Customer Service Remains Excellent

TAMESIDE Council has once again been awarded a certificate for customer service excellence, extending an annual sequence that began in 2007.

Customer Service Excellence is a government quality mark, accredited by the Cabinet Office and examined by the Centre for Assessment. It recognises organisations that have a truly customer-focused culture and constantly work towards improvement.

During a five-day assessment which involved nearly 40 sessions with staff, partners and customers in a mix of site visits and face-to-face and virtual meetings, the authority was judged against five criteria: Culture of the organisation, customer insight, delivery, information and access, and timeliness and quality of service.

Tameside achieved reaccreditation with 100% compliance and was awarded an outstanding 12 compliance-plus (where the council exceeded the requirements of the standard against an element, demonstrated exceptional practice, or could be used as an exemplar for others). The assessor praised this as a remarkable achievement.

The report even goes so far as to say the authority displays a wow factor in the way it constantly goes over and above the call of duty to provide its services.

Tameside was listed as having several key strengths but especially teamwork, partnership, and a belief in providing tailored services rather than adopting a one size fits all mentality. Staff clearly wanted to do the very best they could for their customers.

The assessor’s comments included: “It is always amazing when there is such an amount of change, development and progress made each year. It’s great to see how staff see the challenges as opportunities. This has come across really clearly during the assessment visits.”

In particular, he noted that customer insight was very impressive and especially the way it was used to shape services. The culture of the organisation, the new corporate plan, and overall values fed into this.

Cllr Gerald Cooney, executive leader of Tameside Council, said: “I was delighted to receive the report which shows that we have now held customer service accreditation for 17 consecutive years with new compliance-pluses year on year.

“It fully demonstrates the dedication of our hard-working staff who are committed to living up to the standards and objectives outlined in our corporate plan.

“I was especially proud to see it officially acknowledged that there is an excellent culture where the workforce are always prepared to go above and beyond the call of duty. Giving the people of Tameside the best-possible service is at the heart of everything we do.”