Month: January 2015
Getting to the Core: Where Competencies and Values Meet in Government Customer Service Operations
Every company, business, and government department should have a set of core values. These core values stand as an ethical code for your work place, and a set of values that your office culture evolves from. For me, and the City of Philadelphia, specifically the Office of the Managing Director, we aim for excellence, passion, engagement, integrity, and encourage strategic and smart risk taking. In this, core values are not merely an ideal, but a set of attitudes and behaviors to strive for. It is with our core values in mind that we assess what we need in terms of competencies.
The way you do your work is just as important as what you accomplish. That’s the importance of competencies. Competencies are realistic, observable behaviors that relate to your goals. In other words, they are the skills you need to fulfill the responsibilities of your job. Core competencies are branches of your organization’s core values in the sense that the strengths of those values are extended and, eventually, complemented by the technical skills and capabilities of your team. While core values are the backbone, creating a foundation for a company, core competencies are what determine the advantage. Having a clear idea of what your company’s core competencies are, result in going above and beyond average profits.
Adapting this model–one that’s often applied to the world of finance and product based corporations–to customer service, leaves us with a unique challenge. When we adjust our concept of profit to mean customer/citizen satisfaction, the elements that contribute to that satisfaction become our core competencies. In a 311 government contact center, excellent customer satisfaction is what brings us to that number. We must ask, on behalf of our external customers:
- What does the citizen need?
- How can we assist in meeting those needs?
- How can we assist in meeting those needs more effectively and efficiently?
These questions, in sum, point to what the U.S Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) has defined as customer service core competencies; a commitment “to satisfying internal and external customers.” In appropriating HHS’s definition, we discover the cyclical nature of the core competencies and core value relationship within the City of Philadelphia. Our values become our key behaviors in customer service that, in return, establish the City of Philadelphia Philly311’s effectiveness which generates an above average service level. For example, when you have a call center agents driving their work with values like excellence, passion, engagement, and integrity, City of Philadelphia Philly311’s overall service reflects that.
What do the City of Philadelphia’s 311 and a local start up have in common?
In the past, the City of Philadelphia’s Philly311 TV has focused on the inside of City government; interviewing City employees from behind the scenes. However, in an effort to depart from the traditional idea of customer service excellence in government, Philly311 is looking outside of City government for efficient strategies. With this in mind, I have divided the third season into two parts, and have included a customer service series where I can highlight citizens of Philadelphia that prioritize customer service.
In this first episode the City of Philadelphia’s Philly311 TV, the team meets Jason Rappaport (CEO) and Raheem Ghouse (CFO) of Squareknot. For Squareknot–a local Philadelphia start-up that creates step-by-step guides–the customer experience determines whether or not their product is utilized. Check out the episode to learn more about Squareknot and how private and public sectors are collaborating and sharing practices to better engage customers.
Interested in being in one of our Customer Service episodes? Please contact me or Amanda Wagner, Philly311 TV Executive Director at amanda.v.wagner@phila.gov.
Addressing Unexpected Problems on the Road to Progress
My team and I have been working on procuring and implementing a new city wide CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system for nearly two years now. The system will improve the City’s ability to communicate with citizens and internal departments, as well as, create a social platform around 311. The CRM will facilitate collaborations between neighbors and stakeholders encourage them to share practices, and organize events to better their communities.
Like any project, we have experienced ups and downs. I would be lying if I said that the journey hasn’t had unanticipated hiccups. Inevitably with a project of this magnitude, there are bumps in the road. Some of these challenges are foreseeable, and accounted for in the very beginning, and others reveal themselves in the process.
In February 2014 we kicked off our CRM implementation and a new era of citizen engagement in Philadelphia. Before we were able to introduce the project throughout the City, we spent months planning, collecting data, and journey-mapping to ensure that the customers’ needs would be met and their expectations exceeded. Yet in that mission there were some obvious challenges. Anytime you, or a company, are implementing new technology, training your internal customers has to be a high priority. However, who needs to be trained, and when they need to be trained, often fluxes in relation to a number of factors. When schedules, resources, and strategies change in the process, you have to remember to be proactive and not reactive.
Embrace and face change. This isn’t to say that you should spend all your time planning for the unexpected, but to rely on your greater objective as a source to keep from getting discouraged. Part of being a project executive means establishing a strategy to confront the unexpected opposed to simply reacting to them as they come along. Don’t spend too much time planning for what cannot be planned.
The procurement and implementation journey has been long, but certainly worthwhile. With every mention of the new CRM I can’t help but to thank the people who have supported this process. A big thank you to Mayor Nutter, Executive Sponsor and City Managing Director Richard Negrin, Chief Innovation Officer Adel Ebeid, Philly311 staff and our internal and external partners.
Regardless of the inevitable challenges we’ve faced, the ultimate outcome: a transparent government that prioritizes its citizens, is what makes bumps in the road, simply that.
Stay tuned for news of our PhillyInnovates summit on February 18, 2015 with our partners at Salesforce. This will be a huge opportunity for the community to learn about the whos, whats, whys, and hows behind how the City of Philadelphia is connecting with its customers.
Photo by Pulpolux
Innovative Customer Service Leadership Strategies 