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Gibson Mhaka
AS part of ongoing public service reform efforts, the government has taken a significant step by adopting a report on citizen satisfaction and work culture.
In his post-Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere said the report is intended to assess citizens’ satisfaction with government entities’ services to ensure that their expectations are effectively met.
The report was presented by the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, July Moyo.
“Cabinet considered and adopted the Report on the Citizen Satisfaction Survey and Baseline Survey on Work Culture
Transformation, 2023, as presented by the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Honourable July Moyo.
“Cabinet notes that the survey is in line with His Excellency the President, Cde E.D. Mnangagwa, and the Second Republic’s operational values of servant leadership, and citizen-centric interventions emanating from citizen engagement and inclusivity.
“Given that Government entities have the greatest interface with the people through the public services they provide, there is a need to continuously and objectively assess citizens’ satisfaction with the services in order to ensure that expectations are effectively met.
“The survey is a major milestone in that it serves as a service-level benchmark for Government in spearheading people-centred service delivery, the baseline survey having been carried out in 2022.
“As such, the study gathered information on citizens’ and employees’ perceptions regarding Zimbabwe’s public service delivery system as well as the current work culture among public servants in accordance with set dimensions,” said Dr Muswere.
He said the data gathered through these surveys is important for improving policies, systems and procedures in order to enhance service delivery.
“Notably, the survey included gathering information on the behaviours, attitudes and knowledge of public service employees from citizens, Government employees and stakeholders in all the country’s 10 provinces, 72 districts and from all the Government Ministries. A sample of 5 920, comprising 4 750 citizens and 1 170 civil servants was chosen.
“Cabinet informs the nation that the study found that the overall Satisfaction Index (level of satisfaction) was 70.81 percent compared to the 67.78 percent recorded in 2022. The improvement was due to the following indices which were rated in the
“strongly satisfied” category: Assurance, 76.90 percent in 2023 compared to 72.52 percent in 2022; Empathy, 75.6 percent in 2023 and 71.37 percent in 2022; Responsiveness, 72.35 percent in 2023 and 66.96 percent in 2022; and Reliability, 71.25 percent in 2023 and 67.18 percent in 2022. However, there is a need to better the indices falling within the “satisfied” category, that is, ICTs infrastructure and Equipment; Inclusivity and Gender and Location,” he said.
Minister Muswere said the overall Employee Satisfaction Index was 72.66 percent compared to the 69.17 percent recorded in 2023.
“Civil servants perceived themselves to be highly empathetic, assuring and reliable towards citizens. The 2023 survey dimensions of Empathy, Assurance and Reliability had indices of 79.85 percent, 79.16 percent and 75.57 percent were all higher than the 2022 indices of 75.45 percent, 75.71 percent and 75.10 percent respectively.
“There was a need to improve on the ICTs infrastructure and Equipment; Inclusivity and Gender and Location which were in the “satisfied” category.
“There was a high and positive correlation between citizens’ and civil servants’ perception of the service quality dimensions, hence the conclusion that citizens and employees are generally satisfied with quality of service offered by the Government. Government will continue to prioritise the conditions of service of its staff members to guarantee excellent service delivery,” said Dr Muswere.
He adds: “The five top rated Ministries, Departments and Agencies were as follows: the Public Service Commission, (citizens-77.47 percent and civil servants 75.42 percent); Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Wildlife, (citizens-73.70 percent and civil servants-73.22 percent); Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, (citizens-73.12 percent and civil servants-73.73 percent); Ministry of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, (citizens-75.30 percent and civil servants-76.25 percent); and Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, (citizens-72.87 percent and civil servants 72.85 percent)”.
He said only two Ministries, that of Local Government and Public Works, and National Housing and Social Amenities recorded decreases in their satisfaction indices, while all other Ministries improved in their citizens’ ratings in 2023.
Minister Muswere said most provinces registered improvement in the 2023 Citizen Satisfaction Index with the exception of Manicaland, Mashonaland East and Masvingo.
“Regarding employee satisfaction, most provinces recorded improvement, with the exception of Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East and Matabeleland North.
“Meanwhile, the overall Work Culture Transformation Index in 2023 was 73.20 percent compared to 69.09 percent, with the average work culture transformation scores for the relevant dimensions ranging from 54.35 percent (working from home) to 82.00 percent (work ethics).
“Government will, nevertheless, endeavor to improve on the ICTs; Wellness, Inclusivity and Gender; and Attitude dimensions of the Work Culture Transformation.
As part of the improvement thrust, over 2 000 civil servants recently met in Gweru for a week-long Inter-Ministerial Sports Tournament, which goes to show the importance Government is placing on Wellness,” he said.
Minister Muswere said that overall, members of the public will appreciate that the survey shows that citizens are generally satisfied with the delivery of public services as the transformation of the Public Service continues.
Online Reporter