Clean leadership and a look at call centers

Jan 31, 2021 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

>>>Encouraging Events, Disturbing Developments<<<

By GHK Lall

Kaieteur News – There was a lot of the disturbing from the past week that raises the level of anger, ranging from more political untrustworthiness to exposures about financial self-help by public officers to chronic citizens’ indifference at what is being done to them by leaders. But I will not allow those to stain this Sunday. I prefer to point to a couple of positives, one of which I had to journey a little distance. That encouraging moment, which most likely bypassed the attention of many Guyanese, particularly crooked political operators, goes like this.
A man in Trinidad was reported to have reminded politicians: Leadership is a form of sacrifice, not privilege (KN January 25). I think that Guyanese may be more receptive to this man, because he is three figures in one. He is a judge, a lay minister in the Presbyterian Church, and a foreigner. Without going too much into his sermon and the spiritual, what he said to his San Fernando church audience was very appealing to me. Articulations such as leaders must manifest “strength of character,” and “addressing the needs of others” and “not to be served but to serve.” Though I could sense that our corrupt leaders would wave a quick dismissive hand, this is what matters to me. What should matter to all of us, and what we demand of ourselves and our leaders. Guyana would be far better than it is today.
Next, was two-thirds positive with the remainder not so encouraging. On occasion, there is business to conduct with one of our national utilities (telecommunications, water, electricity). The most convenient channel is the telephone and to the entity’s call center. Recently, my calls to the GTT, mostly for landlines or Blaze, have been greeted with what is of much training, of standards, and of quality performance. In sum, my communications with the GTT have been most encouraging. Yes, there is a holding period, but there is someone answering the phone, and professionally and courteously. This is then followed by the option to share thoughts on how well the call was handled and whether the issue was satisfactorily resolved, through participating in a survey. I like it. I am aware that there are delays in visiting residences and addressing pending reports, which is partly a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. But on the whole, my infrequent interactions with the GTT call center have been a good experience. I think it is a solid standard, which other companies should incorporate as part of their Customer Service menu.
I had the same experience when I tried the GWI to inquire about a new development. To my surprise, the call was answered quickly, and there was a live person on the other end, which was the first indication that good things could follow. It was a helpful conversation, and I am satisfied that the GWI is on the right track. The key is to maintain what is in place, and improve upon it. I must say that it is an encouraging enhancement, given what used to occur before, when the line rang out all the time.
And this brings me to the last of the local utilities trinity, the GPL Inc. Repeated calls to the Call Center are still to be answered. Those were on different days, and several times during the day. Maybe, it was due to COVID-19; maybe, I got them on ‘off-days,’ though I am troubled that such should have happened on at least three separate days. This was not my prior experience, because the calls have been answered, but to which I must add the discomforting. Most times, I got the impression that the Customer Care agent was doing me a favour, and not too thrilled to be dealing with the situation. There is some remedial work to be done there, and I urge GPL’s management to look into this, as part of an ongoing drive to serve citizens and to do so better and better.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)