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IMPROVING SERVICE DELIVERY

In addition to the development of effective service charters with quantifiable indicators of service standards, an increased focus on improving service delivery is reflected in a number of other approaches adopted by APS agencies. Two of these approaches are mechanisms to obtain feedback from the public, and the provision of information and training for employees on their service delivery responsibilities. In some agencies, information from feedback is used as a learning tool for employees.

FEEDBACK MECHANISMS/ISSUES

The 2004 agency survey asked agencies that have contact with the public about the mechanisms they use to obtain feedback from the public. The most common mechanism reported was a complaints/feedback website link, reported by 89% of agencies that have contact with the public, an increase of nine percentage points since last year. Other widely used mechanisms include complaints/feedback phone hotlines (77%) which have seen considerable growth, 17 percentage points since last year, and customer surveys (69%), which have remained stable. The section on measuring the effectiveness of service delivery looks at what a number of agencies have been doing in relation to customer surveys.

There was considerable variation among agencies in their use of feedback mechanisms, depending on their size. In particular, large agencies with public contact were more likely to use client surveys (90% compared to 59% of relevant small agencies and 63% of relevant medium agencies). Use of surveys in large agencies increased by eight percentage points since last year; in medium agencies it decreased since last year (63% compared to 76%). Phone hotlines were also more often reported by large agencies with public contact (86% compared to 76% of relevant small agencies and 71% of relevant medium agencies). These differences could reflect different types of clients and relationships, different ways of doing business or different levels of available resources.

The agency survey results are consistent with the high level of feedback reported by APS employees involved in service delivery. In the 2004 employee survey 73% of relevant employees stated that their work unit received regular feedback from the public either directly or indirectly on the quality of services it provided, and 76% of these employees confirmed that there were formal mechanisms in place in their work unit to respond to feedback from the public. This was consistent with last year’s results.

Comments by employees completing the 2004 employee survey on receiving regular feedback from the public included:

We actively seek feedback at local and national levels. This information is analysed and used in planning and also reported back to the public in some instances.

Staff are directly recognised for positive feedback by ‘bouquets’ which are published in the site and regional newsletters, and peers are encouraged to highlight instances where a client gives them feedback about another colleague. When negative feedback is received, staff are provided the support required, in debriefing or by the identification and provision of training needed in order to learn from the circumstance.

Feedback is recorded well, but handled poorly, including not going to the correct area for a response. It is a lengthy, clunky process.

We used to receive feedback but this has been discontinued.

We are very focused on service delivery to the public. Always identifying ways for improvement.

The employee survey found that the effectiveness of these feedback mechanisms was rated as high or very high by 61% of relevant employees in 2004. This is a similar result to last year. Effectiveness was rated as moderate by 29% of employees in 2004 and as low or very low by nine per cent of employees.

EMPLOYEE TRAINING/INFORMATION IN SERVICE DELIVERY RESPONSIBILITIES

The increased focus on service delivery is also reflected in an increasing attention to client-focused training and reinforcement of behaviours that promote the APS Values that relate to the provision of services to the public. Of those APS employees that responded to the employee survey 76% of employees involved in service delivery agreed that they received appropriate training or had access to information that enabled them to undertake their client service responsibilities. Less than a quarter of employees were undecided or disagreed that they received appropriate training. Comments made by these employees included:

Often training is provided after the changes (legislation) have been made.

Training tends to be of the selfpaced variety, ignoring other training styles/needs.

New staff are not given adequate training before beginning to process applications and deal with the general public.

Relevant employees from small (79%) and large (77%) agencies were more likely to agree that they received appropriate training and had access to information to meet their client responsibilities than employees from medium (67%) sized agencies. Employees from medium sized agencies were also much more undecided (just under a quarter of relevant employees) as to whether they received appropriate training or information to meet their client responsibilities.