PRIME Minister Andrew Holness on Tuesday revealed what he described as a comprehensive service excellence policy aimed at improving response to public needs, as well as increasing productivity among civil servants.

He said that the main aim of the policy is to change the behavioural patterns of the government employees and create a much friendlier culture when dealing with the public, as well as improving their remuneration, providing resources and also setting standards and meeting productivity expectations.

He said that it is a comprehensive policy, broken down into targets and assigned to senior officers of the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of Government, with measurable outcomes and results, and a process to evaluate and monitor, as well as use feedback to address division and remission and to change targets, in an ongoing process.

“So, we have developed that today, and we are now handing it over, essentially, to the ministries, divisions and agencies [of government], and my job today is to say to the heads who are gathered here that this is now the critical mission of the Government, which is also connected to the grand transformation of the public sector,” Holness told the audience.

However, he said that there is a need to meet and exceed the public’s expectancy, so the policy will encompass sensitisation and awareness training for the employees in the MDAs.

He added that the policy has already influenced at least one ministry to put in a feedback system, which will allow customers to interact with the ministry from anywhere in the world and depends on feedback from annual survey.

“We must become customer focus and this applies to both our internal and external customers. We, therefore, have to set performance standards, improve capacity, promote excellence and establish effective systems of management and accountability,” the prime minister said.

“Heads of departments and government agencies and all managers and leaders are expected to embrace and implement this policy with enthusiasm and ambition. There must be leadership from the top and full commitment [to] the public service. We need to ensure that our customers do not lose faith and trust in this initiative,” Holness pleaded.

He said that the Cabinet Office, through its public sector modernisation division, will be in charge of the promulgation and monitoring of the implementation of the policy, while the Ministry of Finance and the Pubic Service will review and approve the proposed structure of the service excellence function, and ensure that all customer service units within the ministries are sufficiently staffed and the Management Institute for National Development (MIND) will facilitate capacity-building of public sector employees for service excellence.

The Government says that the goal of the new policy is to create a culture, across the public sector, which drives the delivery of services that meet and, possibly, exceeds citizens’ expectations. Every ministry now has a Customer Service Improvement Team (CSIT) charged with developing an improvement customer service programme.

It is also expected to aid in Jamaica achieving the Vision 2030 Development Goals, to “live, work and raise families and do business”.