NSW Coat of ArmsDepartment of Premier and Cabinet
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Increased Customer Satisfaction

Principles

Government services should be of the highest quality possible given the available resources.

It's not enough that operating targets are met: customers deserve an experience that meets their needs, shows them respect and leaves them feeling satisfied. For example, it is not sufficient that trains run on time, they should also be clean, comfortable and staff should be approachable and helpful.

Services must be designed around the needs of customers with complaints taken seriously and used to improve service quality.

Many services are now simpler to use, with transactions able to be completed through the telephone and the Internet but more needs to be done.

(Refer to Chapter 7: NSW State Plan)

Note: Priority S8 of the NSW State Plan – Increased Customer Satisfaction with Government Services

Priority S8 of the State Plan commits the NSW Government to measuring, reporting and improving customer satisfaction with Government services. Regularly measuring and reporting customer satisfaction with Government services and using the results to improve services will increase trust in Government and support the delivery of the other priorities in the State Plan.

Strategies to support this Priority S8 include:

  • Measuring the satisfaction of customers, with a focus on the customers of key agencies such as public transport, health and transactional services such as obtaining licences.
  • Reporting on existing agency specific performance and satisfaction indicators and where necessary developing new measures.

The NSW Government is already committed to:

  • Developing and publishing service standards and statements of values (updating Guarantee of Service documents to reflect results of customer satisfaction surveys and NSW Ombudsman's guidelines and ensuring each agency has a Guarantee of Service displayed in a public place)
  • Improving performance management systems to focus on service delivery
  • Simplifying Government processes.

More information about the key obligations of agencies for this Priority will be provided by the Department of Premier and Cabinet which is the lead agency for this part of the NSW State Plan.

Current Key Obligations of Agencies

  1. Improve customer focus with a guarantee of service
  2. Link customer service to performance agreements

Better Practice

Apologies by Public Sector Agencies and Officials
Considerable research in the area of customer satisfaction indicates that where appropriate, the giving of apologies is often the most effective way to deal with a grievance.

Lead Agency and Further Help

The lead agency is the Department of Premier and Cabinet. Your agency may have a person responsible or a policy in relation to the above. Refer to them first.

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