The national Citizen Satisfaction e-Survey (e-CitSat) conducted last 2020 by the  Development Academy of the Philippines-Productivity and Development Center under  the Government Quality Management Program captured citizens’ expectations from  frontline government service during the pandemic.  

Top Service Attributes that Matter to Citizens in 2020

The top thirteen service attributes that matter most to citizens, gleaned from the  2020 e-CitSat, are proposed to be part of the minimum set of service quality standards  (SQS) for the “new normal” frontline government service delivery. 

Citizens considered these 13 attributes to be the most important service features  during the 2020 pandemic. Interestingly, clean and well-lighted waiting areas and fast  transactions were also considered by citizens as top attributes in 2018 even before the  pandemic.  

The top service attributes cover the eight service quality dimensions provided by  the Inter-Agency Task Force on Harmonization of National Government Performance,  Monitoring, Information and Reporting Systems (AO25 IATF) in its 2020 guidelines. 

During the pandemic in 2020, observance of minimum health protocols which  includes filling of health declaration or contact tracing form, thermal scanning, and strict  observance of social distancing measures received the highest importance rating of 98%  from citizens. Frontliners wearing face masks and shields, as well as, protection of  personal and confidential information both received a rating of 97% while getting what is needed got 96%.

The following expectations were given a rating of 97% by the transacting citizens,  a clean and well-lighted waiting area, easy to contact agency by phone, and availability  and accessibility of agency website, while fast transaction was rated 93%.

Also significant to the transacting citizens are helpful frontliners, confirming  successful online transactions, immediate issuance of official receipts, and ease of getting  updated and accurate information, all rated 97%. Fairness of agency got 96% importance  rating.  

To further probe on citizens’ expectations and to better understand the top service  attributes, Consultations Towards Improvement of Frontline Government Service Delivery  in the “New Normal” were conducted on 3, 5, and 7 May 2021 with representatives from  civil society organizations in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Comments and insights on the top service attributes were solicited from the participants during the focus group  discussions. 

Regarding ease of contacting agencies, participants shared that phone calls are  more convenient due to unstable or unavailable internet connection in some areas in the  country. In addition, the participants raised that most citizens use mobile phones so they  prefer that government agencies provide mobile numbers aside from landline hotline  numbers. 

Participants’ also shared their concern of having to make multiple trips to an  agency when transactions cannot be processed in a single face-to-face trip due to the  work-from-home set up of some agencies. This highlighted the value of service attributes  on getting what is needed, helpful frontliners, and fast transactions.

The national e-CitSat aims to help the public sector better understand the needs  and perceptions of the Filipinos and identify areas for government-wide quality  improvement. 

The national Citizen Satisfaction and Business Satisfaction surveys being  conducted by the DAP – Productivity and Development Center under the Government  Quality Management Program are critical tools in helping the public sector better understand the needs and perceptions of the Filipinos and identify areas for improvement  in public service delivery. 

The DAP seeks to empower leaders, strengthen institutions, and build the nation  through pioneering, value adding, synergistic ideas, concepts, principles, techniques, and  technologies addressing development problems of local, national and international  significance. DAP – PDC offers capability building, technical assistance, and research  related to productivity and quality improvement. For more information, visit  www.dap.edu.ph, http://pdc.dap.edu.ph/, and email at pdc.pdro@dap.edu.ph. 

View the previous 2018 CitSat Survey Results Report – http://bit.ly/SQS2021IEC.