NISE HAS A lot of people not feeling nice today. It’s all because they have dared to present the truth about what is happening in some local businesses and Government departments.
According to the latest National Initiative for Service Excellence (NISE) Customer Satisfaction Index released on Thursday, credit unions got the thumbs up for their reliability and customer satisfaction while the commercial banks and insurance companies didn’t quite make the grade.
The credit unions scored 82 out of 100, while the insurance companies scored 75 – the pass mark, and the commercial banks were last with 71.
Of the seven Government agencies measured, only one, the Barbados Postal Service, got a passing grade. They scored 80 out of 100 while the other departments all scored below 75. The often criticized Barbados Licensing Authority ranked least in customer satisfaction with a score of 58.
The other scores were the Sanitation Service Authority 73, Queen Elizabeth Hospital 69, the National Insurance Scheme Department 66, the Immigration Department 64 and the Transport Board 62.
For many Barbadians these scores are representative of their daily experiences when they have to interact with many of these businesses and Government departments. They validate the several complaints that are heard daily on the call-in programmes about the uncouth behaviour meted out to the public trying to do legitimate business with organisations.
Consistently we are told of workers ignoring customers while engaging in lively conversation; of customers being made to feel as if they are bothering workers because they enquire about a matter or procedure which the agency is supposed to guide you on; or workers who disrespect customers by the tone and manner in which they deal with them.
Though not good news, these results are consistent with two other surveys done in the last two years by NISE which together show that Bajans have to work harder at being nice.
Last year a politeness test study found that Barbadians fell down badly on giving good service. Only 57 per cent of the times were customers thanked for their purchase. This is a simple courtesy that should be a natural reflex, but it was not.
In 2009 preliminary results of a study had found that in the estimation of 75 per cent of public and private sector human resources managers, Barbadian school leavers were not ready for the working environment essentially as a result of their attitude. Consequently NISE produced a booklet which covered areas such as looking and acting like a professional, getting along with others and mastering the job.
The question now is where do we go from here? Will we as a people continue to bury our heads in the sand about this issue, or take responsibility as individuals to improve the manner in which we interact with others when they come to do business in the place we work?
The reality is that right across the globe increasing emphasis is being placed on the services sector as an essential pillar of national economies. Our leaders have already bought into this as tourism and the offshore finance business are this island’s major money earners.
With stiff global competition for tourism and international business, poor service can adversely affect this country’s capacity to maximise our foreign exchange earning potential. It therefore stands to reason that every Barbadian must start being more polite and professional with each other in every sphere of business here.
We must certainly do better if we really want to be NISE.