Business case for mystery shopping proposal April 05

Background
In 04/05 alone, complaints received by the council about our services or
advice provision has increased on a quarterly basis. In the period from July to
October 04 the council received 546 complaints. !or the period "ecember 04
to #arch 05 the council had received $%5 complaints & please note there
has not been '00( return from all services for any quarter in 04/05). In
addition around '%( of all complaints are also bein* referred to the
Ombudsman. +his may not sound li,e a substantial fi*ure, yet it is a fi*ure
that -e could loo, to reduce by e.aminin* complaints effectively the first time
they are made to the or*anisation.
/s part of the attempt to improve services to our customers, there needs to be
a -ay of ensurin* that our residents feel they *et a more pro0active service
from the council rather than a reactive service 1ust to complaints. +his vie-
has led to the potential development of a mystery shoppin* e.ercise focussed
initially on complaints data2 a *ood e.ample of -hich can be seen currently
runnin* in 3alin* 4omes, usin* residents to test the service. /s a result
service has improved and residents feel that the service is listenin* to them
and they have a constructive -ay of feedin* into service improvement.
Contribution to Organisations business strategy
+he council5s vision 6 to ma,e a -orld of difference5 is based around the
premise of providin* services in a -ay that is beneficial to the service user.
+here is a substantial need to improve the reputation of the council and to
ensure that local residents feel that the council is meetin* their needs.
"evelopin* a mystery shoppin* e.ercise could empo-er local residents and
service users and assist the council in providin* a service that does meet the
e.pectations of most service users. +he /udit 7ommission has also
inspected the council &in a previous 78/ inspection) and made
recommendations related to the council5s overall performance. Initiatin* a
pro1ect of this type -ould possibly assist the council improve its performance
-ith the full involvement of our residents and service users.
Objectives
+o lin, in -ith a baseline of complaints data by type and reason
+o reduce the level of complaints
+o improve the relationship bet-een residents/ service users and the
council and empo-er residents to improve the services they receive
+o improve the relationship -ith the 9ocal :overnment Ombudsman
+o monitor improvements -ithin services and to ensure the same
complaints are not bein* made time and a*ain by different people i.e.
deal -ith issue raised strai*ht a-ay to prevent other complaints on the
same issue
+o involve hard to reach *roups or residents -ho -ould not normally
contact the council or -ho have a *reat distrust of the council and the
services it provides
+o improve the complaints and su**estions process ; su**estions do
not seem to be addressed fully at present
hy needed no!"
+he council is under*oin* a lar*e chan*e pro*ramme, -here the vision is set
as bein* a customer centric or*anisation. If this is to be a reality and not 1ust
another set of -ords, the council needs to find -ays of involvin* its residents
more effectively and ensurin* that residents feel they can ma,e improvements
to their council and not 1ust ta,e -hat the authority provides. +he aim is to the
ma,e the council more responsive to the needs of our customers and a
mystery shoppin* e.ercise is one such -ay of offerin* improvements in our
services. /s there is such a lar*e chan*e pro*ramme, ,eepin* our customers
fully involved is crucial and see,in* their participation -ill be an e.ercise of
buildin* up trust as -ell as improvin* performance. 3vidence from a visit to
3alin* 4omes has sho-n that residents -ho -ere previously dis*runtled at
the service they received -ere more than -illin* to participate in a mystery
shoppin* scheme -hich led to visible service improvements. +his confirms
the theory that residents -ould li,e to become more involved in definin* and
improvin* council services.
#ey benefits to be realised
8otential reduction in complaints in certain areas of the council
Increase in response times to customers on complaints
3mpo-erment of local residents and community/voluntary *roups
8otential reduction in amount of complaints -ith 9ocal :overnment
Ombudsman
Improved relationship -ith residents
Improved relationship -ith 9ocal :overnment Ombudsman
Increased participation -ith local residents
Increased confidence in residents that the council -ill respond to their
concerns rather then the concerns of the council
8otential improvement ,no-led*e net-or, ; i.e. sharin* of results of
mystery shoppin* -ith all services and residents/ community *roups
8otential to develop improvement areas ;i.e. once pro*ressed from
mystery shoppin* of complaints can move for-ard to include testin* on
!OI requests, plannin* requests and more *eneric improvement
queries
8otential to share learnin* -ith other authorities and improve our
reputation
8otential to improve overall council performance -hich -ill affect our
78/ ratin*
#ey risks
+hat the voluntary sector -ill not participate in the e.ercise ; seein* it
as somethin* imposed rather than somethin* they have a*reed to
+hat sufficient incentive to residents to participate -ill not be
forthcomin*
+hat a private company -ill be used instead -hich could increase
costs
+hat costs -ill escalate if not properly controlled
+hat the pro1ect -ill not be fully mana*ed and created as an ad0on at
the end of <esponse
+hat insufficient volunteers are found to participate or that once trained
members of the *roup leave and do not share their trainin* -ith others
thereby increasin* the cost of trainin* provision
+hat previous dealin*s -ith the authority -ill put off minority ethnic and
disadvanta*ed *roups from participatin* in this e.ercise
+hat e.ternal consultants are char*ed -ith runnin* the pro1ect rather
than permanent staff
+hat the cost of trainin* residents to comply -ith mar,et research
*uidelines out-ei*hs the benefits of trainin* residents to underta,e
such an e.ercise
+hat once the system is up and runnin* staff *et used to the 6mystery
shoppin*5 and learn to reco*nise callers thereby *ivin* a different level
of advice to those participatin* in the scheme ; this could lead to
scheme failure
+hat residents -ho have a *rud*e a*ainst the council &or -ho have
previously made ve.atious complaints) -ill attempt to sabota*e the
mystery shoppin* e.ercise by not usin* the proper procedure or tryin*
to 6catch out5 council staff
+hat council staff are not properly briefed about mystery shoppin*
before the scheme *oes live ; &under mystery shoppin* *uidelines all
staff have to be informed -hen such an e.ercise is bein* underta,en)
+hat call centre staff do not -ant to be mystery shopped and so put the
pro1ect on hold
+hat members/trade unions &if necessary) may not a*ree to the
process
+hat council staff -ill require a full address from a mystery shopper ;
-hich could stall the process 0 as mystery shoppers need to remain
anonymous
Critical success factors and ho! they !ill be measured
C$%& +hat a -ide ran*e of residents and voluntary/community *roups are
-illin* to participate in the e.ercise ; includin* 6hard to reach5 *roups &need
to ensure there is sufficient tar*eted publicity ; potential for lin,in* in -ith
3alin* 4omes database)
'& ; discussions need to be held -ith the 37= &3alin* 7ommunity =et-or,)
to ensure a*reement prior to the e.ercise, and also liaison -ith 3alin* 4omes
to learn from their e.perience.
C$%( ; +hat members and the unions a*ree that this is an idea that -ould
benefit the council and residents and member participation could be a*reed in
terms of encoura*in* residents to participate in the e.ercise
'( ; that it is a*reed at a 7abinet meetin* and minuted &if required)
C$%) ; +hat trainin* on mystery shoppin* can be found easily and cost
effectively &one potential an*le is to liase -ith our Information and <esearch
team for advice ; either for trainin* or *uidance)
') ; 9iaison -ith Information and <esearch +eam to identify a -ay for-ard
C$%* ; +hat there is a complete analysis of complaints -hich -ill allo-
development of the areas to be mystery shopped
'* 0 3ffective sample of complaints and areas for improvement are identified
by central complaints team and individual services
C$%5 ; +hat a process of re-ard be considered for participants
'5 ; +hat the re-ard is sufficient to encoura*e people to participate and is
delivered as a*reed
C$%+ ; +hat all staff are informed of the development of mystery shoppin*
and area a-are of the process ; It must be confirmed that mystery shoppin*
-ill not be used as the basis for any disciplinary action a*ainst staff ; its
purpose is for service improvement only.
'+ ; 3vidence of information on process *iven to staff and their
understandin* of the process is chec,ed.
'ain stakeholders of the process
<esidents and service users
4ard to reach and disadvanta*ed *roups
/ll council services
Cost benefits
/t present there is no full identification of cost, as this -ould depend on
-hether resources can be provided currently in0house or -hether a
consultancy firm -ould be required to train mystery shoppers and provide
analysis of the results. +he ne.t sta*e -ill be to identify internal resources to
assist in the development of a pilot pro1ect.