Service Delivery (CC3)
I've always worked for the public sector and I always will.
The main reason is I like to be a valuable member of the community. For me, knowing my job is important, and knowing I'm doing something for the poor people in my community is very uplifting. When I think of the hundreds of people I help out every month, I get a warm feeling in my heart.
The buzzword in the municipal service circles is service delivery. You’ve heard it in the newspapers. You've seen it on TV. We're all saying it. It’s a vital part of our job, its what's driving this economy.
It’s also a fairly new concept. We only really started paying attention to it over the past couple of years.
So what exactly is service delivery?
Firstly, it’s using your initiative to make things better. I mean, when i worked in the licensing department, we had these queues and queues of people every day, waiting at the door from 7 until we opened at 9h10. But the word came from top management that efficiency was required. There were 5 of us, one to take fingerprints, one to do the eye test, one to fill in the forms, one to guide the people to the right queue, and one to make the card. So the five of us had a brainstorming session, we decided that every day at least one of the five of us would have to work and deal with the queue. So instead of having five desks in a row, we moved all the equipment onto one desk. That meant only one person was required to do everything. We each only had to work 1 day a week and the others could have tea. That’s efficient service delivery!
Service delivery is about showing concern for the customer. It means leaving our cup of tea in the back room before going to the queue and telling the people how you're working as fast as you can. What it means to most of us is arriving at work in the morning and having a cup of tea. And maybe sometimes working into the afternoons too.
Service delivery means different things to different people.; For the bus drivers, for example, it means, at least once a day, putting your cup of tea down and dragging yourself into the seat of your bus, then going through the thankless task of driving your empty bus aimlessly through the streets, especially at rush hour, so you can have the biggest impact.to show you're there. For the member of parliament, it means lunch at a different restaurant every day of the week and dealing with issues of severe weight gain. For the policeman, it means daily exposing yourself to the danger of irate people in the charge office, filling in endless case dockets. For the taxi dr4iver, I'm the service he has to deliver.
Sometimes the stress of service delivery becomes overwhelming and you feel the need to strike. This can be a problem if you're a bus driver, since there's the very real danger that no one will notice that you're not at work. That's why it’s important to team up with the rubbish removal guys - they know how to be seen! None of you missed the trash in the streets on TV??
Now some public servants never strike, such as home affairs officials or policemen. Despite the low pay, things are a lot easier for you on the financial and work comfort front. Take for example ,job security. Everyone knows how dangerous it is, how likely you can be robbed right there at your workplace. But if you're a policeman, you have the Fidelity Guards ensuring no one enters without authorisation. You can have tea in absolute peace of mind. And when it’s time to get out there, you climb into a nice police car with three of your best buddies, turn up the aircon and go cruising. On a good day, if you know where to go, you'll come across at least 10 potential criminals who you can demand R500 to prevent harassment.
Of course, if you really want to deliver service, harassing criminals is a complete waste of time. You need to go where the money is. The ultimate is to organise a northern suburbs road block. Here you make upwards of R10000 per day. I have a friend who’s a policeman. Last saturday night - he had a road block and stopped a car full of tourists. He asked them if they had been drinking. Yes, they honestly replied, we had 1 beer each. Wrong answer for them. It’s almost certain they were under the limit, so it’s important not to take them for a blood alcohol test. He immediately took them to the police station and initially they didn’t feel the need to cough up the R2000 he was demanding.. They soon changed that tune when they saw their potential cellmates!
Despite the benefits, the police service is not for me.
I've tried hard to get into home affairs, but so is everyone else. The main reason is that the service delivery there is so important. Consider an ID - if you can get one, you get onto the list for a free house. You can claim welfare benefits. You can legally be in this country, the land of milk and honey. So you can charge R500 and up. Passports too. If you want yours without waitng a period of at least 5 years, you could need to part with upwards of R1000.
Service delivery is an important part of each one of our lives. Everyone partakes in service delivery many times a week. Next time you're involved, take a moment to think about us public servants who've got up this morning purely to deliver your service.
The main reason is I like to be a valuable member of the community. For me, knowing my job is important, and knowing I'm doing something for the poor people in my community is very uplifting. When I think of the hundreds of people I help out every month, I get a warm feeling in my heart.
The buzzword in the municipal service circles is service delivery. You’ve heard it in the newspapers. You've seen it on TV. We're all saying it. It’s a vital part of our job, its what's driving this economy.
It’s also a fairly new concept. We only really started paying attention to it over the past couple of years.
So what exactly is service delivery?
Firstly, it’s using your initiative to make things better. I mean, when i worked in the licensing department, we had these queues and queues of people every day, waiting at the door from 7 until we opened at 9h10. But the word came from top management that efficiency was required. There were 5 of us, one to take fingerprints, one to do the eye test, one to fill in the forms, one to guide the people to the right queue, and one to make the card. So the five of us had a brainstorming session, we decided that every day at least one of the five of us would have to work and deal with the queue. So instead of having five desks in a row, we moved all the equipment onto one desk. That meant only one person was required to do everything. We each only had to work 1 day a week and the others could have tea. That’s efficient service delivery!
Service delivery is about showing concern for the customer. It means leaving our cup of tea in the back room before going to the queue and telling the people how you're working as fast as you can. What it means to most of us is arriving at work in the morning and having a cup of tea. And maybe sometimes working into the afternoons too.
Service delivery means different things to different people.; For the bus drivers, for example, it means, at least once a day, putting your cup of tea down and dragging yourself into the seat of your bus, then going through the thankless task of driving your empty bus aimlessly through the streets, especially at rush hour, so you can have the biggest impact.to show you're there. For the member of parliament, it means lunch at a different restaurant every day of the week and dealing with issues of severe weight gain. For the policeman, it means daily exposing yourself to the danger of irate people in the charge office, filling in endless case dockets. For the taxi dr4iver, I'm the service he has to deliver.
Sometimes the stress of service delivery becomes overwhelming and you feel the need to strike. This can be a problem if you're a bus driver, since there's the very real danger that no one will notice that you're not at work. That's why it’s important to team up with the rubbish removal guys - they know how to be seen! None of you missed the trash in the streets on TV??
Now some public servants never strike, such as home affairs officials or policemen. Despite the low pay, things are a lot easier for you on the financial and work comfort front. Take for example ,job security. Everyone knows how dangerous it is, how likely you can be robbed right there at your workplace. But if you're a policeman, you have the Fidelity Guards ensuring no one enters without authorisation. You can have tea in absolute peace of mind. And when it’s time to get out there, you climb into a nice police car with three of your best buddies, turn up the aircon and go cruising. On a good day, if you know where to go, you'll come across at least 10 potential criminals who you can demand R500 to prevent harassment.
Of course, if you really want to deliver service, harassing criminals is a complete waste of time. You need to go where the money is. The ultimate is to organise a northern suburbs road block. Here you make upwards of R10000 per day. I have a friend who’s a policeman. Last saturday night - he had a road block and stopped a car full of tourists. He asked them if they had been drinking. Yes, they honestly replied, we had 1 beer each. Wrong answer for them. It’s almost certain they were under the limit, so it’s important not to take them for a blood alcohol test. He immediately took them to the police station and initially they didn’t feel the need to cough up the R2000 he was demanding.. They soon changed that tune when they saw their potential cellmates!
Despite the benefits, the police service is not for me.
I've tried hard to get into home affairs, but so is everyone else. The main reason is that the service delivery there is so important. Consider an ID - if you can get one, you get onto the list for a free house. You can claim welfare benefits. You can legally be in this country, the land of milk and honey. So you can charge R500 and up. Passports too. If you want yours without waitng a period of at least 5 years, you could need to part with upwards of R1000.
Service delivery is an important part of each one of our lives. Everyone partakes in service delivery many times a week. Next time you're involved, take a moment to think about us public servants who've got up this morning purely to deliver your service.
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