By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: June 9, 2014
District of Squamish has won a national award for its recently launched Customer Service Program from the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA).
The District was presented with the 2014 CAMA Award for Professional Development during the association’s national conference in Niagara Falls, ON.
“CAMA is pleased to recognize the administrative excellence demonstrated by Squamish with its ‘Delivering Outstanding Service’ customer service program,” said Jean Savard, president of the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators.
Faced with mediocre customer service, limited resources and a desire to deliver outstanding customer service, district formed a project team to create an innovative customer service program, according to the media release issued by the district.
The team developed a customer service philosophy, policy, guidelines, an employee training program, and an employee recognition program.
The project started with a planning process to increase employee awareness around customer service, which lead to the creation of a Customer Service policy that defined what customers could expect.
Now when customers come to District of Squamish offices, they will find posters in all departments describing what ‘Delivering Outstanding Service’ looks like, along with a Wall of Fame where employees are recognized by their colleagues.
This grassroots project did not involve recommendations from a consultant, a large budget, or hiring of outside facilitators. Instead, employees committed to a process that created a difference in how customers are treated, said district spokesperson Christina Moore.
“The awards committee was impressed by all the submissions received this year,” said Glen Davies, Chair of CAMA’s Awards Committee, CAMA Representative for Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nunavut, and manager for the City of Regina, SK.
“We had 47 entries, so picking just eight winners was a challenge. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all those who took the time and effort to write their submissions.”
CAMA’s Professional Development Award recognizes a community that has developed a unique and innovative program for their staff and can be replicated in other communities.
