​Quality & Standards Directorate

The Quality and Standards Directorate within the People & Standards Division targets a service of excellence across the Public Service with the customer taking centre stage. The on-going service of excellence effort steered by this Directorate is multi-dimensional and includes among others:

1. a mystery shopping project that involves gauging the customer experience of obtaining a public service, based on ten determinants of quality, with the aim of continuously improving the service for the benefit of the customer;
2. a customer service quality assessment exercise carried out at random public service offices/departments that offer services to the public, to assess them on ten determinants of quality, with the corresponding aim of continuously improving the service delivery at these customer service areas;
3. a ‘rate the public service’ mobile app and a tablet exercise, in both cases a customer can rate a public service area from where a service has just been accessed or received, with a view to evaluating areas according to feedback from members of the general public.
The findings derived from each of these tools are analysed by the Directorate for evaluation purposes and an action plan for the way forward is drawn up on an ongoing basis, keeping in view the priority of instilling within the Public Service a culture of excellence for the benefit of the general public whom we serve.

The Directorate also has an eye on the internal customers within the Public Service. P&SD officers from the Quality and Standards Directorate perform HR audits at respective Ministries, with a view to inculcating within the Public Service a culture of ongoing improvement. In this manner the Directorate sustains its continuous effort towards a service of excellence for both internal and external customers.

At the same time the Directorate manages the Common Assessment Framework (CAF), a quality management tool applicable to the public administration, to ensure continuous improvement. The CAF Effective User Label is administered by the Directorate. The CAF helps the organisations to perform a self-assessment with the involvement of all staff, to develop an improvement plan based on the results of the self-assessment and to implement the improvement actions.