There are poor service standards in Guyana

Mar 25, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
In the light of deteriorated service standards, an exceptional event was captured and published on the front page of Kaieteur News’ Monday, March 20, 2017 edition captioned ‘Steady as she goes’. It was the photograph of a young policeman, in full gear, using his free hand to assist a senior citizen to cross the roadway. The scenario served as a timely reminder of what the Guyana Police Force’s motto ascribes “Service and Protection”. The action of that policeman is particularly commendable since it is often worrisome when some servicemen are observed turning a blind eye on matters within their mandate. Hence, his exceptional service is not just noteworthy but exemplary.
We are all too familiar with shoddy customer service even from representatives of supposedly reputable entities. Most of the disservice is directly related to a lack of professionalism. There are a number of factors that contribute to poor professional behavior. The most common factor often cited as a justification by defaulters is inadequate remuneration. What I suspect though is that complacency, arrogance, incompetence and insensitivity are the main evil forces that haunt our service sectors.
Service ethics, practices, standards and recourse mechanisms seem to be at an all time low in probably all sectors. With regularity one can write to an entity or enter an office and the service staff seems unreservedly reluctant to provide the relevant attention. When and if they do, without prompting, standard courtesies or greetings are often faint to absent. The service one receives thereafter is often guided by the initial greeting, or mood of the providers.
A troubling reality is the evident oblivion, where our society seems to be in an advanced stage of acceptance to those unsatisfactory and uncultured substandard trends of disservice. It has become so endemic across sectors that there is often stout resistance or retribution to anyone who dares object to poor quality of services and standards. Such is the situation in some mini-bus zones. Such is the situation with a nine (9) month old report to GPL under reference # 344235 (which I shall detail in a subsequent article).
Government is urged to engage key representatives within the Public and Private Sectors to implement mechanisms that will require their agents, staff and representatives to provide good services and serve the Guyanese public with deserving courtesy and professionalism. The implementation of corrective systems, whether meritorious or punitive as a means of attitudinal improvement, should be considered. Poor service standards have adverse socio-economic effects. They create discouragement, dissatisfaction and frustration. They stymie entrepreneurship and affect investors’ confidence.
The action of that captioned policeman assisting a member of the public should serve as a societal inspiration to those of us who serve. Individual and corporate service providers should challenge themselves daily to serve with honour, despite any underlying personal or institutional challenges. Service should be dispensed the way we would like to receive it!
Orette Cutting

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