CSC sends ‘agents’ to rate workers

The Civil Service Commission has started its own sleuthing again when it sent out “undercover agents” to the country’s regions to monitor and rate the performance of government employees working in frontline services.

These “agents” will transact business as regular customers and observe the quality of service or the way frontline employees of the government attend to their clients or the public.

The CSC said these agents would rate the behavior of the employee manning the counter, the efficiency of systems and procedures, and the convenience and condition in the waiting area.

Each frontline service would be audited three times by three volunteers and at different time of the day, the CSC said.

This undercover-agents scheme, according to CSC, is in line with the Public Service Delivery Audit (PASADA) program that was intended to ensure that every citizen would be satisfied with government service.

The CSC said the main target of the scheme are offices that have high frequency and volume of clients, and those that have so far the most complaints from the public, based on the Mamamayan Muna Program.

The CSC said that most of the public perception over frontline service personnel have been negative, describing them as rude, indifferent, and late in action, among others.

The frontline service of every government agencies is the government’s first line of communication with the public. “How the public perceives the government depends on a person’s positive or negative encounter with agency frontline service personnel,” CSC said.

When PASADA was launched last year, only the business permit and licensing office of Marikina City earned an “excellent” rating from the undercover agents.

PASADA is expected to provide CSC a better assessment of public service delivery in all regions of the country, and to identify which government agency needs help to improve its performance. — Ferliza C. Contratista/RAE