60% of City Staff Trained, On Track to Meet 100% Goal by 2017, Mayor Presents Keys to City to Initiative Partners
PROVIDENCE, RI – Mayor Elorza today joined City officials, Laborers’ Local Union 1033 leadership, and representatives from Amica Mutual Insurance to announce that over 500 municipal employees, including management, have received customer service training through the City’s Customer Service Initiative, continuing the City’s plan to having all employees trained by 2017.
“We are making sure the needs of our residents are met in a positive, courteous, and timely manner,” said Mayor Jorge Elorza. “Thanks to our Customer Service Initiative, our employees are better equipped to provide assistance to those seeking to do businesses at City Hall. I thank Laborers’ Local Union 1033, Amica Mutual Insurance, and the City’s Human Resources Department for their partnership and dedication to moving our city forward.”
Through a partnership forged last year between the City, Laborers’ Local 1033, and Amica Mutual Insurance–60% of municipal employees–have gone through customer service training focused on developing better conflict resolution, collaboration, and internal and external communication skills to improve overall constituent satisfaction.
Representatives from Laborers’ Local 1033 and Amica Mutual Insurance, worked alongside City officials to establish and prepare core training teams entrusted to provide peer to peer customer service training across city departments. Training teams consist of staff from diverse city departments to promote collaboration and enhance interdepartmental relations. Future training is planned for Providence school bus drivers, Providence public school employees, and summer recreation staff, and will continue to be implemented to all new hires over the course of Mayor Elorza’s term.
The innovative training module used in the partnership was developed utilizing Amica’s exemplary customer service model and platform, with assistance from Amica Training Specialist Carolynn Woodis. Laborers’ Local 1033 provided training space for the sessions, and City Training Coordinator Michael Welden served as a lead coordinator for the project. Due to their major roles in the initiative and their service, both representatives received keys to the city from Mayor Elorza.
Constituent feedback cards are available in major city departments, allowing the city to monitor and track changes in constituent satisfaction and solicit feedback. Residents are encouraged to submit customer experience reviews through the feedback cards or online at https://www.providenceri.gov/customer-service-feedback.