As part of our dedication to customer excellence, we recently ran our second Socitm user satisfaction survey. Here is an animated version of the results from the survey:
We first ran this survey in December 2019 when the workload and the needs of our colleagues and residents were very different. However, the council now has a new set of values, which we are keen to embrace.
Whilst this year we have had slightly fewer responses, overall, 30% of of our colleagues responded, which gives us some great feedback, and insight into the services we provide.
We believe it is essential to continue to drive the service forwards and regularly listening to our customers is an important part of this. Generally scores across the board have improved, which is great to hear, but there is always room for more improvement.
Customer satisfaction
We have improved the overall user satisfaction in LBH and are now performing in the top number of comparable local authorities. The figures show an improvement in performance of over 10% from a high score in 2019, despite the challenging times faced providing a continued service to all customers and supporting the council’s Covid response.
There are many comments suggesting changes to improve services:
- As part of the response, we have set up a new portal to get IT problems seen and dealt with more efficiently. This portal will continue to be updated and improved, based on the changing needs of the customer.
- All our team members (from front-line to back-line) are completing compulsory customer service training to ensure we can focus on the needs of our customers as a single unit, and to ensure a consistent service, across the board.
Staff able to work flexibly
When staff were forced to work from home in March 2020, the council had just moved into a new building, so all staff were used to working away from the office.
Nevertheless, this number went up overnight from 500 regularly doing this, to over 1600.
As the survey shows, Hounslow now ranks as the number one local authority for this area.
Comments were made around the use of remote working. In response, further improvements are planned to increase capacity.
We are also rolling out better devices (via our Device Refresh programme) to ensure all council devices are under 4 years old.
Cyber security
With so many changes / improvements to our IT systems, we still need to make sure that they are as secure as can be. We must also keep in mind that the external threat is constantly evolving and needs continuous improvement.
The council ranks very highly for taking security seriously, with 75% of staff scoring this highly.
In response to the comments, we have rolled out a new GDPR and Cyber Security training course for all staff, to ensure staff continue to be Cyber-Safety aware and figures for completion are nearing 100%.