GILROY
– The school district is developing a more user-friendly
approach to dealing with parents and community members. Employees
at the district office, including administrators and secretaries,
will implement
”
customer service standards
”
in one of several steps the district will take to fulfill its
priority to focus on positive interaction with stakeholders and
between district employees.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – The school district is developing a more user-friendly approach to dealing with parents and community members. Employees at the district office, including administrators and secretaries, will implement “customer service standards” in one of several steps the district will take to fulfill its priority to focus on positive interaction with stakeholders and between district employees.
The customer service model will first be rolled out at the district office and extended to each school site, possibly by next fall.
“What we’re trying to really do is trying to improve our communication process, but we’re trying to standardize and define what is support – what does that look like,” Superintendent Edwin Diaz said. “What is response, what is the expectation for follow-up on a request for service, and how do you treat people? Do you treat them with respect? Do you treat them with courtesy?”
When the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees approved its five priorities for the year, one of those included creating a customer-focused emphasis.
Through a survey handed out to district office staff and based on feedback from district administrators, a tentative list of standards was created, after multiple revisions.
The standards provide four major areas of emphasis: communication, responsiveness, courtesy and support.
Communication
– Overall quality of written and electronic communication is professional and respectful
– Notice of 72 hours given for all organized meetings, which will have an agenda and minutes
Responsiveness
– Respond to voice mail and e-mail within one business day
Courtesy
– Customer greeted with cheerful, polite greeting and person who answered phone is identified
– Customer’s needs are dealt with first, no interruptions occur
– Intra-office staff support each other in responding to customer’s needs; share resources
Support
– Staff is visible and accessible
– Planning processes are thoughtful, comprehensive, inclusive and communicated
– Process and activities are efficient and effective
– All materials, presentations, etc. are clear, accurate, timely, user friendly and high quality
Trustee Jim Rogers, who has not seen the list of customer service standards, said those working in public service should be conscious of how they interact with people.
“You have to be really careful when dealing with the public,” he said. “And obviously, when people are on the front lines, be they school secretaries or district secretaries, they are going to be confronted by some angry people.”
Rogers said he is excited that the district will have tangible customer service goals.
“I think it’s common sense stuff that we all need to be reminded about,” he said. “I think it’s good for jogging the memory on how to deal with things.”
Further development of the customer service guidelines will be data-driven, in keeping with GUSD’s method of improvement. A survey completed by teachers, staff and administrators at each school will establish base-line data for how well the district office staff fulfills the guidelines, Diaz said. Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services Steve Brinkman recently finished the survey and, with the help of Information Technology Manager Rob van Herk, has made it available on the web.
School district employees will use a five-point scale to rate central office employees, based on department, in early January, using the list of new standards. Another survey at the end of the school year will determine how well the standards were implemented.
“We’ll talk about them and determine whether these types of standards are appropriate for schools to adopt, or whether there needs to be some kind of modification,” Diaz said.
Both district office staff and school site personnel will be involved in the process to revise the standards before they go into full effect next fall.
District officials have discussed implementing customer service standards throughout the year, noting that the City of Gilroy created standards of its own that they say are highly effective.
The district did not use the city’s standards, Diaz said, but did look at a model provided by the Sacramento Unified School District.
Diaz said district office staff is currently undergoing training to implement the new standards. Training for school site staff may be incorporated into summer staff development.
“Once we share them and we get results, then we determine … what kind of support sites need and what type of training, and go from there,” Diaz said.
Diaz said a second survey could be completed in May and the standards rolled out at school sites next fall, although Brinkman said it might not happen that quickly.
Parents will have a chance to sound off on the customer service standards following the implementation at the schools.
“We’re looking for a good parent survey so we would include not only customer service, but we would include how they feel about schools, how they feel about programs …” he said. “That’s one of the steps that we’ll be working on this second semester.”
Improved communication has been a district priority since 2000. Some parents have complained of poor response times or no response from some teachers and administrators, particularly at Gilroy High School. The district has also encouraged teachers to use e-mail to communicate with parents, but low interest and technology problems have kept usage low.
