Service

B.C., Access Halton) – Major efforts to leverage technology, move services on-line and to integrate

service channels – Government-wide service initiatives (measurement, 311, service standards,

LEAN, process improvement, training and change management)

5. Lessons Learned in Canada

5. Lessons Learned in Canada

• Cody Dodd • Research Program Manager

Tel. 416-325-5822 F. 416-212-3420 cody.dodd@iccs-isac.org Institute for Citizen-Centred Service 99 Wellesely Street West Whitney Block, Room 3310 3rd Floor, Toronto Canada M7A 1W4

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