Region asking for input into revamping customer services
It can be a daunting task for residents, navigating through the numerous services provided by local governments.
And people should have easy access to the information and services they need — regardless of whether they have questions about waste collection, child care services, or want to report the condition of a road, said Niagara customer service project manager Trish Cardell.
Cardwell said the Region has been earning high marks for its customer services — earning a 70 per cent approval rating in a 2012 customer satisfaction survey. But there’s always room for improvement.
And she will be reaching out to residents in the weeks to come, hoping for the insight of “as many people as possible" in the weeks to come as the Region works to develop and implement an enhanced customer service strategy for the Region.
“We are looking at a way to have a consistent approach, and easy is key,” said Cardwell, who is leading Niagara’s efforts to develop and implement an enhanced customer service strategy for the Region.
Starting Tuesday, the Region will be asking residents to fill out a 10-question survey, focus on determining how people currently access regional services, and how they would like to do so in the future.
“By engaging with our citizens, they’re the ones who are going to best tell us how they want to interact with us,” Cardwell said. “We’ll be looking at how organizations are currently interacting, which of our services are they already engaged with at the Region, and how can we enhance that. We’re also looking at partnering with local area municipalities, because for the local citizen often government is confusing. How can we streamline our processes; how can we make it easier to navigate government?”
She said the survey will be available at www.bit.ly/AtFocus_Niagara_Customer, as well as at some regional offices for about three weeks, and should only take about 10 minutes to complete.
And once the survey results are analyzed, she said “there will be opportunities for those interested to participate in focus groups in another month or so.”
The Region is working with AtFocus Consulting Inc. to develop a strategy by July. Cardwell said she then hopes to start presenting business cases to regional council for consideration.
“It’s moving fast,” she said, adding $1.4 million has been set aside for the development and implementation of the strategy.
Cardwell said the strategy will likely include a greater focus on digital technology, but it won’t sacrifice one-on-on interaction with residents.
“I suspect it will be mutli-pronged. We have such a diverse region, being urban, rural and multiple age categories that we’re trying to reach out to,” she said.