CUSTOMER SERVICE ASSESSMENT

OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCES

The customer service assessment for the Office of Human Resources was conducted in the fall of 2006.  The results of the assessment show that, overall Human Resources is performing well, and the majority of the customer base is content with the service provided.

Of the 137 respondents who completed the survey 111 (84%) rated their overall experience with the office as good or excellent yet 21 (18%) were not satisfied with the information or service that was provided to them.  This year there were some very negative comments stemming from the FLSA classification study, which was a USO directive.  We have taken these issues and comments seriously and are revising the manner in which we will communicate major changes in policy or procedures to the campus community.

Although the overwhelming majority of comments were positive, the major issues that were identified in the survey include:

1. Knowledge of policy
2. Timeliness of responses
3. Accuracy of responses
4. Confidentiality
5. Consistency of responses (communication within department)
6. Communication of changes to policies to campus community.

One of the areas of concern for the respondents was the perception that the HR staff was not conversant with policy and procedures and did not provide answers in a timely manner. We have begun the process of cross referencing UWG policy with BOR policy. Once this is complete we intend to update the UWG employee handbook and distribute to all staff employees. The HR staff will be required to become more conversant with policy in order to provide the faculty and staff with timely and accurate answers.

We are continuously working to keep all of the staff members informed in order to be able to have consistent answers to our customers. Consistency is very important, we will continue to strive to make the HR staff aware of current situations and issues in order to better serve the campus community.

Confidentiality seems to be an issue as well.  The office structure is an issue in regard to confidentiality.  Three of the HR staff that deal with benefits, garnishments, tax levies, FMLA are housed in cubicles. These are very sensitive issues and individuals become very upset when they are required to discuss personal information in a cubical, where other in the surrounding cubicles as well as anyone in the “lobby” can easily hear the conversation. 

Issues that were identified and have been addressed: 

The mission statement for the Department of Human Resources was not published. The mission statement is now on the human resources home page

http://www.bf.westga.edu/HRPay/

The Director is making efforts to be more approachable by attending Staff Advisory   Council Meetings and other events and meetings on campus.

Communications were improved when implementing the E-Apps module of PeopleSoft. This application allows employees to update and view a wide range of personal information including pay advices. A number of training opportunities were offered for the campus community.

The Human Resource Department is committed to providing quality customer service the campus community.  Every effort will be made to improve our perception across campus by addressing each issue that was identified in the current survey.