The Anguilla Public Service is that institution that persons regularly criticise. Sadly, very often the criticism is justified. The Public Service often comes up short when one considers what is expected of it and what it delivers. What is very disheartening is that the leaders of the Anguilla Public Service appear to understand what is expected of the Public Service but are at a loss, it seems, to ensure the desired level of service.
My recent exploration of the Government website, under the Public Administration directory, revealed the existence of a document titled “Customer Service – Key Internal Standards”. The contents of this document make it clear that what is acceptable customer service is known within the Public Service. The document states that “The Anguilla Public Service is committed to providing professional excellence.” It then sets out certain standards that should be met in the provision of that professional excellence. Some of these standards are listed below:
– Return telephone calls within 24 hours.
– Where an email response is required public officers will aim to reply within 2 days but always within 3 working days.
– Where a formal written response is required public officers will aim to send a reply within 5 working days, but always within 10 working days.
– A holding reply must be sent within the above periods if, due to complexity or compelling reasons, these timescales cannot be met.
– Agree on cover arrangements that are clear to maintain a continuous level of service during staff absences:
Phone
In tray (letters)
Email
Appointments
While common courtesy would dictate timely responses to queries, the Anguilla Public Service is not placing reliance solely on common courtesy and therefore time has been taken to document standards. Why is it that despite the documentation of the above standards, they appear so rarely to be honoured in the Public Service? I understand that calls go unreturned. Emails and formal correspondence remain unanswered for more than a month. Public officers go on leave and do not think to use their out of office assistant to alert their customers of their absence and to direct them elsewhere for assistance. There is a feeling that there is a general sense of uncaring about whether the needs of the public are met in a timely manner, or at all.
While not every public officer is uncaring whether the designated standards are met, sadly, many public officers throughout the hierarchy of the Public Service appear uncaring about these established standards. A concerted effort must be made to ensure that not only are appropriate standards established but that such standards are honoured. Is it that the document titled “Customer Service – Key Internal Standards” is not sufficiently publicized, and is therefore relatively unknown to public officers? Steps need to be taken quickly to ensure that established standards are honoured. The Anguilla public is not deserving of the shoddy treatment delivered by some public officers. Standards, when created, are to be honoured.
