Some years ago a woman in her 80s who was at the Passport Office to get a 10-year passport, exclaimed, "Thank God!" When asked if everything was OK, she replied: "This is the last passport I will ever need to get."
It was not the seemingly interminable wait for the travel document that mostly peppered her annoyance. It was the poor quality of customer service by public officers, whom she found indifferent and sometimes "downright rude".
Many public officers who deal with the public are professional, helpful and mannerly. Yet these officers often seem the exception, like lifeboats in a sea of surliness.
Many public officers have been trained in a certain manner and are loath to change because they are cocooned in a comfort zone of self-satisfaction. Others, who simply are not sure how to change, would do so with guidance and leadership.
Some are frightened by new technologies and others are afraid of incurring the anger of supervisors stuck in the quicksand of bureaucratic inertia: We have always done it this way, why change? Then there are the smug and belligerent ones who lord their authority over the public.
To be sure, a good number of Bahamians, struggling with illiteracy, fill out forms incorrectly or fail to understand instructions. But it is precisely these individuals who especially need help and assistance rather than petulance from public officers.
Change is occurring, such as at the recent changes at the Road Traffic Department, the National Insurance Board and the Department of Social Services, with smart cards for certain benefits.
The rollout of VAT was a leap forward in how taxes are paid. There is an attempt to improve across the board compliance, such as ensuring that a business license applicant has a new NIB card and is paying National Insurance for employees.
Significant improvements have been made at the Customs Department, including telephone service.

Capacity
There remain problems of capacity with the customs computer system, which is often slow and shuts down. Once an entry is processed by the department's computer system, it often takes a while for an officer to act on an entry.
There have been initiatives to improve client service across the board in government. But in the age of smart cards and technology, the Internet, algorithms and new computer and communications technologies, it is taking a long time to institute basic changes to streamline and improve a number of services.
Voter registration is still a laborious process that should have been computerized years ago. Those who have licenses for firearms still use an outdated system utilizing a book for re-registering, instead of using a smart card interfaced with the Internet.
There are still quite a number of immigration officers who are nasty, disgusting and rude to foreigners coming to The Bahamas.
A number of officers are not clear about certain regulations, such as how to properly treat Bahamian citizens who are not ordinarily resident in the country.
There is a need to simplify a number of government forms which now lumber under an accretion of categories requiring information no longer necessary or not the government's business.
Improving client service in government requires more than automation and simplified forms. It is the human component that also often requires marked improvement and better attitudes.
Most Bahamians dread going to or interacting with a government office for a service, such as getting a new business license, a new National Insurance card, a driver's or car license, or any of the many services required as citizens or business people.
Some have remarked that they prefer going to the dentist than having to deal with some government offices. There is often insufficient or improper signage and a lack of clear instructions as to the process to access services in a timely and efficient manner.
The development of new systems for Road Traffic was desperately needed in a department where corruption was rife and millions went missing over the years.

Frustration
The recent rollout for new driver's and car licenses was nightmarish, filled with blunders, fueling anger and frustration for many Bahamians, some of whom had to return over the course of a number of days.
Thankfully, Road Traffic, finally, mostly got its act together. There are roving supervisors who point clients in the direction of where they need to go.
The rollout of the new NIB card has been a disaster in terms of client service. The process to finally get the card in one's hand has frustrated scores of Bahamians.
Many speak of confusion and employees of the NIB milling around. It is often difficult to find someone helpful to speak to about a query or a problem. NIB was simply not ready for the rush of people attempting to get new cards. They are still blundering along, with little improvement.
What made matters worse, was that many had to get a new NIB card before they could get a new car or driver's licence. The frustration of many boiled over, made even more annoying by the rudeness and dismissiveness of some public officers.
IDEO is a well-known, cutting-edge global design company which designs products, services and systems for business, government and non-profits.
The company uses empathy as a primary design strategy. An item on IDEO's web page advises: "This is what empathy is all about. Not just sympathy for someone else's circumstances, but the deep intuition for what it feels like to live their lives...
"If you manage a store, for example, try ringing up customers at the checkout. If you run a logistics center, try working on the warehouse floor. If you manage project teams, sign up to be a regular project team member for a day. Whatever it might be, go experience the day of someone you lead."
To help hospitals better serve clients, IDEO would send in a design team to experience firsthand the process of a patient from entry into the hospital until release.
To improve customer service across the board in the public service a similar process should be utilized. We need to fundamentally redesign client service in government.

Experience
The process would take senior officers, department and unit heads, supervisors and line managers in the public service through the actual experience of accessing services and the daily interactions of Bahamians and residents with government offices, both online and in person.
The TV program "Undercover Boss" shadows company bosses experiencing what employees and customers experience on a daily basis. Many bosses gain a greater appreciation for employees.
The experience is quite revealing for company heads, helping them to improve client service, reduce costs and increase revenue, and improve corporate culture and governance.
It would be helpful for ministers, permanent secretaries, department heads and senior officers to better understand experientially the daily work, rewards and frustrations of subordinates.
Many public officers do not appreciate or experience the realities of accessing government services because they enjoy shortcuts to getting such service.
The retraining of supervisors and those with direct contact with the public would include not just training in new technologies, systems and processes. It would include an extensive period of hands-on and real-time training in human relations and client service.
There are many fine people who have worked in public service over the years. They deserve our respect and gratitude. The public service helps to protect our lives, govern our country, provide for general health and serve us in numerous ways.
Improving such services requires ongoing reform, respect and retraining. We should provide officers opportunities for constant improvement in order for them to better serve the general public and welfare.

o frontporchguardian@gmail.com, www.bahamapundit.com.

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