Striving for Continuous Improvement Ben Johnson GM Ministerial Correspondence and Customer Relations RailCorp

SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium Overview 1.Introduction 2.Situation Analysis 3.Development 4.Implementation 5.Evaluation 6.Continuous Improvement ( Cycle Two) 7.Summary (Cycle One) SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

1. Introduction RailCorp Established 1 January 2004 Key Responsibility: Safe operation, crewing and maintenance of passenger trains and stations Two main products: CityRail and CountryLink SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

Introduction Ministerial Correspondence and Customer Relations (MCCR) Three areas of responsibility: 1.Customer Relations (131500) Manages feedback received for RailCorp from customers and the wider community through the Transport Infoline 2.Ministerial and Customer Correspondence Conduit between RailCorp, the Minister’s office, the Ministry of Transport and members of parliament Written correspondence 3.Reporting Tracks and monitors RailCorp’s responses Reports trends for planning purposes SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

Customer Experience + - Feedback SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium Service Delivery

SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium Definition Dictionary Continuous = united, without a break, uninterrupted, constant Improvement = The act of improving; state of being improved RailCorp We will encourage and support each other to improve the quality and productivity of our work, our systems and our assets MCCR Do it better tomorrow SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

Continuous Improvement Cycle SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

Cycle One February 2005 to March 2006 Historical view of RailCorp: –Performance –Complaints data –Structural changes MCCR Background SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

2. Situation Analysis Why are we here? What do we want to achieve? How can we set measurable targets? What are these targets? What will be measured? Can we do things better? What are our roadblocks? QUESTION EVERYTHING! SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

AS Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (“Deloitte”) 1.Assurance Assessment of the management of complaints and disclosure of confidential information; 2.Compliance findings and recommendations against existing RailCorp procedures for managing complaints; and 3.Benchmarking these procedures against better practice. SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

AS 4269: Summary Sheet Overall Audit Result = 4 out of 5 –“The internal control framework is effective except for minor weaknesses.” No significant recommendations 7 out of 13 elements have no need to be improved: –Fairness, Assistance, Charges, Remedies, Data Collection, Systematic and Recurring Problems. SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

AS 4269: Findings Details of recommendations –Improve timeliness of ministerial process and allocation of cases –Improve the drafting process –Improve knowledge of KPIs –Encourage a standardised referral process SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

AS 4269: Findings SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium ElementBenchmarking Criteria Processes/ Controls Adequacy Improvement Recommendations Commitment Policy and culture driven from top mgmt. Supportive procedures, roles and responsibilities. Clear lines of authority. Manual. MOU with various business groups. Position description. Adequate.CEO statement. ResourcesAdequate resources and training. Various trained staff. Temps not on training schedule. Buddy system. Adequate.Ensure temps are appropriately skilled. VisibilityWell publicised processes that are easily accessible. Channels are published on multiple websites. Adequate.Need to update and improve visibility on websites.

SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium AS 4269: Findings SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium ElementBenchmarking Criteria Processes/ Controls Adequacy Improvement Recommendations AccessProcess – easy to understand and accessible to all. All customers have access and right to offer feedback. Adequate.Increase transparency of process. Responsiveness Quick and courteous resolution. Quality response. Performance monitored weekly. Style guide. Adequate.Improve communication of KPIs. Reviews/ Effectiveness A structured plan to regularly review the effectiveness of complaints system. New manual. Website-related cases are reviewed. No formal survey. Adequate.Introduce a survey to assess customer satisfaction with management of complaints.

SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium 3. Development What did we need to do to deliver the recommendations? What needed to change? Develop new goals and targets Develop strategies and enabling processes SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

RailCorp KPI Categories SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium 7.Safety 8.Security 9.Service 10.Staff 11.Ticketing 12.Timetable 1.Claim 2.Cleanliness 3.Environment 4.Facilities 5.Information 6.On-time Running (OTR)

SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium RailCorp KPIs SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium Telephone – Finalise cases within 5 working days Web Lodgement – Finalise cases within 5 working days Direct Correspondence – Finalise cases within 15 working days

SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium 4. Implementation Performance monitoring –PDAs and SLAs Motivation –Office mottos –Regular team briefings –Open communication between managers and staff SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

MCCR – Process Maps SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

MCCR Instruction Manual SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

5. Evaluation What did we learn? What did we achieve? SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

Cycle One: Achievements Continued to show a downward trend for processing ministerials. Developed an Emergency Plan. Aligned customer feedback procedures to AS4269. Improved report quality. No staff turnover. Developed MCCR Instruction Manual. External interest in our customer feedback systems. SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

Statistics SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium Total complaint issues reduced by 24.11% OTR complaint issues reduced by 64.45% 56.37% of complaint issues were made by phone in 2006 compared to 79.57% in 2005.

SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium Statistics SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

KPI Improvement SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

Cycle Two April 2006 to June 2007 SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

6. Continuous Improvement New goals: –ISO compliance –Target 300 External review SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

ISO Compliance and Complaints Advisory Services Pty Ltd 1.Improve timeliness of ministerial process 2.Continuous improvement in providing timely and effective information to customers at the point of service delivery 3.Improve root cause analysis of actionable systematic complaints 4.Improve feedback and accountability mechanisms for rectification actions taken SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

Continuous Improvement Customer Feedback Policy Customer feedback surveys Online information Database program enhancements –E.g. Self-reporting SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

Continuous Improvement Learning and Development: –MCCR team; –Frontline employees; and –Transport Infoline. Building relationships Other projects SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

Challenges Frontline staff knowledge of processes at point of service delivery Internal information: –Timely? –Reliable? Possible investigative role? SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

Complaints SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium Monthly complaints OTR complaints

SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium 7. Summary Situation Analysis –Review current situation Development –Establish shared goals and strategy –Develop enabling processes –Assign responsibilities and roles Implementation –Monitor performance –Manage resources – budget, human, knowledge –Maintain motivation SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

Summary Evaluation –Reflection –Update knowledge Continuous Improvement –Continually review goals and performance –Organisational targets SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium

address: SOCAP Australia – 2006 Symposium