Sheet 87
SERVICE IMPROVEMENT METHODS
Of all the measures the governments undertake to improve their civil services this article will concentrate on two, namely the "Use of Name Tags" which has been widely practiced in various countries for many years, and the more recent concept of "One-Stop / Non-Stop Service".
1 The Use of Name Tags
The use of name tags, primarily for front office workers, where each officer wears a tag bearing their own name, aims at improving the quality of service provided by these employees. The name tag makes the officer's name known to the customers and this in turn makes the officer feel a greater sense of responsibility towards their work. More effort will be spent, as a result, on offering high quality service.
Officers using name tags are reported to be more polite, and less likely to push customers around. For the public too, knowing the officer by name makes for a more simplified follow-up process.
Recently, however, the issue of privacy has raised some concern over this practice. Being forced to display your name unreservedly to complete strangers constitutes an intrusion of privacy. It has been suggested that instead of displaying a name tag, officers could supply their names when requested or indeed, for that matter, when the need arises. There have been an increasing number of crimes committed using real, borrowed names. These days, telephone numbers and addresses can easily be traced from a name alone. This has resulted in an escalating number of harassment cases especially to women. As such, it may be time to rethink the use of name tags.
2 One-Stop / Non-Stop Service
One-stop service aims to offer the public a more extensive range of administration services at the government office in their local area. These services would include those that are not directly under the charge of the government office concerned. The introduction of computers linking various administrative services within one network has relieved the public of the inconvenience of dealing separately with each highly compartmentalized government agency.
In Singapore, for example, a change of information on the national identity card (a card that all Singaporeans are required by law to carry at all times) reported at the nearest police station would have the effect of automatically updating records at 17 administrative agencies, such as the driving license department, the post office bank and the car registration office.
