30 Jan 2020

Heads of departments in the Southern District have been advised to be customer centric.

Speaking during a community based monitoring training of the Southern District on Tuesday, Government Implementation Coordination Office (GICO) coordinator, Mr Elliott Odirile said customer satisfaction was key, stressing that Batswana should get the needed services at the right time.

He said Batswana deserved the best service delivery, adding that implementers should be time conscious when executing their duties.

Mr Odirile said customers were the masters of service providers, therefore implementers should strive to fill performance gaps.

 He said managers or implementers should have concrete work plans and strategies in place that spell out processes that needed to be undertaken to allow performance to soar, leading to customer satisfaction.

Therefore, he asked ‘how do the citizens of this republic look at us as implementers with regard to service delivery; are they happy or otherwise.

Since we tell ourselves that we are performing, how does a Motswana assess the service?’.

Mr Odirile challenged managers to have a positive impact on the lives of Batswana.

He said one should lead discipline oneself before he or she can lead other people.

Mr Odirile appreciated the role played by councils, sharing that if they were not performing, ministries would fail.

For his part, Southern District Council Secretary, Mr Charles Amos said implementers should provide solutions to Batswana’s daily challenges for a better Botswana.

He therefore, implored implementers to give their all for the public to appreciate their work and be focused on the national vision and be driven by it when discharging their mandate.

Mr Amos implored heads of departments to be responsive to the needs of the people, adding that there are ways they could improve.

He said there was need to constantly review processes and policies to ensure they best served the interests of the people.

He challenged heads of departments to adapt to a culture of excellence, and to ensure good service delivery to make a positive impact on the lives of Batswana.

He shared that it was imperative to render quality services because the country also answered to international organisations such as World Bank, and it would be difficult to borrow money from them, if the country was under performing.

He said for international organisations to sponsor certain projects they needed certain standards, thereby imploring heads of departments to commit to results based or oriented management plans.

He advised managers to come up with practical methods and mechanisms of monitoring to hit the expected mark.

Mr Amos  implored them to think together as master minds towards one goal of transforming Botswana to a bankable country.  ENDS