Putting the Customer in a Technical Environment

Waikato District Council has set themselves a challenge to have the “Most Engaged Community in New Zealand by 2020”. To achieve this the Council has set out on a journey to transform itself and firmly embed a customer centric philosophy in everything it does. As with any organisation that has large sections of its staff operating in a highly technical space, succeeding in the customer arena will not be without its challenges. A key part of this challenge was to create a shared vision and set of behaviours to support the transformation and to engage staff with the vision.

In the Engineering, Parks and Facilities area of Council, the 2020 Challenge represented a significant change in the way business was traditionally undertaken. Fundamental changes to the way staff engaged internally were required. Access to up to date technical information for front line staff along with easy ways for customers to call in, or log calls was also critical. Opportunities to partner with key suppliers across these activities were also critical as contractors are seen as a natural extension of Council by the customer. These partnerships need to be built with organisations with the same culture to be successful and to deliver.