From Right: Director, Human Resources, Vitech Trainers Mrs. Tope Akomolafe; Director Training, Office of Establishment Training and Pension, Ayodeji Aruna; Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Clara Omotilewa Ibinogba; Director Account, Deji Koko and Managing Director, Vitech Traniners, Lekan Ojediji at the event.
Leave a comment and share
Chuks Udo Okonta
Lagos a State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has asked all workers in the State Public Service to provide good customer service to citizens while attending to their daily needs.
The Governor, represented by the Commissioner, Lagos State Ministry of Establishments, Training, And Pensions, Dr Akintola Benson spoke at the training organised by the Ministry in Lagos.
Speaking on the topic, “Creating and Maintaining a Customer-Centri Driven Culture in the Public Service Delivery System” he said they must be polite, responsive and proactive in their day-to-day interactions with the citizenry.
He stated the training is designed to exponentially multiply and improve the quality of service delivery in the Lagos State Public Service by encouraging and charting a path to the adoption of a customer-centri, customer-focused, or customer-driven perspective in the public institutions.
He added that his administration understands customers’, in this instance, citizens changing needs, noting that the momentum and complexity of global change are challenging all organizations, including government agencies, to move faster, work smarter, use their resources more effectively and think further ahead.
He said: “Indeed, and more than ever before, governments at all levels have an opportunity to dramatically change the nature of their interactions with citizens. The emergence of new tools, technologies and methods offers a unique chance to secure the bond between the public and those who serve them.
“Every officer and stakeholder in the Lagos State Public Service. For instance, it has been noted that the public sector could easily emulate the private sector’s use of technology in order to meet the ever-increasing citizen expectations and boost commercial viability. But many authorities, saddled with legacy systems which are no longer fit for purpose, are today struggling to take advantage of modern technology. And some authorities rely on outdated communications channels, many of which only operate during standard government office hours.
“It would then appear that the next task is to consider how the Lagos State Public Service can build on these observed global best practice and domesticate the learning outcomes. I am confident that continuous training of our officers will address this all-important issue. In any case, it is my view that the following strategies will be central to any effort to ensure that the Lagos State Public Service adopts a positive change in perspective and orientation by adopting more extensive customer-centri policies and practices.”
He stressed that stakeholders should begin by building a customer-first culture of government service with customers as the primary focus of interactions.
This according to him, can be achieved by meaningfully consulting with citizens about their needs and experiences.
“Efforts should be made to organize government to make its interactions simpler and easier by experimenting with new digital and other techniques and service-delivery tools. The Lagos state Public Service should make better use of open data and behavioural economics. The Lagos State Public Service should be prepared to work proactively with current government employees while recruiting new workers who understand why customer-centric government is essential. Digital-savvy younger graduates are a rich source for this new workforce.
“It is important to regularly measure citizen satisfaction. Transforming service delivery begins with understanding citizens’ needs and priorities. Identifying which services citizens find most problematic and measuring the extent of that dissatisfaction is one way governments can prioritize areas for improvement,” he said.
