Government workers face sack for poor service
(CNS): The deputy governor warned civil servants in a circular sent to the staff last week that they will be sacked if they consistently provide poor customer service. Franz Manderson said that not enough was being done to improve it and the Ritz-Carlton was being enlisted to provide training in “gold standard customer service”. Manderson also said that he would soon be creating a confidential hotline for whistleblowers.
The civil service boss raised his concerns in the memo that in a poll by The Cayman Compass 65% of the people who voted rate the service as ‘poor or terrible’. Although only 418 votes were cast in the on-line poll, Manderson said he was disappointed with the result.
“Providing excellent service is the benchmark of success for any modern Civil Service. If we fail in this area we harm our reputation with the public and our elected leaders,” he said, after warning staff that they would lose their jobs if they did not perform to a higher standard.
“Civil servants who consistently provide poor customer service will be required to separate from the Civil Service. Otherwise, such persons by association harm the reputation of the majority of staff who do exceptional work,” he said. “I am not prepared to allow a few poor performers to ruin the hard work that is being achieved by the majority of civil servants who delight our customers every day.”
Manderson pointed the finger at management and added, “I expect all managers to not only hold their staff accountable for their performance but to develop a positive working environment in which staff feel valued and feel they have the tools, training and support of managers to meet or exceed customer’s expectations.”
Talking about improving communication and consulting with workers about the changes and cuts, he said that in addition to the direct email line opened to enable government workers to communicate directly with him, the portfolio of the civil service would be introducing a confidential tip line for staff to pass on information including whistleblowing.
As well as planning more visits to departments this year, the deputy governor said he would also be holding quarterly town hall style meetings, where at least twenty randomly selected civil servants would meet with him in order to ask questions, express concerns and offer advice on how the service could be improved.
Although Manderson spoke of the many accomplishments of the civil service during the times of austerity and crediting them with achieving massive surpluses for government, he said there were still challenges ahead that would require continued hard work. The deputy governor said that going forward, government workers had to acknowledge that “every person is entitled to courtesy and respect”.
Category: Jobs, Local News
Did anyone read what was said it Court the back stabbing and toxic work place happened after Franz left. It was revealed that he protected Tichina and made sure she was not abused when he was there. She was suspended in 2010… Mr Manderson left in 2009. Please get your facts right. And on by the way does anyone remember the number of staff that was fired under his watch at immigration? It was not one or two. Mr Franz keep up the good work. You transformed immigration and you will do the same to the entire civil service…. One thing I can tell the readers of CNS don’t be fooled by his nice smile….ask the hundreds of persons he deported how nice he is.
My pet peeve is that every government department reinvents the wheel with their own obscure acronymed, stylized, self-agrandising, ego-based websites – some dating back to 2005, with dead links, and legions of blindly published press releases that they actually assume the public will magically happen upon. Newsflash: the internet doesn’t work that way. There should be one national government website (www.gov.ky) with each division flowing off the center hub – with names of head of departments and hierarchy clearly identified. It’s not rocket science. A bunch of high school kids would be more savvy and could build a better government web presence than what currently exists. What is even more tragic is that I’m sure there is a whole department of minions whose full-time job is to update this stuff. This is why we get 3 people showing up for a public consultation on minimum wage levels, or a handful of people offering public comment on important legislation, or a couple dozen insider views on a DoT ad costing tens of thousands. Net result: ineffective public consultation, willfully opaque disclosure, and shamefully low marketing ROI.
As one former EMT and current law enforcement officer was told when he was commissioned as a lieutenant, “Rank hath its privileges, rank hath its responsibilities, and rank hath its obligations. The responsibilities and obligations always outnumber the privileges.”
Too many supervisors forget that.
As one source put it, Responsibility upward is what makes the rank system work. Without it, your troops may be obedient, but they’ll never be motivated.
Whether your agency adopts a laissez faire management style or a more rigid command hierarchy, neither one will succeed without effective leadership. One of the basic tenets of leadership is never order a subordinate to do something that you are not capable — and willing — to do yourself. If you aren’t, believe me, your subordinates will know it.
More importantly, their performance will reflect it.
A leader is more than a supervisor. He’s a coach, a mentor, a teacher, a disciplinarian, and an advocate for his subordinates. He sets clear goals, gives his subordinates the tools to accomplish those goals, and then he gets the heck out of the way. So much of leadership is simply making it easier for your subordinates to do the right thing than the wrong thing.
When those subordinates make mistakes — and they invariably will, because improvisation is the name of the game in Emergency Medical Services — the leader also reevaluates his mentoring, coaching, and teaching, and modifies his approach accordingly.
And if that approach was flawed, he practices responsibility upward by telling his superiors, “It’s my fault, and my responsibility. I’ll fix it.”
Believe me, just as your subordinates know when you can’t walk the walk, they’ll also notice when you take the heat for their mistakes, and they’ll bend over backwards to never put you in that position again. Their performance improves right along with their morale. They know you’ve got their backs, and as a result, they’ll have yours.
They’ll make you look good to your superiors, who in turn will look better to their superiors…
That’s responsibility upward, folks.
When DG was CIO wasn’t bullying, backstabbing, poor performace etc par for the course? Think of recent Court case?? Sorry sir but it the Senior Mgmt level AND lower staff that ALL needs to go to training!! It makes no sense, same as when you were Head of Immigration to send the lower end of staff w/o dealing with those who are in position of leadership. 3/4 of the reason is mgmt!! They bring their home problems and dump it on you as they walk in the door…..Stop trying to put a band-aid on an open wound!! It will take more than the Ritz training and a certificate to change the attitudes!! Begin with some counseling, call EAP, Pastors Yvette or Mary; give some incentives for going the extra mile or for seeking to learn another job; give promotions to those who actually WORKED and deserve it and for the love of God stop blaming the lower echlon!! Try looking in the face of those in Mgmt and viola……you’ve got your answer……
Do politicians count as government workers? Can we sack them? Please? 😉
Ezzard and Arden tell Rooster listeners that nobody will listen to them nor give them answers to FOIs – if that admission is truly the state of affairs, and they don’t know how to escalate matters, then why are we paying them?
This is why many in the Private Sector refuse to hire gov’t workers and I can’t say I blame them one bit.
Humerously neither of your examples are actual Civil Service entities (as opposed to Public Service) and so aren’t under the Deputy Governor’s influence.
I think it goes a little deeper than just customer service. Their are a few employees of high positions that make the working environment horrible/ miserable for their staff. Managers (middle line) of the managers (front line) themselves need training but this training can not be provided by themselves but rather those of high positions. The point: the HR functions needs to be redefined. A call for better/fair appraisals is needed–> Eg: If you have not encountered or been around your employee but know their job function doesn’t mean your appraisals is valid. NOTE: Something can be reliable but not valid, but if it is valid it is reliable. Everything starts from the top.
Talk is cheap! I’ll believe it when I see it..
I honestly feel sorry for Mr Manderson, where he has always been professional, go the extra mile, give up his time to assist people, the generation we are dealing with is hopeless…take customs, you go in take a number, you better take your lunch because you are there for the long haul. The officers are walking around, doing nothing…looking busy, but doing nothing, you may have two that work, but one of them a female is the most miserable rude indiviudal I have ever encountered…you try to be nice and smile and she just looks at you like you just grew two heads!! God forbid you ask her a question, then those two heads will be eaten off….Immigration, how many windows 12? 10?, maybe on a good day 5 officers….licensing has gotten better I must say, the majority of the cashiers on pleasant, though the information clerk (male) needs to understand the job and know the proper answers for he doesn’t know anything…GT Hospital…I don’t have enough room…call backs from any department, forget about it….Labour Department, leave a message with an officer, they never get back to you….Government Building…the people that instruct you on where to go, are all work permit holders and some of them can’t even speak a word of english…..I can go on and on and on…good luck Mr Manderson, your intentions are good, but I don’t think you have the means.
Me Mandleson proposes to do something about poor customer service. So far so good. Permit holders can jist be disposed of, but what is he goimg to do when it is a Caymanian? Talk is indeed cheap!
This is the same DG looking to sack people for service when he knew about bullying and discrimination going on at immigration on his watch and did nothing? Pot cussing kettle black!!!
Yup. Makes you wonder whether people will be sacked for poor service or whether it will really be for poor management/staff relations.
One thing for sure, it will not be a Caymanian or someone in power. Hot air Mr Mandleson
Franz need to start showing real leadership, that doesn’t mean fun runs and photo ops patting Civil Servants on the back every chance you get. That means making the tough calls and supporting your managers when they try to improve the Civil Service. Man up and realize that you can’t be everyone’s friend, that’s not what you get paid for, starting acting like a leader and put some action behind the sound bites and press releases.
Agreed, this is pure unadulterated BS. If Franz didn’t do this when he was CIO why would he do it now?
congrats to the deputy GOV .and now is the time to audit your phone system voice mail and email response time
While you are at it Mr. Deputy Governor you might want to consider non-Imbecilic guidelines to departments that makes Government look like a fool. The last on the totem pole should not be responsible for head of department guidelines that are interpreted with antiquated thinking
To say I am doubtful would be an understatement. Who do they think that they are fooling with this?
Yeah Franz keep dreaming. Good luck with getting your staff to come to work on time, actually work, not call in sick 40 times per year and still get paid for all 40 days, not wear the sour puss face like they are smelling sh*t 24/7, to actually speak properly and courteously, to sound like they know what they are talking about, to not eat their donuts and patties in front of customers, not whatsapp and bbm right in front of the customer and for the love of Jesus will they ever answer the phone, return a call or answer an email?? This is just to name a few.
So now we are going to join the private sector and add to the unemployment in Cayman? The level of service in Gov’t customer service is right on par with the private sector. Try calling one of the private sectors and see where you’re transferred to? At least when we call Gov’t offices we will get a Caymanian on line instead of some foreign national asking me where Eastern Ave is?
What a dumb response! You instead turned this in to a Caymanian vs. expat thing when it’s merely about the poor service offered by gov’t departments. I can’t compare my service at Cayman Dental to what is offered through CINICO the latter which never returns calls…..EVER! You have to be one of those very “productive” Civil Servants.
Perhaps the person is a poor performer and has something to worry about. Rather than blame themselves point the finger elsewhere as usual…
Blaming is the name of the game in Cayman.
If the job gets done with ease and proficiently, who cares where they are from?
Mr Manderson , good services do not only come from the middle down , but comes from the top of the government . The heads of the government can’t lead in one way and expect the employees to lead in a different way . Then why you recommend for government civil service workers to get hotel /hospitality training ?
Does this mean CI Government is closing down? For I think this covers the majority?
Every gov’t department service is poor. None are exceptional with service. To name a few for starters: 1. Hospital – I’ve been calling for the lab to make an appointment for 3 weeks. Left 4 messages (no1 returned my call). 2. Cinico – don’t even waste time calling as nobody answers the phone. I shouldn’t even single any department out as they are all terrible. No amount of training will help them.
Training will help and a change in culture where jobs are not for life because you are Caymanian. Performance management means just that. Instead we have a system where nepotism determines who gets jobs, and that same nepotism keeps unsuitable people in those jobs. Bloggers, instead of being down on permit holders should be more concerned at how this country is run by our very own.
IT will never happen and deep down we all know its all talk.
Agreed, all pure unadulterated BS. If Franz didn’t do this when he was CIO why would he do it now?