Canadian Global Leadership: Excellence in public sector service delivery

In the public sector, much of our work involves delivering important services to Canadians, from pensions, to parks, to police services. In recent years, Canada has led the world in transforming management and delivery of government services into a profession dedicated to citizen-centred service excellence, with high levels of citizen satisfaction with government services.

From Research to Professional Certification

The Institute for Citizen Centred Service was created by multiple levels of government in Canada, including the Province of British Columbia. The institute leads ground-breaking research that includes the following areas:

• Ground-breaking research to create a professional body of knowledge of citizen’s service expectations;

• The drivers of citizen and business satisfaction;

• Tools to scientifically measure and benchmark client satisfaction; and

• Best practices to achieve excellence in service delivery.

That body of knowledge on public sector service excellence has become the centrepiece of two new professional certifications: the Certified Service Manager program and the Certified Service Professional program.

From Research to Service Excellence                                                                                                                       

Much of this new knowledge emerged from the Citizens First and Business First national surveys that are funded by Canadian federal, provincial, and municipal levels of government and conducted every two years. In addition, the BC Public Service led the development of the Common Measurements Tool, which is based on the documented “drivers of service satisfaction” including ease of access, timeliness, outcome, fairness, competency, and courtesy (“extra smile, extra mile”).

In e-service the “service satisfaction drivers” include other factors like ease of navigation and finding all the information needed. When these key drivers are done well, public organizations can achieve satisfaction scores in the range of 90%, according to the research. In comparison, the average private sector scores in service industries like banks, retail, and fast-food average only about 75%, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

So, can we outperform the private sector in service delivery? Yes, we can!

Examples of Service Excellence in the Canadian Public Sector

By applying these principles, Canadian public organizations like Service BC, Service New Brunswick, the Town of Oakville, BC Pavilion Corporation, Parks Canada, and York Region Police achieve citizen satisfaction scores between 85 and 95%. They therefore outperform almost all private sector organizations.

Other Countries are Now Learning from the Canadian Public Sector                                                                

Countries like Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, the UK and Qatar are now improving their public sector service performance by applying the tools and techniques for service improvement developed by the Canadian public sector. Recently for example, the Philippine Government has replicated Canada’s Citizens First and Business First national surveys. In another example, Service South Australia used Canada’s Common Measurements Tool and Service Improvement Strategy to improve client satisfaction from 58% to 84% in just two years. Thus, the transformation of public sector service delivery based on Canadian research, and best examples like Service BC, is now occurring globally.

Resources:

●       Learn more about The Institute for Citizen Centred Service.

●       Watch an IPAC-Victoria video about service excellence in B.C. during the pandemic.