News: Customer Service/Care
Customer care culture 'must be improved', says Berkshire report
30 May 2008
Major customer care improvements have been called for at a local authority in Berkshire, it has emerged.
An Audit Commission analysis of Wokingham borough council's current management skills concluded that a "strong culture of customer care" is currently lacking and requires prompt improvement.
The organisation's housing management scored one star out of a possible three in the report, which allocated it an overall rating of 'fair'.
Sarah Hollamby, the council's housing strategy and development manager, told The Wokingham Times that "major service improvements" are already being looked into.
"The council's housing services team is concentrating on these areas highlighted as needing improvement by the report and has already acted on many of these," added a spokesperson.
John Blakely, the director of brand development at the UK International Coaching Federation, pointed out earlier this month that demand for performance improvement training is likely to increase during the credit crunch.
Meanwhile, bosses at Basildon council revealed this week that sick leave had been slashed at their organisation as a result of their decision to implementation a management training scheme.
