Organisation-wide training that aims to improve service delivery and the workplace environment is being rolled out as part of the implementation of our 5-Year Strategic Plan for a World-Class Civil Service.
The plan, which launched in January, has five strategic goals to support Cayman Islands Government employees in delivering world-class service on a consistent basis. These address customer experience, leadership, talent development, communication and governance practices.
The focus in the first year is on customer experience and leadership, and two trainers involved are Peter Gough from the Portfolio of the Civil Service’s Management Support Unit and Lance Barnes of the Civil Service College.
They are in the process of providing civil servants with the skills needed to move from delivering excellent service in pockets to consistently offering exceptional service across the organisation.
Mr Gough is focusing on training Customer Service Ambassadors as well as their managers and supervisors to deliver exceptional customer experiences. Meanwhile, Mr Barnes has been working with a cross section of civil servants on leadership.
Customer Service Ambassador training began in April in Grand Cayman and in June in Cayman Brac. So far, more than 200 civil servants have taken the all-day workshops.
Individuals attended from the Ministry of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure along with Vehicle and Drivers Licensing, Immigration, Lands and Survey, Customs, General Registry, the Postal Service, the Needs Assessment Unit, the National Workforce Development Agency, and District Administration.
Participants agree the training reinforced the basic tenet that kindness and courtesy are the roots of a positive customer experience.
Department of Commerce and Investment Business Licensing Officer, Shelise Jeffery (pictured at right with Peter Gough), said that “The World-Class Civil Service Customer Service Training was enjoyable and informative. The training was very interactive, which I truly appreciated.”
She added, “Mr Gough gave opportunities for all to share experiences and ideas. I learned that how I show up to work each day impacts my customers and my coworkers. So I work on being the best I can be every day at work.”
Mr Barnes (pictured at left) is responsible for upskilling supervisors and aspiring managers. He has worked with over 20 current and potential leaders within the last seven months, using Institution of Leadership and Management (ILM) courses.
Director of Hazard Management Cayman Islands, Danielle Coleman said the leadership training provided excellent tools to help with the day-to-day operations of her department: “It was a demanding but thoroughly enjoyable experience, and I would highly recommend it.”
“The interactive nature of the training ensured there was lively (very lively!) debate throughout, which encouraged sharing experiences, learning from each other and making new friends within the CIG,” she continued.
Acknowledging that staff members are unique individuals who require different styles of leadership, dealing with the various phases of team development, including the ‘not so comfortable ones’, and celebrating successes were among the topics covered.
The Civil Service College also conducted interactive workshops for over 80 members of the CIG financial team throughout the month of June. Instructors taught basic and intermediate levels of Microsoft Excel.
Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports, Agriculture & Lands Chief Financial Officer Nicola Anderson-Wildman praised the course: “The trainer was outstanding and accommodated the diverse skills of trainees as he provided both a refresher for some, while giving new insight into many of the new tools in the latest versions of Microsoft Excel. Members of our finance team rely on Excel in daily tasks, so these types of courses are also relevant.”
Portfolio of the Civil Service Acting Chief Officer Andrea Fa’amoe said the Deputy Governor has challenged us to make the Cayman Islands Government a world-class organisation. “To do this we must offer continuous training to meet the evolving needs of the organisation. We are in the process of designing a culture of learning where our colleagues are all active participants and advocates of lifelong learning.”
Customer experience training will resume after the summer and advanced Excel courses are currently being planned. For further information on these or other training initiatives, contact Lance Barnes at 244-6612 or 926-0719, or visit www.csc.gov.ky.