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Hogan Administration Releases Customer Service Initiative Annual Report

Highlights Improved Customer Service Across State Agencies on Customer Experience Day

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Larry Hogan today announced the release of the Governor’s Customer Service Workgroup’s first official Annual Report, which highlights the administration’s progress in improving customer service across all state agencies. The Customer Service Workgroup was established as part of the Hogan administration’s Customer Service Initiative, an ongoing program launched in June 2016 to foster improvements in customer service in state government. The initiative focuses on three core deliverables: a renewed focus on a strong service culture in state agencies, improved customer service training for Maryland’s 50,000 state employees, and the establishment of new service performance metrics.

“When we launched this initiative last year, our goal was to set a new standard across state agencies and change the culture throughout government to improve services for all citizens,” said Governor Hogan. “Marylanders expect the best possible customer service from their state government, and that is exactly what they deserve.”

The release of the 2017 Annual Report coincides with Customer Experience Day, a day that recognizes companies and professionals around the world that create positive experiences for their customers. Maryland is now the first state in the nation to participate in Customer Experience Day.

The 2017 Annual Report represents the next phase of the Customer Service Initiative. Over the last year, state agencies began implementing new customer service plans including assessments of current practices, standards for employees’ performance evaluation, and an outline of incentive and recognition programs for employees who provide excellent customer service. In addition, agencies have been gathering feedback from citizens via an online survey. The data collected by these surveys have allowed the state to track customer service performance among individual agencies and make targeted improvements as needed.

Prior to this initiative, state government as a whole did not analyze overall customer satisfaction, although some agencies had their own program-specific surveys. Since the launch of the survey, the state has gathered over 10,000 constituent responses and nearly 400 responses from state workers about their interactions with other agencies. Statewide, overall satisfaction increased from 81.2% satisfied in the first quarter to 82.1% satisfied in the second quarter, an increase of almost a full percentage point. Individually, 16 of the 37 participating agencies saw increases in their second quarter rating of overall customer service over their first quarter scores.

The Governor’s Customer Service Workgroup consists of representatives from the Governor’s staff, the Governor’s Office of Performance Improvement, and customer service liaisons from all Coordinating Offices and Cabinet agencies, and is chaired by Greg Derwart, Managing Director of Administration & Customer Experience at the Maryland Department of Commerce. The full 2017 Customer Service Initiative Annual Report can be found here.


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