ARCHIVED - Quality Services - Guide VII - Service Standards

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Introduction

Canadians often question whether they are getting value for their hardearned tax dollars. The government recognizes that quality service is important to its clients. Despite continued restraint and reduction, fostering a clientfocused Public Service is one of the key areas of public sector reform today.

The Service Standards Initiative is a key element of the government's quality services strategy. It aims to improve the quality of service delivery by making Canadians more aware of the wide array of government services and their associated costs, and by encouraging Public Service employees to focus on clients.

Canada is not alone in its commitment to quality service, service standards and public sector reform. The U.K., the U.S., France and many countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development also have service standards initiatives under way.

Service standards - a shortened form of the phrase "standards of service" - are more than service delivery targets such as waiting times and hours of operation. Canadians are entitled to know what they should expect from government, how services will be delivered, what services cost and what clients can do when services they receive are not acceptable. These standards should include:

• a description of the service provided and, where applicable, the benefits clients are entitled to receive;
• service pledges or principles describing the quality of service delivery clients should expect to receive;
• specific delivery targets for key aspects of service;
• the costs of delivering the service; and
• complaint and redress mechanisms clients can use when they feel standards have not been met.

Benefits of Service Standards

Service standards provide a practical way to manage performance in an era of fiscal restraint and help shape the expectations Canadians have of government services. Experience suggests that services can be improved and delivered at reduced cost by

• refocusing services on clients;
• finding out what clients consider to be critical aspects of government services and service delivery;
• giving managers the flexibility to respond to client needs;
• developing proper incentives to promote innovation; and
• monitoring and analysing performance against realistic goals and standards.

As an integral part of good management, service standards

• promote partnership in quality client service;
• provide the means to measure service performance and costs reliably;
• provide meaningful information on the content, value and method of service delivery; and
• use performance and client satisfaction information to guide operational decisions to improve service standards and actual performance continually.

Planning and Organizational Considerations

Developing and implementing service standards leads to "cultural" change. Senior managers must be prepared to direct and support their employees through this change. The organization, while fulfilling its mandate, must focus on providing quality service to its clients. In this clientoriented culture, all unnecessary forms, rules and bureaucratic thinking should be eliminated.

The implementation of service standards may or may not involve a committee, but someone must be responsible for the initiative. This person or committee will help "steer" the organization through considerations such as:

• how to proceed
• scope of the initiative
• timeframes
• methods of implementation
• communications
• roles and responsibilities

While managers are expected to lead the change, all parts of the organization should be involved in developing service standards, and in finding solutions to problems discovered as a result of applying the standards. Frontline employees and internal service providers must be involved in the process. When everyone participates actively, there is no need to strive for a "buy-in."

Developing and Implementing Service Standards

Know your business

• Identify direct and indirect clients.
• Identify services.
• Identify partners (for joint performance agreements in service delivery):

- federal departments

- other governments

- private sector

- unions

- employees.

• Define your current activities.
• Know what is affordable: what does it cost to deliver your services?

Consult your clients, staff and stakeholders

• What are the most important features of the service you provide?
• What is your clients' satisfaction level with this service? Collect baseline information on current service levels.
• What changes do your clients need or want?
• What are your clients' expectations?
• What are your responsibilities?
• Outline reciprocal responsibilities and roles.

Set client-sensitive service standards

• Establish standards to which clients can relate.
• Consider piloting a standard on a small scale, and provide cost projections when appropriate and reasonable.
• Fine tune the standard.

Develop a performance reporting structure

• Define performance measures.
• Set up and articulate a performance measurement strategy.

Empower and train service providers

• Train and equip staff to help clients, and let staff know what is expected of them.
• Empower front-line staff to make decisions.
• Train managers and supervisors in leadership and motivation.

Communicate service standards and report on performance

• Advise staff and clients of service standards.
• Report on performance you provide vs. standards.
• Report on clients' satisfaction level with this service.

Resources and Tools

A number of resources and tools available can help you establish, implement and maintain service standards. Some resources target the needs of senior and operating managers, while others are directed at those involved in developing and updating service standards.

Examples of resources and tools include guides developed by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), publications from other government and private sector sources, workshops presented by the Canadian Centre for Management Development, information on the Internet (http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca) about the TBS Innovation and Quality Exchange, and software packages for monitoring performance.

People can be an excellent resource. You can tap into a great deal of expertise by contacting people with experience with service standards in government agencies, foreign governments, TBS and the private sector.

Best Practices and Innovation

The TBS "Innovation and Quality Exchange" on the Internet is constantly updated as departments provide accounts of their latest success stories. Current examples contain information in the following categories:

• the business line or initiative;
• solutions to problems;
• parameters against which the progress and outcomes were measured;
• factors that contributed to success;
• technology used to redesign processes or implement service standards; and
• the names of departmental contact persons.

Innovative ways of defining and implementing the service standards to suit the requirements of various client groups involved the following key elements:

• active participation of both internal and external stakeholders in defining the standards and deciding how to measure their success. This was accomplished through coordinated and focused efforts of various workgroups, often with the assistance of an experienced external or inhouse consultant;
• timely communication of service standards to all stakeholders through formal presentations or published standards; and
• monitoring of service delivery against clearly defined measures of success by collecting and analysing service measures electronically, keeping stakeholders involved and conducting client surveys.

Further information on this subject may be obtained from departmental service standards contacts.

Monitoring

Monitoring is the process of keeping track of client expectations and operational factors and adjusting service delivery as appropriate. Knowing where clients stand and how they feel about quality services should be a key priority. It allows a department to modify policies and programs to improve service quality. Monitoring shows both clients and employees that the department is serious about assessing client satisfaction to measure its performance. Data on client service and satisfaction show employees the results of their efforts and help them focus on the essential purpose of the organization.

Information requirements of a monitoring system

To design a monitoring system to collect information on the quality of service delivery, a department requires:

• specific clientcentered service standards;
• a clear understanding of who its clients are; and
• a set of measurement techniques, such as client surveys, focus groups or client hot lines.

Departments should review their current internal and external monitoring procedures, including program evaluation, to determine which techniques will best capture information about client satisfaction and suggestions to improve service. The best monitoring system is one which parallels organizational structure and does not overburden senior management with unnecessary details, yet provides information for evaluation purposes that the public, ministers and senior management can understand.

Monitoring of complaints is also an important aspect of quality services. Departments should have clear complaintmanagement procedures and guidelines in place, including ones for assessing how well complaints have been handled.

Continued Improvement

In addition to monitoring service standards and service delivery, it is also essential to assess service on a larger scale. Taking a broader scope will ensure that service standards reflect the changing environment and will allow departments to make concerted improvements to the program as a whole. It will also lessen the likelihood of changes or improvements being made on a section-by-section basis, which may actually be counterproductive.

Continuous improvement requires ongoing assessment of both the results of performance monitoring, such as client and employee satisfaction, and the manner in which performance is monitored. This assessment must be done from the perspective of the sector directing the service, and must show how service standards and delivery reflect the mandate and mission of the sector and the department. It should make assessments in relation to both internal and external influences. Internal influences include clients, employees, policies and workload; external ones include clients, other departments, public interests, technology and private business. These assessments must be attached to a mechanism for implementing solutions or changes identified.

Some examples of activities which lead to continuous improvement include:

• developing long-term action plans that result in a "built-in" process for improvement;
• actively involving employees who offer suggestions for improvement and identify potential solutions to problems;
• ensuring that employees adhere to the system, but have flexibility when required;
• reviewing services provided by, and service standards of, similar groups to determine more appropriate or effective ways of providing service;
• monitoring new developments in service delivery and implementing applicable concepts;
• making comparisons to similar groups to determine positive or negative effects of proposed improvements;
• re-evaluating improvements or changes to ensure expected results are achieved;
• evaluating performance monitoring periodically to ensure that it is objective and that results are accurate; and
• developing a system that initiates a review whenever any significant change is made.

Developing Service Standards - Lessons From Experience

Lessons about process

A. Challenge

Getting broad participation in the process of developing and maintaining standards.

Remedy

• Explain the benefits and make all levels of management accountable for producing standards or implementing a process to develop standards. Involve senior managers visibly. Monitor performance. Establish a focal point from which to develop service standards and give it visibility within the organization. Get a "champion" to push the effort.

B. Challenge

Reaching a common understanding of what constitutes a service or a client. Services may be direct or indirect, for instance, and clients may include the general public, industry or interest groups.

Remedy

• Train managers and staff to develop service standards. Begin developing programs or services that lend themselves to service standards and use these standards as examples for the development of others.

C. Challenge

Communicating the purpose of the service standards initiative without sending out mixed messages.

Remedy

• Ensure a consistent understanding across the organization of what comprises a service standard and what benefits the organization is seeking by establishing and maintaining standards. Distinguish between the purpose of service standards - improved levels of service - and those of other initiatives - cost recovery, commercialization, regulatory enforcement, determining the most effective means of delivery, or supporting cost/benefit analysis.

D. Challenge

Communicating the various elements of the service standard. Various means of communication are available, including reports, statements, scientific and trade publications, presentations and the Internet. When will clients have access to service standard information? How often will information about standards be provided?

Remedy

• Develop a clear communications plan and ensure a consistent approach across the Public Service.

Lessons about substance

A. Challenge

Costing the service. How do you account for all cash and non-cash costs? How do you select and present costing information so that the cost of similar services can be compared?

Remedy

• This may be one of the most difficult elements of the service standard to develop. Not all services can be costed and cost information may be provided at various levels, such as the transaction level and the program level. Nevertheless, cost information is important. Decide what is possible and appropriate for your clients and how quickly you can collect and release cost information. Begin by gathering summarized (aggregated) costing information and by developing mechanisms to gather more detailed costing information over time.

B. Challenge

Determining the level for which the service standard is to be developed - project, activity, program, institution, service or departmental level.

Remedy

• Aggregate at the highest level possible. Develop generic service standards to act as an umbrella for more detailed standards, as appropriate.

C. Challenge

Making standards consistent across an organization, and across various regions.

Remedy

• Provide a fixed highlevel standard that gives various levels of the organization some flexibility to develop more detailed, lowerlevel standards that vary according to local conditions, such as differences in climate, demographics and infrastructure.

D. Challenge

Integrating existing standards, guidelines and protocols - such as ISO and CSA standards, associations guidelines and scientific peer review requirements - into government service standards.

Remedy

• Where there is overlap, clearly define the domain (e.g., product focus, servicedelivery focus) and authorities (e.g., resolving delivery problems, responding to challenges of a scientific or technical nature) of each standard.

E. Challenge

Balancing the need to set ambitious and motivational standards with the need to set safe and achievable standards.

Remedy

• Begin with achievable standards, review them regularly, make appropriate adjustments, then raise the standards if appropriate.

F. Challenge

Writing a service standard that does not create unwanted legal liability in areas such as revenue generation, intellectual property (R&D) and competition with the private sector.

Remedy

• Involve legal services early in the service standard development process.
  
  

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