Enhancing the user experience

Promoting a service culture through customized staff training

The Authors

Peter Edward Sidorko, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Esther Woo, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Acknowledgements

The contribution made by the IFLA Continuing Professional Development and Workplace Learning Section, in bringing this paper to publication, is gratefully acknowledged.

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight a series of initiatives generated from, and managed within, a major university library and aimed at improving a customer service focus.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper documents a series of approaches, including a customized staff training package, that were intended to enhance users' experience with staff. Over a period of six years the responses to a biannual user survey were tracked in order to identify improvements, or otherwise, in users' perceptions of staff performance in terms of their customer service.

Findings – The survey results seem to indicate that improvements in users' perceptions of staff performance have improved with time and have done so most dramatically following a series of self-initiated workshops conducted by library staff.

Research limitations/implications – While it is difficult to directly correlate the successful outcomes with the initiatives, including the staff-conducted workshops, it will be necessary to continue to track users' perceptions of staff to ascertain whether the trend is sustainable or an aberration.

Originality/value – The paper provides a unique perspective of applying a range of approaches aimed at improving the user experience with staff in a major Asian university library. The success of these approaches is linked to the outcomes of the library's biannual user survey.

Article Type:

Case study

Keyword(s):

Customer service management; Workplace learning; Customer surveys; Organizational performance; Libraries; Hong Kong.

Journal:

Library Management

Volume:

29

Number:

8/9

Year:

2008

pp:

641-656

Copyright ©

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

ISSN:

0143-5124

Introduction

Libraries are evolving rapidly. Not only are collections and formats changing, but pressures felt by library staff, irrespective of library type be it academic, public, special or other, are increasingly many and varied. Much has been written about these changes and about the pressures felt by staff undergoing such changes. This paper, however, will focus on the customer service related effects of these pressures as witnessed in an academic library in Hong Kong and how this library sought to address these adverse effects.

The University of Hong Kong is the oldest university in Hong Kong having been established in 1911. The University of Hong Kong Libraries (HKUL) comprises one major Main Library and six subject related branches, Dental, East Asian, Education, Law, Medicine and Music. In total a staff of approximately 240, including only 31 professional librarian positions, are employed across this network. In many senses it has been a very traditional library in both its service orientation and its organizational structure. Beginning in 2001, however, a number of significant changes that were generated both internally and externally were experienced by the Libraries. Internally, a major restructure was undertaken that emphasized faculty outreach and a team based organizational approach, an aggressive approach to electronic resource collection that saw the Libraries reach, what we believe is, the world-first milestone of one million e-books in 2006. Externally, Hong Kong suffered a major economic downturn, which was exacerbated by the SARS epidemic, and which consequently led to reduced funding for higher education and in turn academic libraries. In addition to this, the usual pressures facing major academic libraries were also felt including the impact of technology and the need for constant staff re-skilling, increasing accountability and growing user demands for immediate service oriented responses to their increasing needs.

Within this volatile environment, there had been evidence of a declining level of quality customer service as demonstrated through our user surveys as well as from individual user feedback. Libraries and library workers are traditionally, and almost without exception, highly valued by their user communities for their service ethic. This ethic is enshrined in numerous mission, vision, policy and other strategic statements from library organizations such as our associations as well as from individual libraries. In its core values statement, the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) states that library professionals are committed to “[r]espect for the diversity and individuality of all people” and “[e]xcellence in professional service to our communities” (Australian Library and Information Association, 2002). Similarly, the American Library Association's Core Values and Ethics statement includes “We provide the highest level of service to all library users through appropriate and usefully organized resources; equitable service policies; equitable access; and accurate, unbiased, and courteous responses to all requests” (American Library Association, 2007). Our own Library developed a strategic plan where one of the strategic directions (goals) states that we will “provide user-friendly services employing the best technologies available”. Furthermore, we also developed a complementary set of service standards aimed at further enshrining our service ethic and ensuring that all staff, and indeed all users, were mindful of the expectations of them in this regard. Specifically this statement declares that “We vow to provide all library users with a high level of service that will always be courteous, friendly, helpful and fair. In meeting your information needs we will be professional, accurate, responsive and timely” (The University of Hong Kong Libraries, 2002).

But can value and strategy statements such as these sufficiently motivate staff to perform positively towards users during such turbulent times? Like most libraries, the HKU Libraries gathers feedback from users by regularly undertaking user satisfaction surveys. Prior to 2002, these surveys were single-dimensional, general user satisfaction surveys in that they simply asked users to rate the Libraries' overall performance in a range of categories dealing with services and resources. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best possible score, users were asked to respond to the question “Overall, how satisfied are you with Library staff?” Average scores of 3.80 (1999), 3.65 (2000) and 3.75 (2001) were attained. On the surface, these scores appear respectable with only minor deviations in the years. When we analysed users' free form comments, however, we were surprised to see that in the 2001 survey, the third most common feedback (first and second most frequent were cold air conditioning and opening hours, respectively) was about poor staff service, in particular responses that demonstrated that we had poor customer service focus in the eyes of a number of our users.

Customer service enhancements at HKUL

In responding to such user perceptions we embarked on an approach that we acknowledged from the outset would require a significant degree of investment in terms of both hard to come by finances and, more significantly, staff time and energy. This was to be a long-term investment and we knew there was no quick fix solution. Our motivation for improving customer service was not solely based on improving our image. We recognized that good customer service enables the library to be seen as a service that is highly valued by its community which in turn may have a funding impact. Like others we also believed that good customer service was beneficial to the library in many other ways including higher “job satisfaction and motivation” for staff, “more rewarding and less stressful work”, a greater chance for “innovation and creativity” as well as greater “recognition for individual staff members” (Theis, 1996, p. 126).

Our approach then was about providing an overarching environment that would foster a sense of pride in staff for the good services they could provide. We adopted a three-tiered approach that we hoped would nurture an environment that was both reasonable in terms of being achievable as well as sustainable. These centred on:

  1. clarifying perceptions and expectations that we have of both library staff and users alike;
  2. improving communication among library staff and between the library and its user community; and
  3. improving skills in customer service related activities.

1. Clarifying perceptions and expectations

In order to establish a relevant programme, a library needs to first know how well it serves its customers. Part of this process should involve an “honest” self assessment of the service condition of the library (Hong and Bassham, 2007). As a means of starting the process, in early 2002, we embarked on a series of workshops conducted by the Deputy University Librarian that were aimed at assessing and reviewing service delivery at the Libraries. Specifically, we examined characteristics of the existing service culture, identified and assessed current mechanisms for feedback, review and process improvement and we established a process for determining standards for service delivery. Representatives from all units within the Libraries attended the workshops which focused on:

The outcome of this process was the development of the previously mentioned service standards. These service standards have served several purposes:

While the resulting service standards represent a welcome addition to the Libraries policies, in many ways it was the process itself of consultation, review and finally implementation that was most beneficial to staff who actively and rigorously participated and debated the standards and expectations.

A further means of clarifying expectations of library staff in terms of customer service behaviour was through a branding exercise that sought to capture the Library's philosophy in terms of its relations with its user community. Our branding exercise resulted in “The University of Hong Kong Libraries. Your partner in intellectual excellence. Caring. Collaborative. Creative”. This brand was attached to the University's logo and now appears in all of the library literature, publications, stationery and web pages. Some internal discussions and workshops were held to identify exactly what it meant to be caring, collaborative and creative and these ideas were built upon in the internal customer services workshops that were convened.

2. Improving communication

Our second approach was to focus on communication with the belief that better communication within the Libraries and between the Libraries and its user community should result in better relationships between service providers and customers (Broady-Preston et al., 2006). To this end, we undertook a comprehensive sequence of assessment of internal and external communication practices. A staff communication survey was the main thrust behind this assessment. The survey was undertaken in 2003, then 2004 and most recently in 2007. From 2003 to 2004 the most significant decline in communication was that with the Libraries top management (see Table I).

Anecdotal evidence had suggested that this result was to be expected. Prior to the results of this 2004 survey, we established the Staff Relations Committee who was charged with, among other things. encouraging “communication among library staff” and advising “management on staff matters according to opinions collected from library staff. One of the Committee's first tasks was to analyse the 2004 communication survey results and to make recommendations for improvement.

The Libraries second tier management committee, the Quality Assurance Team (QAT), which is chaired by the Deputy University Librarian and includes all five team leaders, meets every fortnight and a standing item of discussion at this meeting is user feedback. The Team discusses all useful comments and feedback received during the preceding two weeks with a view to reviewing and improving existing policies, procedures, workflow and structure where necessary. Prompt resolution of users concerns is overseen by the committee who also ensure that the user is kept informed of such resolutions.

3. Improving skills

Our third and perhaps most comprehensive approach was to initiate a range of customer service related workshops for library staff. Initially, in mid-2002, we employed the use of local consultants with experience in customer service training. In consultation with the Libraries management team and Staff Development Committee a programme was developed that would aim to:

Resulting from these objectives were three workshops: Delivering Quality Service Training Programme (a series of one-day workshops delivered to 115 staff); Effective Telephone Handling for Service Excellence (a series of one-day workshops delivered to 104 staff); and, Service Leadership (a 1.5 day workshop delivered to 23 staff). In terms of satisfaction, these workshops were very well received by participants. However, while these workshops were well regarded by participants, we were conscious that their effectiveness in improving customer service was yet to be tested. Furthermore, it was widely held that a continual programme of customer service training was necessary and staff at many levels were committed to this. One further issue that arose from the series of training sessions conducted by external consultants was that a library specific focus was lacking in their content delivery despite their very genuine attempts to utilize library specific examples in their case studies. It was noted that facilitators should be able to demonstrate how they put theories into practice, not only during workshops but in real life library situations.

In 2005, during one of the Libraries annual planning retreats, an operational priority (strategic plan objective) was created to “Develop an internal staff training programme with an emphasis on customer service.” A library-wide team was established to develop this objective and to see it through to completion. Resulting from this team's deliberations was the need for a range of customer service training sessions that would be aimed at all staff, would be delivered by library staff and would strongly emphasize the local situation. A series of objectives were defined:

With these objectives in mind a detailed programme resulted (see Figure 1). Five parts were identified by the team as necessary and that these would range from the theoretical and introductory to the very detailed and specific focusing on areas identified as being of direct concern to library staff. These five parts were subsequently consolidated into a series of three workshops presented as modules. The workshops were promoted as customer service sharing sessions to emphasize the point that they were more about communicating in multiple ways than merely training.

The introductory module, “Philosophy of customer service” (delivered by the Deputy University Librarian) set the scene for the forthcoming sessions and provided management with the opportunity to emphasise:

The second module, combining the three parts “Focusing on library customers, problem-solving process and communication with customers”, was jointly prepared and facilitated by the Main Library Services Team Leader, Access Services Librarian, Law Librarian and Information Literacy and Knowledge Management Librarian. These three parts were incorporated into one module because of the inter-relationship of the topics and the synergy that we expected would ensue from the collaboration of the chosen facilitators. The sessions were aimed at introducing the skills to providing good services and handling difficult situations. Taking into consideration the introverted nature of many library staff, attitudinal training was conducted by means of many audio-visual aids, case studies and exercises. To arouse the interest of attendees and optimize the impact of learning, all the videos, audio recording and case studies were adapted from real cases of our Libraries and some frontline staff were selected to perform in the videos and audio recordings.

The final module on “Internal communication” was developed and delivered by the Chair of our Staff Development Committee and a former Chair of our Staff Relations Committee. It was intended to draw staff attention to the importance of communication and interpersonal skills in the provision of good service to internal customers and effective operation of an organization. Communication theories and skills were introduced with special reference to the impact of personalities and emotion on interpersonal communication. Again, some videos, case studies and exercises were used to facilitate discussion and brainstorming of ideas.

Lessons from attendees' feedback

Around 200 regular staff attended each of the three modules and over 90 percent of them did an evaluation. The results reflected that the sessions were well received among library staff. As shown in Table II, attendees agreed in general that the sessions have achieved their objectives and met their expectation. Most attendees also agreed that they would be able to apply on the job what they learnt and the sharing sessions would be useful to their colleagues or staff.

When comparing the average scores of the three modules, it is quite interesting to find that the second module stands out among the modules with highest scores in almost every aspect. This result may be attributed to several factors. As regards the contents, module 2 seems to be most directly related to the work of individual staff in handling customers. Most of the skills covered in this module can be applied on the job on an individual basis. With an average score of over 3.5, the evaluation for the other two modules appears fairly positive as well. Actually, the feedback collected from attendees indicates that many of them do recognize the significance of the contents featured in modules 1 and 3. As introduced at the beginning of the sessions, a clear perception of the expectation from the top management and the fostering of internal communication is critical to initiate organizational change in support of quality customer service. However, support staff would often prefer practical skills and more lively and interesting presentations. This may help to explain the more favorable response for module 2 which tended to focus on skills training and demonstrations through the use of a variety of audio-visual aids.

On the other hand, internal communication will not be an easy topic for in-house facilitators given the sensitivity of the issues that may be involved. After consulting the library management, case studies from our own Libraries were excluded from module 3 to avoid embarrassment. As a result, some attendees indicated in their feedback the need for discussion of real cases. That is perhaps why about one-third of the attendees selected “communication workshops conducted by external professionals” as a further staff development option. Though many attendees found the case studies very relevant and the visual aids interesting, there were also a few who viewed the contents as “common place and difficult to practice”. These responses somehow suggest that a facilitator from outside the Libraries will be more appropriate for sensitive and specific topics like internal communication.

In addition to the above evaluation, during the course of module 1 the library management invited feedback from participants on how library management and individual staff can improve customer service. Figure 2 shows that around 40 percent (70) of the respondents believe that the management should communicate more with staff and users to understand their needs as well as to explain policies and decisions. In fact, quite a number of attendees remarked that what they greatly value is the care and support from the management. They simply wish for supervisors or top management to listen to their feelings, sympathize with their difficulties, trust in their work and appreciate their efforts. The second largest category of responses (about 20 percent (35)) mentioned training in skills and knowledge in the areas of one's work and other library services. With formal staff development programmes introduced in our Libraries for six years now, the result has demonstrated that staff are beginning to realize the value of continuous professional development in improving service delivery. Other comments worth exploring include the need for “clear and consistent policy and procedures”, “recognition and reward of performance” and “appropriate allocation of human resources”, all of which are areas that the library management is attempting to address.

To a certain extent, the above results echo the service-profit chain model developed by Heskett et al. (1997). The model is based on the premise that profitability to a firm derives from customer satisfaction and loyalty which, in turn, are derived from a customer's sense of value received, and the capability, productivity, satisfaction and loyalty of employees. Support and care from the management is perceived as a major source of motivation and satisfaction for many of our staff. According to their feedback, these emotional elements will translate into their drive for rendering quality service to users. It is also interesting to note that quite a number of respondents suggest the management to take time working in the front line so as to understand the problems encountered by staff and to set a role model in providing good customer service. The finding has proved the management wisdom that supervisors are not just expected to provide effective management by walking around but they must also walk their talk at the same time.

When asked how attendees can improve customer service in the Libraries, over 160 suggestions were received (see Figure 3) with the two most common being related to “learn and apply job knowledge/skills” (31 percent (51)) and “service attitude” (25 percent (41 responses)). While the management is asked to listen and understand user needs, many staff (25) also point out that they can use the same method to improve their service to customers. Some attendees also suggest that it will be helpful to serve users with courtesy and patience as well as to provide their team members with greater support.

The above results have reinforced the belief of the Libraries that one of the effective ways to help individual staff provide good customer service is through staff development which will help everybody update their job skills/knowledge and increase their confidence in bringing the techniques into practice. A further question was therefore designed to look into the training and development needs and these results are shown in Figure 4. The feedback suggests quite similar categories of needs as compared to those captured in past surveys and performance review reports of library staff. Our Staff Development Committee has been offering programmes in many of the areas mentioned by staff. Attention will be paid to exploring new topics such as adaptability, change management, self awareness and development. To address the needs of staff from different levels and backgrounds, efforts may also have to be put into advanced or refresher programmes that can help staff upgrade and enhance their skills accordingly.

In terms of format, attendees responded favourably to the cross departmental participation in the sharing sessions. The sessions help to explore and analyze issues from different points-of-view. Group interaction can also stimulate discussion of problems and facilitate brainstorming of solutions. For example, one attendee commented that “it is good to learn about points and concerns that I have not considered before. That's why group discussion and sharing is very essential”. Staff can share good practice and experience which will in turn develop close rapport among themselves. “Brainstorming, presentations and plenary discussions all ensure participants' involvement” (Theis, 1996). In comparison with traditional training where theories and methodologies are communicated by means of teaching, sharing of ideas generated by staff can reduce psychological resistance of adult learners and facilitate organizational learning. Of course, appropriate facilitation is necessary to ensure fruitful discussion and smooth exchange of ideas among staff with differing views.

The adoption of in-house facilitators was, on the whole, well received by attendees. Many positive comments were received regarding the case studies and the audio recordings and videos tailor-made for the sharing sessions. The impact of audio-visual materials with role plays by library staff was quite remarkable. These interesting presentations effectively captured the attention of attendees from all levels. As Theis (1996) points out “[r]ole play or case studies are useful techniques and videos can be an entertaining way of focusing attention on problem behaviour without making individuals feel uncomfortable.” It is encouraging to see library staff themselves serving as the change agents and relaying the messages to fellow staff, thus helping to achieve the purpose of attitudinal training. The joint participation of top management, middle-level supervisors and front line staff in preparing the sharing sessions also promoted mutual understanding and a strengthened team spirit. These are all critical components for building a sustainable customer care culture in any organization. Perhaps the only problem associated with the in-house facilitators was the language barrier. In module 1 and 2, there were comments from both Cantonese speakers and English speakers asking for a presentation or translation of the course materials in their own language. As a result, module 3 was conducted in Cantonese for general staff with a bilingual Powerpoint presentation and an English session was provided separately for English speakers. The lesson is that, especially in a bilingual environment like Hong Kong, special attention must be paid to the language used by participants in training activities.

Signs of success: users' perceptions of staff service

As mentioned previously the Libraries had undertaken regular surveys that included only one question about service from staff. Commencing in 2004, and conducted biannually, our revised survey introduced a format based on a gap analysis approach as exemplified in the SERVQUAL methodology (Parasuraman et al., 1988) and the Association of Research Libraries' LibQUAL+TM (Association of Research Libraries, 2008). In this survey we asked three questions related to staff and their service attitudes and abilities. These are:

  1. Library staff are readily available to provide assistance and respond in a timely manner?
  2. Library staff are polite and friendly?
  3. Library staff are knowledgeable and answer enquiries accurately and clearly?

Users are asked to first rate the degree to which they attribute importance to the matter and second, the degree to which they perceive the Libraries' current performance. The resulting gap between the two highlights the degree to which the Library is exceeding expectations (+ve result) or the degree to which the Library is falling short of expectation (−ve result).

Having conducted the survey in 2004, 2006 and now 2008 we have data that is showing a trend in the direction that pleases us and appears to provide justification for all of our efforts. Table III summarizes the results for these three questions over the three surveys.

The following three graphs (Figures 5-7) highlight the average scores for performance for each of the three staff related questions. Each of the three average scores show improvements from 2004 and most significantly from 2006 to 2008, the period during which our customer service sessions were conducted.

While the previously mentioned survey results from earlier years (1999 (3.80), 2000 (3.65) and 2001 (3.75)) were in response to the question “Overall, how satisfied are you with Library staff?” and are therefore not directly comparable to these survey responses of later years, it is worth noting that all nine average scores in the recent surveys are higher than from those earlier years. Even the highest average score from 1999 to 2001 (3.80) falls well short of the lowest average score between 2004 and 2008 (3.99).

The following series of graphs (Figures 8-10) demonstrate the gap between our users' average score for importance compared with their average score for our performance. Once again, each of these three demonstrate improvements from 2004 to 2008 and once again these are most pronounced from 2006 to 2008. It should be noted that it is our attempt to narrow this gap. Hence, the smaller the gap the better the performance and a reducing gap is an indicator of improvement.

Conclusion

While our overall efforts appear to be paying dividends and a period of celebration and self-congratulation is in order, we firmly believe that this is not the end of the process but the time to take heed of these improvements, identify and capitalize on the successful elements and to nurture an environment that will ensure sustainability of such successes. We firmly believe that our staff “… know how to give good service but if they feel unmotivated and unsupported in its provision they won't provide good service” (Lin and Darling, 1997) and it is therefore our intention to ensure that continuity is emphasized through a range of practices. Such a culture of continuous improvement requires more than just regular reiteration of good practices, it also requires a commitment to high quality communication from staff at all levels, an environment of openness and non-threatening participation and, finally, ongoing support from management.

In terms of sustaining this success a number of initiatives are being pursued and several existing practices are being strengthened. At a strategic level we are reviewing our vision, mission and service standards to ensure consistency with our philosophy and to ensure that staff are provided with ample opportunity to contribute to these. We will continue to work with our user community and to seek their feedback on improvements through our regular surveys, focus groups and other formal and less formal lines of communication. We will continue to care for and support staff through a range of actions including; improving their physical work environment through renovations; helping them to cope with the growing pressures through training and staff wellbeing programmes; encouraging their continuous development through annual staff appraisals that identify training needs, and; promoting communication by empowering our Staff Relations Committee with a stronger role in this area. Of course, we will also continue to organize more of the sharing sessions we have described in order to continuously review policies, structure, procedures and problems. Finally, we will take the time to acknowledge our hard work and celebrate our successes. In many ways, though, we have only just begun.

ImageFigure 1Modules outline
Figure 1Modules outline

ImageFigure 2Feedback on how management can improve customer service
Figure 2Feedback on how management can improve customer service

ImageFigure 3Feedback on how attendees can improve customer service
Figure 3Feedback on how attendees can improve customer service

ImageFigure 4Feedback on the training needs to provide better customer service
Figure 4Feedback on the training needs to provide better customer service

ImageFigure 5Average scores from user surveys, 2004-2008
Figure 5Average scores from user surveys, 2004-2008

ImageFigure 6Average scores from user surveys, 2004-2008
Figure 6Average scores from user surveys, 2004-2008

ImageFigure 7Average scores from user surveys, 2004-2008
Figure 7Average scores from user surveys, 2004-2008

ImageFigure 8Average gap between importance and performance, 2004-2008
Figure 8Average gap between importance and performance, 2004-2008

ImageFigure 9Average gap between importance and performance, 2004-2008
Figure 9Average gap between importance and performance, 2004-2008

ImageFigure 10Average gap between importance and performance, 2004-2008
Figure 10Average gap between importance and performance, 2004-2008

ImageTable IPercentage of staff who rated communication with top management as inadequate to very inadequate
Table IPercentage of staff who rated communication with top management as inadequate to very inadequate

ImageTable IIAttendees' evaluation of the three modules (five-point scale: 5 – Agree very much; 1 – Do not agree)
Table IIAttendees' evaluation of the three modules (five-point scale: 5 – Agree very much; 1 – Do not agree)

ImageTable IIIUser survey feedback on staff, 2004-2008 (1=lowest, 5=highest)
Table IIIUser survey feedback on staff, 2004-2008 (1=lowest, 5=highest)

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