Looking at customer service at Southgate
At its regular meeting on June 19, Southgate council looked at matters including customer service standards, health benefits, mileage compensation.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Staff is undertaking a project aimed at setting standards for staff replies to residents, and coming up with a common standards and operating procedure.
There will also be a plan for what will be needed to meet those service goals, said the report presented by Graham Taylor, Communications and Strategic Initiatives Officer.
He said an example would be how long it takes for residents to receive a response to email – first to say it was received, and then to get a substantial response.
He said setting the standards is not “a way to micro-manage staff – rather it gives expectations.”
Other questions will include when a staff member’s contact information would be included, and when a manager should become involved in a matter.
The study will be done in-house at negligible cost, the report said. Council will receive reports on the standard at the interim stage in August, with the final report planned for September.
Council and staff will be consulted.
Residents will be asked to provide feedback through “continuous improvement” evaluations. Mr. Taylor said direct the township would not go to the public, since it was forecast that the main feedback about response would be that “people would like it faster”.
Coun. Monica Singh Soares commended the initiative, saying that customer service was “paramount”. She asked about methods to get feedback from residents.
Mr. Taylor said that in the future that may include going to the public every two years, but the present focus was setting up standards and levels of service.
“We tend to go to the public a little bit too quickly at some points,” he said. “At some point there could be a bit of engagement fatigue set in.”
“Operational Excellence” is one of Southgate’s strategic priorities for the present term, including excellent customer service.
HEALTH BENEFIT
Council adopted an annual $700 health care spending amount for part-time employees.
The amount is almost the same, but the policy is being moved from a separate personnel policy into a Human Resources manual.
The amount will be reviewed every three years, but when asked, Kayla Best confirmed that the amount is above the standard.
Full time staff starting with the 2024 budget no longer have a spending “account” but instead have upgraded third-party benefits including dental.
MILEAGE
The Southgate mileage rate will now be tied to the CRA “reasonable rate”. For 2024 that is 70 cents per km up to 5,000 km, and 64 cents per kilometre over that.
Southgate has just adapted the Grey County rate for staff driving personal vehicles in the past, but Grey County has changed from following gas prices to the CRA rate. That rate is adjusted annually.
The staff report said the difference, which will take effect July 1, was about 20 cents more per km, and will be met within current department budgets.
M.T. Fernandes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Dundalk Herald
