Client Satisfaction Survey - Public Service Pay Product

January 17, 2001

In the Spring of 2000, Compensation Sector issued its second Client Survey and asked its clients to evaluate the delivery of the Public Service pay product offered by the Business Line against the Public Service Level Standards for Pay.

The attached Communiqué is a brief outline of the survey results compared to the Client Survey performed in 1998 and gives a description of the next steps PWGSC will take to respond to your suggestions.

I wish to thank you for your participation in this survey at the same time as the overwhelming workload to implement Pay Equity and many new Collective Agreements. Your PWGSC regional pay office will be pleased to answer any of your questions, whether it be on the survey results or on any other subject related to the compensation products.

CLIENT SURVEY - PUBLIC SERVICE PAY PRODUCT

The second client survey of the Public Service Pay Product was conducted in April 2000. All client organizations in each of the six regions of Canada were asked to rate the services being offered by the Compensation Business Line, against Service Level Standards, revised in March, 2000. Seventy-seven clients responded to the survey; this represents 33% of the population that was targeted. The response rate is relatively low and not all clients responded to all of the questions on the survey, therefore, caution is suggested when reading the results as these may not be representative of the total client base.

National data was gathered for the seven activities related to pay:

1. Pay transactions: Results show that clients are satisfied that PWGSC "usually" or "always" meets the published service levels for Pay transactions.

Compared to the April, 1998 survey, there has been improvement of 9.6% in the "always" rating. A detailed analysis of the returns by transaction type identified that Clients are satisfied with the automated transfer process. The Business Line developed this new process in response to the April, 1998 survey.

2. Network and System Support: 84% of all responses indicated that the Regional Pay System was available 99% of the time from 7:30am to 8:00pm. Client comments indicate that the system response time could be improved at the time of the pay period cut-off between the hours of 11:00am to 2:00pm.

3. National Processing Schedule: 87% of all responses indicated that the published standard is met. Client comments indicate that the 2:00 p.m. Ottawa time cut-off is too early and that additional supplementary runs would be beneficial.

4. Output Delivery: 79% of all responses indicate that output is being delivered to the clients designated site within the standard. This rating decreased by 20% compared to the 1998 survey results. Client comments indicate that issues are: misdirection of output and cheques, non receipt of the Gross-to-Net Statements, slower delivery of registers (Atlantic Region) and additional delay due to the closing of the Ottawa print site.

5. Advisory Services: The following chart shows the overall rating of how well the Business Line meets its published service levels for Advisory Services.

Compared to the April, 1998 survey the results decreased by 3.9% in the "always" and "usually" ratings. During the period of the survey Advisory Services experienced a major increase in the number of inquiries due to the implementation of Pay Equity and new Collective Agreements. It was anticipated that this would have an impact on the survey results.

Clients assessed service standards with respect to advice received by phone, e-mail, Fax and letter. E-Mail was perceived to be more timely and accurate.

We also asked clients how often they use Advisory Services. In all Regions, except Québec and Pacific, there has been an increase in the daily use of this service.

6. Compensation Communications: Clients were also asked to rate different ways PWGSC communicates with them. The assessment of the timeliness, accuracy and clarity of communications is shown in the next graph.

Of specific concern is the timeliness of communications mostly in regard to On-line Broadcast messages and Pay Equity.

7. Compensation Training: Overall clients viewed the training activity as "usually" or "always" meeting the service standards 91% of the time. The following graph shows the detail assessment of the timeliness, completeness and effectiveness of the core training courses offered by PWGSC.

The timeliness of training remains an area to be further addressed by PWGSC.

NEXT STEPS:

The Compensation Business Line intends to concentrate its efforts in areas where the clients have expressed the least satisfaction with our ability to meet service standard. Each Region will be addressing the specific concerns of their clients.

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