By Abdul Halim bin Hj Sabil

3 March 2010 was truly an exciting and significant day for all staff at the Samarahan Divisional Office for on that day, their newly-completed one-stop counter was launched by State Secretary Yang Berhormat Datuk Amar Haji Mohamad Morshidi bin Abdul Ghani. The counter offers various services, which include among others, sales of maps and plans, payment of land rent, renewal of land leases, print-out of land titles and registration of instruments.

With the one-stop counter, transactions can be completed immediately on the spot, thus, cutting down time spent at the Office and reducing the infamous bureaucratic tape. The one-stop counter also serves to streamline work processes and procedures within the core branches of the Department. Previously, there was the hassle of having to move to different sections within the Department to collect necessary documentations just to ensure an application gets processed but such practice has become a thing of the past in the Samarahan Office.

As a Department that stresses on quality, one of the greatest challenges is to deliver fast and efficient services that fulfill the requirements of customers. The Department strives to reduce waiting time for customers at the counter and ensure that the needs of customers are immediately looked into and dealt with. Realising that customers must not be held up waiting, the operating hours at the Samarahan counter has been extended into lunch hours to enable the Department to serve more customers and to make it more convenient for the working group to visit the Office.

At the same time, the Department also reaches out to its stakeholders across the aisles by encouraging customers to give feedback, inputs, comments and even criticisms. Suggestion boxes are placed prominently near the counters for customers to share their views on the services offered and contribute ideas for improvement of the counter service. The management of the Department strongly believes in proactive engagement with the stakeholders so that the Department can strategise ways to meet the evolving expectations and demands of its extensive range of stakeholders.

The Department is also taking steps to work closely with other departments and agencies, in line with the ‘No Wrong Door’ policy that was recently introduced. There are times, for instance, when an application needs endorsement from other agencies or the Department requires feedback and inputs from other agencies so that an application can be processed and approved. At other times, members of the public could have directed their questions on services under the purview of other agencies to Land and Survey. Instead of passing the buck and turning away customers, Land and Survey intends to go the extra mile by assisting or directing customers to the right authorities and also linking up with other agencies to serve those cross-agency queries.

Frontliners of the Department, particularly those assigned to man counters, have been constantly reminded of the need to be well-versed and remain up-to-date with the current land policy. Staff from all levels are required to have a good grasp of the work processes and procedures so that they will be able to answer queries from the customers. In addition, frontliners of the Department have been sent for customer relation skills training to enhance their competency and knowledge in handling customers. In Land and Survey, the bedrock for customer service excellence is the ability to delight customers through providing service from the heart. This, however, remains an area that still needs to be continuously improved on.

Plans are already underway to replicate the one-stop counter concept to every divisional office. At the moment, Betong and Samarahan’s one-stop counters are operational. The Department is going all out to enhance its counter service as excellent customer service forms an integral part of the image and reputation in the civil service, and is crucial towards achieving ‘A World Class Civil Service’.

The writer is the Head of Public Relations Unit at Land and Survey Headquarters and can be contacted at abdulh2@sarawak.gov.my