Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-2021-6 - Main Floor Service Centre at City HallREPORT TO:Community & Infrastructure Services Committee DATE OF MEETING:June 14, 2021 SUBMITTED BY:Jana Miller, Director, Corporate Customer Service, 519-741-2200 ext. 7231 PREPARED BY:Jana Miller, Director, Corporate Customer Service, 519-741-2200 ext. 7231 Christine Baker, Supervisor, Customer Experience, 519-741-2200 ext.7328 WARD(S) INVOLVED:All DATE OF REPORT:June 2, 2021 REPORT NO.:CSD-2021-6 SUBJECT:Main Floor Service Centre at City Hall RECOMMENDATION: That the vision for a consolidated service centre on the main floor of City Hallbe endorsedas outlined in CSD-2021-6, and staff be directedto prepare a detailed costing for the new centre to be considered as part of the 2022 budget process. REPORT HIGHLIGHTS: This report presents the vision for a main floor service centre at City Hall where service always comes to the citizen,and wayfinding to multiple service counters on multiple floors is eliminated. Customers would arrive at one place (that is easy to find even if you’ve never been to City Hall before) and it would always be the right place to receive service and information The vision for thenew in-person service model includes:a general information desk, a single,expanded service counter and a new service support centre. If Council supports the vision for the new main floor service centre, staff will prepare detailed design concepts and budget considerations for this workto be considered as part of the 2022 budget process. Efforts to create a main floor service centre at City Hall area direct response to feedback from Kitchener citizens received through the extensive engagement process that informed the 2018 Customer Service Review and the Development Services Review, which concluded in 2020. This report aligns with the Strategic Plan theme of Great Customer Service. The vision for transforming in-person service at Kitchener City Hall supports this priority by ensuring that access to City services, across all service channels, is convenient and easy for citizens. *** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. *** Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance. BACKGROUND: In 2018 the City commissioned a statistically-representative survey of Kitchener residents to assist staff in understanding what citizens value in their service experiences with the City, what challengesthey experience when accessing services and programs, and what barriers staff encounter in providing great service to citizens. The survey‘s findings created the basis for additional phasesof the community engagementprocess that informed the City’s comprehensive Customer Service Review–essentially a deeper diveinto the customer experience with theCity,with more than 5,500 staff and citizens. According to the Environics survey, in-person service, particularly at City Hall and community centres, remains the most popular service channel for customer interactions. The survey revealed that 42% of service interactions with the City were performed in person, hundreds of them each week at City Hall. Even during the pandemic, staff have continued toserve200-250 citizens every weekwho are accessing City Hall as walk-ins orfor prescheduled appointmentsthat were booked online. Other relevant results from the statistically representative survey of Kitchener residents included: 24% of citizens who do not use online services with the City said this is because they prefer to interact with us in person. This was the number #1 reason why citizens do not use the City website. In terms of how the in-person channel is currently used to access City services, it is used by: o 87% of citizens paying for parking transponders or passes o 76% of citizens seeking a marriageor business licenses o 43% of citizens applying for building permits o 40% of citizens paying parking tickets o 31% of citizens registering for programs o 18% of citizens accessing Kitchener Utilities for payments or information Customer Service Review In 2018, the City’s Customer Service Review –which engaged 5,500 staff and citizens– revealed that three of the top 10 complaints for citizens expressing frustration when accessing City programs were directly related to challenges with in-person service at City Hall. They included: #1-Not knowing who to reach, call or talk to, to answer my questions or inquiries #6-Having to visit multiple service counters or facilities to access services #8-Services are not integrated and I have to provide the same information multiple times Development Services Review Staff undertaking the Development Services Review heard many comments about the current customer experience at Building, Planning and Engineering counters within City Hall –which generally representan overall complaint, about having multiple counters on multiple floors.They found that, because of the nature of their plans, customers are often required to deal with all three service areas and they were often frustrated with having to bounce between multiple counters, on multiple floors, to submit fees and applications, or to get answers or status updates on their project. Staff and Public Safety Overall, multiple service counters on multiple floors of City Hall also poses challenges because it means that most floors (including all staff workspaces) remain open for public access. Most do not have physical barriers to unauthorized space which can be seen as an opportunity for the public to walk through the floors. General access to unauthorized spaces over the past three years alone have resulted in the need for Security response to: Staff working alone being confronted and intimidated by a member of the public without quick access to safe exit Unauthorized filming and photography of City Hall spaces and staff without consent Theft of personal and City property REPORT: CurrentSituation While other service channels, including online and telephone, are also very important to citizens and have undergone substantial improvements in recent years, with the introduction of the MyKitchener online service portal (2021) and the Corporate Contact Centre which became 24-7 in 2014, in-person service remains the same since City Hall was opened 28 years ago –with multiple service counters on multiple floors of the building. For the first time, in 2020, staff were forced to rethink how in-person service could be delivered safely and effectively on a single floor at City Hall to ensure the safety of both citizens and staff as well as adherence to pandemic restrictions implemented by the provincial government. Kitchener City Hall currently has eleven service counters on six floors that citizens must navigate in order to receive in-person service for popular services including: general inquiries, marriage and business licenses, making paymentsfor taxes, utilities, parking tickets, planning and development permits obtaining and paying for a building permits, planning and engineering advice and application processing, assistance with recreation program and Leisure Access Card registration, and picking up parking transponders for City lots. Inmanycases, citizens must navigate multiple counters on multiple floors to complete a single transaction. This does not include the Office of the Mayor and Council where citizens also often make in-person inquiries.Additionally, wayfinding, in general, has been a consistent issue for citizens visiting City Hall for service, since it opened. Most often, citizens entering the Rotunda who do not know where to go, stop to ask Security personnel who then must take time away from focusing on core Security services, to provide directions. This occurs many times each day. To understand the additional challenges that customers currently face when trying to receive in-person service at City Hall, below are two examples. Example#1:permit applicationsand inquiries There are various types of permits and licences throughout City Hall, and many activities may require one or more permits or licences for the same activity (example: construction projects, renovations, business licences) and customers come to City Hall to make an inquiry as to what they need in order to proceed. Sometimes a customer may need to go to multiple floors to make all the inquiries they need in order to obtain the information they are seeking. For example, to ask questions about zoning or to obtain an occupancy permit related to th starting a business, a customer may need to visit Planning on the 6floor as well as ndth Licensing Services on the 2floor. They will need to visit Building on the 5floor if a building permit is required for any reason. Example#2:a customer building a shed or an addition to their home th The customer might go to the 5floor in search of information about what is required and/or to obtain a building permit. th Once they arrive on the 5floor the wait time to talk with someone will depend on season/customer traffic and availability of staff to meet with customers. Fewer admin staff at our service counters means that service is not immediate. Building will listen to the customer needs to determine the process and building implications and discuss other relevant considerations. Frequently, one of those considerations will be setbacks and whether zoning allows this type of construction, something that Building may not be able to easily confirm. th So, the customer will be directed to the 6floor to speak with Planning. Waittimes will depend on season/customer traffic and staff availability. The customer will once again describe what they are trying to do, staff will collect the details they need to determine whether this would be allowed under the current zoning. th If so, the customer could return to the 5floor and Building will assist the customer with how to apply and template drawings. Wait times will depend on season/customer traffic and availability of staff to meet with customers. With multiple service counters on multiple floors, the customer is often expected to figure out what order to navigate the process in because it is not clear which service area they should start with, or what order they need to use to get the information they need. Information is given out piece by piece at each counter. In many cases, the customer isalso expected to relay the information from each service area they’ve spoken to, to the next service area, and repeat the same questions with new City staff at each counter they visit. Additionally, because we’ve reduced administrative support staff in many areas over time at the City, there are difficulties forsome areas in staffing their counters which results in longer wait times and the customer further being bounced between staff on different floors to get information or service. The ideal in-person service experience In an ideal service experience at City Hall, service would always come to the customer, not the other way around –as it is currently. Customers would arrive at one place(that is easy to find even if you’ve never been to City Hall before) and it would always be the right placeto receive service and information–whether they’ve arrived as a walk-in customer or for a pre-scheduled appointment. The vision for in-person customer service at Kitchener City Hall is for a true one-stop-shop, main-floor “service centre” that creates this single place to go for service –for appointments and walk-in service –for service areas including: Legislated Services, Revenue, Planning, th Building, Engineering, Transportation Services, Special Events (bookings), and 7floor inquiries about programs and Leisure Access Card registration. City Hall Service Centre Vision While more extensive development of location, design concepts and budgetconsideration is still required, at a high level, the vision for a one-stop shop service centre at City Hall includes: 1.A centralized, easy-to-findcheck-in/general information deskon the main floor (with electronic check-inavailable) a.Would act as a central point for electronic/digital check ins before customers head to the service counteras well as continuing to act as a central point for City information when entering City Hall for any reason. 2.A single, expanded service counter a.Located on the main floor–whereall in-person service needs for any City Hall service area can be met without having to travel between many floors looking for “the right place” –via prescheduled appointments booked online or through walk-in service inquiries. 3.A“Service Support Centre” o A separate area, close to the service counter, where staff from each service area (eg. Planning, Building, Licensing, Community Services) can rotate through (weekly or daily, to work in touch down spaces) to provide wrap-around support formore complexinquiries and/or totake pre-scheduled appointments. This is similar to what occurs now (pre-pandemic) with service counters on multiple floors, however this would place needed staff on the main floor so no navigating is required. Maintaining an appointment-based schedule will assist in ensuring the appropriate staff person can be available to handle complex appointments, particularly where specific staff is assigned to the project in question. If a walk-in inquiry is more complex orproject-specific than the support staff on duty is able to answer, a member of the management team or the staff person working on the specific project, could be called down to meet with the customer. If this is not possible, due to meetings or absence, an appointment for follow-up in-person or by telephone will be made before the customer leaves. Service will always come to the customer. o Would also provide spaceoptions for customer appointmentsand privacy, including large tables, meeting rooms/pods etc. o The vision for the support centre is essentially a permanent version of the approach the City is currently taking to providing in-person service at City Hall during the pandemic. During the pandemic, the City has continued to offer essential services via online prescheduled appointments and through walk-in service for several areas including: Legislated Services, Revenue, Planning, Building, Engineering, and Transportation Services (Parking). Staff have continued to serve 200-250 customers each week in-person, the majority of them as walk-in customers. Both staff and citizens are becoming accustomed to receiving service on the main floor only; citizens have remarked that it is much easier for the service to come to them (which is the vision for the new main floor service centre), than for them to navigate to other floors. All in-person service interactions take place on the main floor at areas including the current Service Information Counter, the Revenue Counter, and at tables that enable social distancing within the Rotunda space. Benefits of a Consolidated Main-Floor Service Centre: Introducing a centralizedmain-floor service centre at City Hallwould address the frustrations expressed by citizens through recent comprehensive service reviews and would create several important benefits to them, including: 1.A convenient one-stop-shop where customers can access all City Hall services a.Improves the most popular way citizens access the City –42% of interactions are in person at City Hall and community centres (Environics, December 2017) b.Immediately simplifies wayfinding at City Hall; eliminatesthe need for citizens to travel from floor to floor/counter to counterto access/try to find services. Customers will always easily arrive at the right place for service. i.An additional benefit related to wayfinding is that this will reduce the significant attention Security staff currently provides to citizens seeking directions, so that they can focus on core Security services. c.Customers would enjoy a similar experience in-person as they now do online –with everything simplified and conveniently offered in one place. This is known as “channel consistency”and is also one of the four principlesof providing greatcustomer service which wereapproved by Council in 2013. d.Creates consistency of in-person service experiences for all service areas at City Hall in terms of customer service approach, philosophy, application of policies, business processes, training for staff etc. e.Enables more/better collection of data (eg. numbers of walk-ins and appointments, real-time information about their service experience etc.) to inform further improvements to the in-person service experience, and which can be used to create a more fulsome picture of overall service at the City. a.Continues the main floor service model staff and customers have become familiar with during the pandemic. 2.Address the barriers to receiving great customer service at City Hall as identified in the 2018 Customer Service Review and 2020 Development Services Review a.Eliminates the needto navigate departments, multiple floors and multiple service counters tofind the right staff person to talkto, which citizens said they foundconfusing/difficult. b.Eliminates being passed/bounced around from staff to staff –a strong theme emerged from both reviews about reducing the amount of ‘bouncing around’ citizens face both in person and on the phone. In late 2020, Corporate Customer Service staff met with all City Hall service counter groups to discuss opportunities, challenges, and specific requirements they might have under a consolidated service counter model at City Hall. Service Counter areas interviewed included: Revenue, Security, Legislated Services, Small Business Centre, Engineering, Building, Parking/Transportation Planning, Planning, DSD (in relation to findings of DSD review), Corporate Contact Centre/Information Services Desk, Special Events, and th Community Services (7 floor counter). Representatives from the service areas interviewed were understanding andgenerally supportive of the idea of moving to a consolidated in- person service approach. Several common needs were identified including: accessible counter space, specific technology needs, locked storage, private meeting spaces, and the desire to keep anappointment-based model. Determining the final scope for theprojectand developing design concepts and budget considerations is the next step and will require further discussionwith service counter teams. Once staff have prepared a detailed concept for the centre a financial proposal would be brought forward as part of the 2022 budget process for Council’s consideration. STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT: This report aligns with the Strategic Plan theme of Great Customer Service.The vision for transforming in-person service at Kitchener City Hall supports this priority by ensuring that access to City services, across all service channels, is convenient and easy for citizens. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: There is substantial work still to be done relatedto design concepts and their related costs. Staff can confirm that therewill be one-time up-front capital costs required to configure the main-floor space and there may be some operating impacts to delivering this newin-person servicemodel. It is anticipated that the delivery of service will largely rely on existing staff. As indicated above, if Council supports the vision for this new consolidated service centre, staff will prepare detailed design concepts and budget considerations for this work. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: INFORM –This report has been posted to the City’s website with the agenda in advance of the council / committee meeting. CONSULT –This initiative is a direct response to feedback from Kitchener citizens received through the extensive engagement process that informed the 2018 Customer Service Review and the Development Services Review, which concluded in 2020. PREVIOUS REPORTS/AUTHORITIES: There are no previous reports/authoritiesrelated to this matter. APPROVEDBY: MICHAEL MAY, Deputy CAO