Dumfries and Galloway Council Customer Services Advisor Nikki Steel has become the 1000th local government worker to gain their Customer Service Professional (CSP) certificate.
Nikki has worked for the Council since 2007, based in Newton Stewart and Wigtown libraries, and has successfully completed the Award level qualification.
The Customer Service Professional (CSP) suite of qualifications is the only Scottish local government online professional qualification certificated by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). The qualifications have been developed by Renfrewshire Council under the direction of the Improvement Service, with ongoing financial and leadership support provided by COSLA. The Customer Service Professional Qualification (CSP) helps public sector organisations deliver better quality customer service, enhanced customer satisfaction, improved responsiveness, increased staff loyalty and greater efficiency by improving the skills, knowledge and confidence of staff working in customer-facing roles, internally or externally.
The Qualification is available at three levels, Award (SVQ2), Certificate (SVQ3) and Professional Development Award (PDA) SVQ4). No prior learning is required before registering for any of the qualifications. The Award and Certification qualifications contain 3 Units covering 8 individual modules with an on-line exam at the end of each Unit, each module also has workbook that candidates complete to reinforce the learning:
CSP was piloted in within Dumfries and Galloway Council during 2009 with 24 candidates and rolled out in 2010.
Our Council has actively promoted the CSP since 2010 and can boast the following success stories in relation to CSP;
• 3rd highest number of registrations in the country:-151 (131 Award, 16 Certificate; 4PDA)
• Highest number of graduates in the country: – 121 (110 Award, 11 Certificates);
• 80% pass rate (one of the highest in Scotland)
Councillor Tom McAughtrie, Chair of the Council’s Community and Customer Services Committee said;
“The Customer Service Professional qualification has proved to be of exceptional value to our staff and customers during a period of change which has seen customer services, libraries and registration merged into one service. Our customers are at the heart of all that we do and by ensuring that our employees have the right tools and training we aim to ensure that we deliver high quality customer services at all times, resolving our customers queries at the first time of asking. I am delighted that Nikki’s hard work has resulted in her being the 1,000th CSP graduate.”
Nikki said after receiving her award;
“I am very pleased that Dumfries and Galloway Council has encouraged its Customer Service employees to undertake this nationally recognised course. It provides useful tools to allow Customer Service personnel to provide a very professional service, focusing on making the experience for the customer a positive one that gets it right first time at the first point of contact. I was delighted to find that I was the 1000th candidate to pass and achieve this qualification.”
The attached photo shows Nikki receiving her award from Cllr Tom McAughtrie.
