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Facing the customers. By Simon Sweetman

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16th Nov 2007
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Whatever this means, it is one of HMRC’s objectives to be a “customer facing” organisation. This is presumably in contrast to the standard retail practice of turning your back on the customers while deeply involved in discussing last night’s fun with your colleague, and so some kind of metaphor for actually paying attention to what you are doing.

I will pass over here the universal distaste for the word. This distaste is mainly based on the old fashioned notion that words have meanings apart from the way they are used in managementspeak. One notes in passing that the CIA’s mission statement avers a deep commitment to the customer in its [intelligence’s] forms and timing. I thought the CIA had only one customer but presumably they have worked out that they may have many, some of them paying better than others. After all, it’s a free market economy.

So let us assume that in this sense “customer” means “punter” and refers in this case to all of us in the guise of taxpayer, tax credit claimant, intervenee (as in one who is intervened into), agent, debtor or moonlighter.

So I turn again to the recent survey of HMRC’s staff. 45% of them deal with “external customers” (implying, I suppose, internal customers as well, with a fictitious internal market) every day. Many of them, I suppose, are call centre staff so they aren’t actually facing the customer, are they ? At the other end of the scale 24% either never deal with customers or deal with them less often then once a month. That’s quite interesting for an organisation whose purpose is to deal with customers’ affairs.

But what do they think, when asked? When asked about the statement “being customer focused is an important part of my job”, 22% agreed strongly and 53% agreed, and 78% felt they understood their customers’ needs. Customers might not think so.

Then they were offered “I believe that the quality of service to customers is improving”: 25% believed that it was (2% agreed strongly) – but 49% disagreed, 20% of them strongly.

There is a part to this survey headed “customer profile” (which indeed confirms the existence of internal customers who work in HMRC – what can this mean? What can they possibly do that resembles the behaviour of customers in the old fashioned sense?). The interesting figure here is that 35% deal (among other things) with external customers who are neither individuals, businesses nor agents. Suggestions, as they say, on a postcard, please.

Asked if they have confidence in senior management, 48% disagree and only 22% agree. Dave Hartnett was recently quoted as saying that morale in the department was good.

Interestingly, 52% of the staff have worked for HMRC for more than ten years, and only 8% for fewer than three years. That is not the face that HMRC shows to the world, with the short termers presumably including nearly all the call centre staff. 34% have been there for more than 20 years. They show some resilience, all things considered.

And finally they ask Is your gender identity the same as you were assigned at birth? The answer, in 100% of cases, is yes. So no cheap laughs there, then.

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By J Lessels
16th Nov 2007 14:27

Who is the Customer?

HM Revenue and Customs have one customer only. His name is THE CROWN. Their job is to satisfy him. Everything else is mere window-dressing.

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By User deleted
16th Nov 2007 16:46

Customers
It really is high time HMRC ditched the word customer - at most generous it could be called a failed experiment, but in reality it is an insult.

They should also ditch the internal HMRC person who decided or agreed to introduce the term and anyone internal who thought of the idea in the first place.

If the idea came from an external consultant, sue him for exemplary damages for professional negligence or maybe misconduct for taking the P.

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By sallyann45
20th Nov 2007 14:31

Call centres
What a farce this survey is!

As for call centres -I would just like to be able to speak to the person who 'knows' the case-sadly this no longer applies.

These call centres must be multi-tasking -I rang the Revenue call centre a few months ago and the first question I was asked was 'how long have you owned your washer'....Eh?

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