250 GOVERNMENT CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES RECEIVE ENHANCED TRAINING

Government customer service
representatives were yesterday reminded that the government’s reputation for uneven
service would not change until good service became the norm.

The point was made by Dr
Derrick Deslandes, Head of the Centre of Excellence for Advanced Technology at
the Ministry of Agriculture, during a Public Sector Service Training Seminar on
March 3 in Kingston.

“Public Relations can’t do it
all…one of the biggest forms of direct marketing is the ‘word of mouth’. We
must treat the public perception as fact…perceptions won’t change until the
customer begins to have consistent positive experiences”, Dr Deslandes said.

The seminar, which was attended
by some 250 public sector employees who operate at the front line and in field
operations were trained in customer service skills. It is one of a wider
customer service improvement programme being organized by the Modernisation
Division in the Cabinet Office.

Dr. Derrick Deslandes pointed
out that in light of recent rating reports by international bodies on the level
of difficulty involved in doing business

In Jamaica, public servants
needed to see themselves as critical to improving those ratings.

“As front-line employees, if
you don’t make doing business easier for the customer, it will be very
difficult for Jamaica to attract the resources we need to attract in order to
grow”

Deslandes went further to
explain that even with excellent public relations, the quality of the customer
experience is what truly shapes public perceptions.

The training is part of the
Government’s National Customer Service Programme being spearheaded by the
Public Sector Modernisation Division of the Office of the Cabinet to improve
the guaranteed levels of service in all government agencies.