State Agencies to Implement Customer Service Improvement Plans
| Tuesday, July 25, 2006 |
Contact: Office of Communications 404-651-7774
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State Agencies to Implement Customer Service Improvement Plans
42 State Agencies to Launch Reforms in August
ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue today challenged agency heads and customer service champions from 42 state agencies and offices to begin implementation of customer service improvement plans. Governor Perdue also announced the theme of the state’s customer service campaign – “Team Georgia. Ready To Serve.” The customer service improvement plans were due to the Office of Customer Service by June 30, 2006 and implementation is set to begin in August.
“Each Georgia citizen who walks through our door for a government service is an opportunity,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “It is my intention that Georgia government employees will take advantage of those opportunities, showing citizens that we respect and value their time.”
In January 2006 Governor Perdue signed an Executive Order creating the Office of Customer Service during the state’s first Customer Service Summit. The purpose of the office is to coordinate, manage and guide the implementation of agency plans to elevate the level of customer service experienced by Georgia citizens when working with agencies for state services. Governor Perdue appointed Joe Doyle as the director. Doyle also chairs the Commission for a New Georgia Task Force on Customer Service and is director of the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs.
The summit included agency heads and deputies from 42 state agencies, and focused on the theme “Fast, Friendly and Easy,” emphasizing Governor Perdue’s plan for the future of state government customer service. Following the summit, agency heads appointed customer service champions within each agency. Champions were appointed in 42 agencies, representing 90 percent of all state employees, including all 35 campuses of the University System of Georgia. The customer service champions were tasked with creating individual plans to highlight and improve customer service efforts in each respective agency. The plans will serve as blueprints for improving customer service in the next year.
Among its recommended change initiatives, the Commission for a New Georgia Task Force on Customer Service recommended easier access to government services, faster processes so customers can get business done quickly and friendlier service in a customer-oriented culture.
The meeting today spotlighted the Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS) as an example of an agency that has vastly improved customer service for citizens. According to DDS Commissioner Greg Dozier, the average wait time statewide for customers visiting a DDS customer service center in person improved from 22:24 minutes (July 2005) to 6:40 minutes (May 2006). The wait for a reservation for a road test decreased from 14 weeks (July 2005) to less than 4 weeks in most centers (May 2006). DDS continued its pledge to provide a regular driver’s license renewal in 30 minutes or the customer does not pay. Free licenses issued have decreased from 1,100 per week (July 2005) to 15 per week (May 2006) saving the state approximately one million dollars per year.
The 42 agencies initiating customer service improvement plans include:
Department of Administrative Services
Office of State Administrative Hearings
Department of Banking and Finance
Georgia Building Authority
Georgia Bureau of Investigation
Department of Community Affairs
Department of Community Health
Department of Community Health, State Board of Medical Examiners
Office of Consumer Affairs
Department of Corrections
Criminal Justice Coordinating Council
Department of Defense
Department of Driver Services
Department of Economic Development
Georgia Emergency Management Agency
Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority
Georgia State Financing & Investment Commission
Georgia Forestry Commission
Office of the Governor
Office of Highway Safety
Department of Human Resources
Department of Juvenile Justice
Jekyll Island State Park Authority
Georgia Merit System
Department of Natural Resources
Department of Natural Resources - Environmental Protection Division
State Board of Pardons and Paroles
Office of Planning & Budget
Georgia Public Broadcasting
Department of Public Safety
Georgia Public Safety Training Center
Regents, University System of Georgia
Employees Retirement System
Teachers Retirement System
Department of Revenue
State Road and Tollway Authority
Stone Mountain Memorial Association
Georgia Student Finance Commission
Department of Technical and Adult Education
Georgia Technology Authority
Department of Transportation
Georgia World Congress Center
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