Empowering frontline employees
Research of private enterprise clearly shows the link between employee experience and customer experience. In fact, companies that invest in ensuring their employees have a positive experience at work are four times more profitable than those that don’t (Morgan, B., Forbes, 2018).
It makes sense…happy employees who are passionate about the work that they do, understand the company’s products and services deeply, and feel empowered and supported to make decisions, will pass that passion on to those customers that they deal with day-to-day.
Employee experience in Local Government
While the research on commercial organisations is abundant, there is not a lot of relevant research about employee experience and its connection with customer experience in the local government sector. So, we partnered with Public Sector Network to find out. Through interviews with some of the most forward thinking Councils in Australia and New Zealand, Public Sector Network found that those that are focused internally on culture and supporting employees are seeing real, tangible benefits in terms of their customer experience.
Effectively serving the customers’ needs
When you think about it, this should come as no surprise. Local councils are often the closest government organisation that delivers services to their constituents everyday. In many ways this is because councils are a core part of life in the community they serve.
The focus has shifted from not just core services such as ‘roads, rates and rubbish’ but, expanded to tasks as diverse as parking, childcare, libraries, garden maintenance, local law enforcement, local planning and building inspection and a vast array of other activities. Every one of these tasks, and the many others, requires not just excellent customer service, but an understanding of the customers and their particular needs.
Internal culture, knowledge sharing and ensuring employees have the tools they need to communicate and collaborate effectively are all critical components to ensure customer service is delivered at all levels. And, the fact that 94% of research respondents are either considering or actively exploring new technologies to help their organisations do work is promising.
Ready to empower your frontline employees?
We’ll help you find a way to reach your entire company at the touch of a button so they can access the information they need. Whether it’s to create, store or share static content, we’re here to help you.
Equipping your employees with the right tools
A big part of driving a customer-first culture and a seamless employee experience in local government comes down to the digital tools necessary to connect a distributed workforce. Not only now that hybrid working is a reality for many councils, but to connect those many frontline workers – library staff, parking wardens, rubbish collectors, gardeners and asset managers, that are out and about each day.
Rolling out new internal tools can be a seamless task when using cloud based services, but more importantly, what our research found is that, now’s the time to do it. With all of the changes and challenges as a result of COVID-19, Council employees are seeking more ways to be better connected and open to change and willing to look at new ways of working to achieve that.
Your plan to get started
Download the report to discover:
- Examples of leading councils who are seeing improvements in their customer experience as a result of a focus on employee experience
- Why a focus on employee experience is more important than ever for Local Governments given the rapid and significant changes to the way we work since March 2020.
- How you can get started by:
- Mapping a plan for cultural transformation and employee experience
- Introducing appropriate digital tools for employees
- Continuous improvement through measurement of employee experience and customer experience
