Despite the current government deleting the Policing Pledge and Confidence Targets from the police dictionary, the recognition of the requirement to deliver excellent customer service lives on.
Only this week the Mail and many Social Media sites have been extolling the virtues of Greater Manchester Police for their use of customer service champions John Lewis in order to teach their staff how to talk to customers. Late 2010 Consultants Procter produced their 'One voice for a responsive policing document' following a customer service forum with leading police officers and members of the Home Office. The document states that 'the initial conclusion... is that the police service needs to increase its focus on creating a virtual circle of responsive policing to deal with the dual challenges of public dissatisfaction...and budget cuts.' The document concludes that 'regardless of Government targets or league tables the good forces have focused on improving their service to the public because it was the right things to do and not because they could tick a box.'
Certainly customer service gurus will tell you that complaint systems are important as they enable an organisation to learn. In essence they are free feedback systems. But how many organisations have equally defined positive feedback systems that enable customers to say 'thanks, you did a great job.'?
The WOW! Awards is a goo example of how a simple idea can have a big impact on organisational positivity. The idea is that an organisation purchases a low cost licenece from this not for profit organisation and then with The WOW! Awards to develop a system that enables customers to say thanks in a very unbureaucratic manner. This system is ideal for policing as it enables police officers and police staff to gain recognition for outstanding work that may otherwise go unrecognised.
Take a look at standard of the nominations from Green Bay Police Department in USA, or check out the national awards won by Merseyside Police. And the use of WOW! is spreading through policing with Durham and West Yorks joining from UK and Peabody in Massachusetts in USA.
Research has shown that being positively 'stroked' can increase people’s willingness to try that bit harder. To go that extra mile. The police were once described as 'the band aid on society.' Maybe the Government is trying to remove the band aid because it costs too much, but the evidence suggests that in order to gain the support of communities the police need to communicate with them in a positive manner. What better way is there to acknowledge this than by saying 'WOW!, that was great service'
Procter can be contacted at www.procter.co.uk
The WOW! Awards can be contacted at www.thewowawards.co.uk
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