Below is a national missive regarding the change of name for the Ministry of Education (bet you didn’t read about that in the MSM) and the push for Maori greetings for all who answer calls.

We have been told using English is “not an option”. 

The “rebrand” will include new signage, structure changes (to align with iwi) and new, Maori-only race-based roles. No other culture/race will be interviewed. 

I guess 85% of the population just don’t count anymore. 

Ironically this is supposed to be about customer service. How does a receptionist greeting a customer with “Kia ora. Whakatau mai ra ki Te Tahuhu. He aha to hiahia?” (a question that more than 85% of them won’t understand) possibly be described as customer service? Then again they must be following the Newspeak version of customer service, you know… war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength… and confusing the vast majority of your customers is customer service.

Go Live | Our Customer Experience | Te Mahau within a Redesigned Te Tahuhu O Te Matauranga

Opportunity

To identify a clear service standard for our customer experience (reception visitors and phone answering), and a path to put this into effect as part of our change process to establish Te Mahau within the redesigned Te Tahuhu o te Matauranga.

The information presented here has been developed with a focus on the current COVID-19 context and how we enable our people to prepare to put the changes into effect.

The paper has been informed by feedback from our front-line people – including Regional Directors and Business Support Managers. We have also consulted with Zoe Griffiths who will be the Hautu for Te Puna Rangatopu and Iona Holstead, Tumu Whakarae mo te Matauranga.

It has been agreed that we can continue to:

a       confirm a minimum standard of customer experience – at the moment this includes using te reo Maori greetings and a process to manaaki those who call us on the phone

b       provide support to those who currently answer our phones and greet visitors who are willing and ready to start using Maori greetings to do so from 4 October,2021, and

c       complete a project plan so that we can work through outstanding matters that need to be considered, addressed and implemented in order for us to be able to deliver a consistent minimum standard of customer experience.

Improving our customer experience

Te Mahau will be established within a redesigned Te Tahuhu o te Matauranga as our front porch, and entry way. A place of humility of presence and manaaki. That is accessible, visible and a place of conversation and community where people come together. The design is also expected to support us to change the way we work including giving practical effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and delivering greater responsiveness, accountability and integrated services.

What’s possible for 4 October?

We have developed a draft service standard that aligns with our new ways of working. This includes a basic Maori language welcome script that our people can start to use when they are ready and feeling confident to answer phones, greet visitors to our buildings and when we talk to each other. This initiative can be supported through centrally organised online training for our primary front-line people which can start in the week starting 20 September.

We are working to see if we can confirm a standard process to manage calls that can’t be appropriately allocated when they are received.

4 October Draft Phone Service Standards

We will extend manaakitanga and humility to those who contact Te Mahau or Te Tahuhu (either on the phone or in person). This means we will:

  • respect and support our visitors – tautoko, manaaki
  • listen and respond – so visitors feel heard and welcome
  • use our correct names and Maori language if we are confident to do so (see scripts below).

In addition – for phone calls:

  • answer regional calls in that region as often as practical
  • respond to phone messages in a timely manner – desirably 24 hours, less if urgent
  • best practice is to only forward callers to another person if we are certain they are the right person to help
  • the proposal is that after this introduction the phone call is conducted in English
  • we want to be working towards a ‘no wrong door’ minimum standard and agree a process so that we know people who contact us are able to get a clear and accurate response to their enquiry.

External phones 4 October Basic script – Te Mahau

Phones – Kia ora. Whakatau mai ra ki Te Mahau. Ko _______ taku ingoa. He aha to hiahia?

Reception – Kia ora. Whakatau mai ra ki Te Mahau. He aha to hiahia?

External phones 4 October Basic script – Te Tahuhu o te Matauranga

Phones – Kia ora. Whakatau mai ra ki Te Tahuhu. Ko _______ taku ingoa. He aha to hiahia?

Reception – Kia ora. Whakatau mai ra ki Te Tahuhu. He aha to hiahia?

Translation: ‘Hello, welcome to Te Mahau (or Te Tahuhu), what do you need?’ The phone script includes ‘my name is ______’

Internal phones 4 October script

Phones – Kia ora. Ko _______ taku ingoa. He aha to hiahia?

What other issues did this process identify?

Conversations with regional kaimahi and Zoe Griffiths, Hautu Te Puna Rangatopu have allowed us to scope some of the related components that need to be considered to get us to a well worked through minimum service standard for our customers. This will require a project plan to be completed within the first 100 days; (note: this is not required for ‘Go Live’ on 4 October) it needs to cover:

  • A review of the phone trees (to answer calls) including consideration to establish a call centre with staff trained to triage and allocate calls
  • Consideration be given to the updating of greeting scripts over time – for example greater use of te reo Maori and adaption of names as our customers learn our new Maori names
  • Our staff who answer the vast majority of calls receive training and support to meet our new standards and change commitments. There is no minimum standard of service now – we cannot confirm that people get a response or that their feedback is captured. This customer experience is not aligned to our change commitments. We recommend a ‘no wrong door’ new service standard for phone calls is developed with urgency where:
    • Calls are only transferred if we know who is responsible
    • If our staff cannot identify the right person to transfer a call to, an email message is taken by our staff, which captures the heart of the matter and the enquiry sent to: [email protected] which is managed by GEMS (ie callers are not told they need to the email us, we do it for them).

Eg: Susan Stronger (02712345678) called; she has a query about school camp fees when she knows that the school her daughter attends has the Donation subsidy. Can the regional Education Adviser please call her within 24 hours?

  • What other training might support the people who answer our phones? Options to support our front facing people to continue to grow their Maori language capability as a part of their everyday role, and Ie de-escalation training, and
  • A review (and possible rationalisation) of current 0800 and other phone numbers.

Next steps

  • Prepare a project plan and confirm that Zoe will be the SRO for the next steps. Should include:
    • discussions with Tom Dibley in GEMs and Lynley Sinclair, Business Services to discuss the implications from this work on their areas of responsibility and to connect them to the longer term project
    • on-line te reo Maori training for kaimahi in customer service te reo scheduled- frontline 0800 staff prioritised so that those who are confident can begin using the new script from 4 October
    • work with business units to implement 4 October changes that they are confident to move forward on and gather information from those who aren’t so that further support can be built into the wider plan
    • work with Te Puna Rangatopu to complete the project planning in the first 100 days to set and give effect to the new customer experience service standard.

consider establishing a process for processing incoming phone calls completely in te reo Maori where that is wanted by the customer. Providing government services in te reo Maori is an expectation in the Maori Language Act.

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