Chapter 1 General Government - The California Performance Review

The California Performance ReviewThe executive order also required departments to establish complaint systems to track andresolve customer service problems. 7The Governor established the Office of Quality and Performance within the Governor’s officeto administer the executive order. The office is staffed by two people and the budget isprovided by a funding pool created from contributions from all of the departments. 8 The officemeets monthly with all of the departments’ Internal Quality Consultants as a group to provideguidance and training. The training needs of individual departments are assessed in separatequarterly meetings with the Internal Quality Consultant of each department. Action plans aredeveloped and implemented to address any training needs.In 2003, Oregon’s Governor Ted Kulongoski issued an executive order to streamlineregulations and improve customer service. State regulatory agencies were ordered to evaluatecustomer service delivery and customer satisfaction and required to submit customer serviceimprovement plans to the Governor. 9 The Office of Regulatory Streamlining was created toimplement this executive order. It is located within the Consumer and Business ServicesDepartment. Other states have established similar customer service, quality improvement,government efficiency and performance units. For example, in Minnesota, the Office ofStrategic Planning and Results Management is housed within the Department ofAdministration. 10 In Iowa, the Iowa Excellence Program is housed within the Department ofManagement. 11 Virginia’s Results Program is housed within the Department of Planning andBudget. 12Customer service must drive strategic and budgeting directionThe NPR also sponsored a consortium to study the role of the customer in the private sector, asa benchmark for federal agencies. The consortium found that in private organizations,customer satisfaction drives performance, budgeting and strategic direction. Manyorganizations have structured their entire businesses around customer groups and servingtheir needs. 13California state government should adopt similar customer-focused approaches in theirstrategic and budget planning. Customer service must be a strategic goal of each departmentand customer satisfaction must be continually assessed to determine how well a department isperforming. Each department’s strategic plan should address identified deficiencies incustomer service.A study by KPMG Public Services concluded that successful state governments mustdemonstrate that they are delivering value to customers and that customers determine thevalue of services they receive. This can be possible if state government employees are trainedin developing customer service standards and achieving customer satisfaction. 14A Government for the People for a Change 45