At the 2005 Local Government Managers Australia National Congress in Canberra, FOCUS invited delegates to nominate an individual or team from their Council who is improving their Council’s operations and meeting community needs. In this edition, we showcase two more of our competition winners for 2005.
Mark Grieve, Customer Service Coordinator, Thuringowa City Council, Queensland
Thuringowa is a growing, dynamic city that is home to 56,000 residents seeking a family lifestyle, working opportunities and affordable housing. The City has recently taken out the North Queensland Tidy Town award, as well as being named the Queensland Public Library of the year for 2005. It is also home to the North Queensland cowboys.
As Customer Service Coordinator, Mark Grieve ensures that communication between residents and internal staff runs smoothly, ultimately keeping the customer service centre running. Coordinating the front desk involves directing phone calls, organising rosters and ensuring the desk is always clean and welcoming.
Last month Mark took out the Queensland Customer Service Professional of the Year award from the Customer Service Institute of Australia.
Customer Service Manager, Megan Leavy, nominated Mark to appear in Focus. She said the award is a great honour for him and Council.
“Mark provides excellent service to our customers and is involved in training and coaching new service representatives in the provision of excellent service,” she said. “He is a great role model and customer feedback indicates that he is very widely respected.”
Mark Grieve said he likes the fact that every day on the job is different.
“You never know who will walk through the door,” he said. “I get to deal with a lot of different people each day and it keeps the job interesting.”
He says the key challenge to his role is to remain positive even in bad situations.
“I always try to turn the situation around and get the customer smiling at the end of a transaction,” he said. “It is imperative to get people to come back again and feel that if they have a problem there will always be someone here to help them.”
He attributes his success to his ability to generate relationships between clients and internal customers.
“We are constantly on top of communication problems between departments, front desk and customers,” Mark said. “We want to make sure that all transactions run smoothly to reduce any confusion and to ensure that all messages get to where they need to be.”
Thuringowa is the leading Local Government growth area in North Queensland. The population has increased from 26,000 in 1986 to over 56,000 today. However, Thuringowa is often confused with its twin city, Townsville, and as more and more people move to the region, an increasing challenge is to educate residents on the difference between the two cities.
“It is important for us to market Thuringowa and let people know we exist,” Mark Grieve said. “We are striving to inform people that we are different from Townsville. People think that they can move from Townsville to Thuringowa without any problems, not realising that it is a different rateable area.”
Currently Council is working on a $25 million Riverway Project which is an overhaul of the river bank area. Riverway runs along 11 kilometres of the Ross River from Black Weir to the Dam.
The aim of the development is to provider greater access to the river for both residents and tourists, while still protecting and enhancing its natural beauty. There will be a strong focus on the arts, entertainment, sport and recreation as important elements of community life. The infrastructure is also designed to attract national and international tourism, thus positive employment growth for the region.
“Restaurants, cafes, swimming lagoons and a culture centre will be built along the banks of the river,” Mark Grieve said. “Our priority is to promote family orientation by providing a fun place that families can go to and spend time together. A vital part of this project will involve continuous updates to the community to ensure residents are aware of the entire Riverway Project.”
Community Services team, Benalla Rural City Council, Victoria
Formed in October 2003 following the de-amalgamation of Delatite Shire, Benalla Rural City Council is relatively new. Situated on the Hume Freeway, two hours from Melbourne, Council delivers a range of services to its 14,000 residents. Covering an area of 2,354 square kilometres, the Rural City comprises a mix of rural areas, small towns plus the regional centre, Benalla. There are pockets of disadvantage combined with a largely ageing population.
Council provides a variety of health and community services for residents, businesses and visitors and is committed to continually improving the quality of environmental and public health within the Benalla area.
Benalla’s Chief Executive Officer, Tony Mcilroy, nominated Council’s Community Services team to be featured in Focus for their continuing leading performance.
“They are a great example of what a team can achieve, performing incredibly over the past two years,” he said.
General Manager Corporate Services, Jacqui Briggs, agrees that the team carries out an exceptional job. She said that despite financial constraints, the Community Services Section continues to deliver a cost efficient, quality service.
“This has been achieved through continuous improvement and the ongoing development of partnerships,” she said.
“All staff are committed to the community they service, the result of which is evident in the positive responses in our Community Satisfaction Survey.”
Manager of Community Services, Helen Taylor, said the Community Services Section shows a strong belief in, and commitment to, the delivery of appropriate high quality services.
“The Aged and Disability and Family and Children’s Services teams work together to ensure client’s needs are best met,” she said. “The ability to problem solve by thinking outside the square is actively encouraged.”
This has led to a number of awards for innovation and the team being showcased for best practice in service delivery.
It has also further encouraged the team’s ability to take responsibility of both the difficulties encountered and corresponding solutions.
Helen said that all team leaders practise a bottom up and consultative management approach that further strengthens the team and its members.
“Staff selection criteria that promotes shared team values has also ensured a workplace that sees little turnover of staff,” she said.
The team is currently working on developing the Benalla Community Care Centre. A long term partnership between Council’s Community Services Section and Delatite Community Health forms the basis of Benalla Community Care.
The program provides a one stop shop to the community with a holistic approach to servicing care needs. The $3 million Community Care Centre, to be completed in November, will further enhance this service.
Construction of the centre is a joint project between the Benalla and District Memorial Hospital and the Benalla Rural City Council.
