FedNor / Industry Canada Service Improvement Initiative - 2005

Executive Summary

As a part of the Government of Canada Service Improvement Initiative, FedNor / Industry Canada surveys of clients and staff were undertaken in 2002. The purpose of the surveys was to compare client and staff perceptions, determine where success had been realized and areas for FedNor / Industry Canada service improvement. In follow-up to the 2002 surveys, FedNor / Industry Canada contracted a second survey of clients in 2005. The 2005 approach involved a survey of 151 FedNor / Industry Canada clients who had active projects in 2004.

Service Delivery

The average satisfaction of surveyed clients has increased or remained the same for all aspects of service delivery in 2005 when compared to the 2002 results. However, given the importance of some of the service delivery elements, the two elements that were assessed as service improvement priorities in 2002 remain priorities in 2005. These are to keep clients informed of the status of their requests and easy to make appointments with staff. In addition, a third priority was added to service delivery, that of flexibility. Nevertheless, satisfaction is high (mean above 4.0 in all cases except one).

Applications and Assessment

For the application and assessment process, satisfaction with some elements increased slightly, whereas for others satisfaction decreased slightly. However, one area had a substantial average increase in satisfaction. Surveyed clients rated their average satisfaction with the turnaround time on application as 3.4 out of 5 in 2002; this increased to 3.8 out of 5 in the 2005 survey. What is most noteworthy about the change in FedNor / Industry Canada performance with regard to the application and assessment process is that while there were four service improvement priorities in 2002, there were none in 2005.

Payment and Monitoring

For the payment and monitoring process, satisfaction with some elements remained the same, for others it increased slightly, whereas for others it decreased slightly. However, satisfaction for one element had increased more than the others. Surveyed clients rated their average satisfaction with the timely payment process as 3.9 in 2005 versus 3.6 in 2002. On the other hand, satisfaction with the planning of public announcements of projects decreased from 3.7 in 2002 to 3.4 in 2005. Nevertheless, there were three service improvement priorities in 2002: timely payment process; forms that are easy to understand and fill out; and the payment and monitoring process, overall. Only the forms were still considered a service improvement priority in 2005.

Facilities and Access to Services

Again for different elements of the facilities and access to the FedNor / Industry Canada services, there was a general increase or maintenance in the average satisfaction levels from 2002 to 2005. For one element there was a slight decrease in satisfaction (signs that were easy to understand went from an average of 4.2 in 2002 to an average of 4.1 in 2005) and for one other element there was a slightly larger decrease in satisfaction (offices and waiting areas that were comfortable went from an average of 4.3 in 2002 to an average of 4.0 in 2005). There were no service improvement priorities identified in 2002. In 2005, signs that are easy to locate are now considered a service improvement priority.

Communicating with FedNor / Industry Canada

For communications, there was an increase or maintenance in the average satisfaction levels from 2002 to 2005 for all elements. Nevertheless, the two service improvement priorities from 2002 are still considered priorities in 2005. These two priorities are consistent information or advice and clear written and verbal language.

Conclusions and Recommendations