Remarks by the Hounorable Minister of Labour and Home Affairs - Mr Peter Letlhogonolo Siele at the official Launch of the Call Centre

source: Republic of Botswana (16/12/08): TAUTONA TIMES no 41 of 2008
The Weekly Electronic Press Circular of the Office of the President "Democracy, Development, Dignity and Discipline"

B5) 11/12/08: REMARKS BY THE HOUNORABLE MINISTER OF LABOUR AND HOME AFFAIRS - MR PETER LETLHOGONOLO SIELE AT THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND HOME AFFAIRS CALL CENTRE AT THE MINISTRY HEADQUARTERS

[Salutations]...Ladies and Gentlemen

Dumelang Bagaetsho, we are gathered here this morning to mark a milestone by the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs in facilitating standardised communication and information management across the Ministry service points. My Ministry has made a commitment to be the best in the provision of quality service in the civil service. This morning ladies and gentlemen we will witness the official launch of the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs Call Centre. The Call Centre that I will be launching this morning is one of the strategies that my Ministry has adopted to improve service delivery.

I am happy this morning that our key stakeholders have been invited to this occasion and have graced it with large numbers. This shows the cordial relationship that my Ministry maintains with its stakeholders and members of the public in general.

The Government is concerned about poor service delivery across all Government Ministries and Departments. To this effect a number of public initiatives were introduced such as establishing the Botswana National Productivity Centre; the introduction of the Performance Management System (PMS) and recently the Business Process Reengineering. The introduction of the PMS brought with it the realisation that service delivery is at the core of government development efforts.

Director of Ceremonies, you will agree with me that my Ministry provide essential services which are at the heart of every Motswana such as issuance of National Identity Document (Omang) and the National Passport. My Ministry has a duty to facilitate the foreign direct investment and economic diversification initiatives through the work and residence permits and visa services. These services are crucial to the growth of a small economy like ours. Ladies and gentlemen, it is therefore imperative that my Ministry develops strategies to effectively and efficiently deliver these services.

Recently the Government has launched customer service standards across a number of Ministries. My Ministry is among the first ministries to reengineer processes and set new performance standards which are currently working tirelessly to meet. The call centre that I am just about to launch is one of the strategies we have adopted to bring all our services in one centralised place.

My Ministry has put in place a number of initiatives geared towards providing effective and efficient service delivery. The Ministry recruited the Public Relations Officer in May 2008 to connect the Ministry with our customers and stakeholders as well as to guide the Ministry communication strategy and information dissemination. We have also publicised service standards in all our offices countrywide as you may have seen the display in the foyer. Director of ceremonies, we have also published the complaint procedure in newspapers which contains the contact telephone numbers of all Heads of Departments including the Permanent Secretary as the administrative head of the Ministry.

My Ministry website is currently under development and we it will be operational before the end of the financial year. The development of the first Ministry newsletter has been completed and the publication has gone for printing as I speak. We have adopted media briefings as a strategy to disseminate information to members of the public. Today after launching this call centre I will brief members of the press to highlight on our performance and the challenges we face as a Ministry in delivering on our mandate.

Ladies and gentlemen, the call centre we are just about to view is a centralised office used for the purpose of receiving and transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone. The centralisation of call management aims to improve the Ministry's operations and reduce costs while providing a standardised, streamlined uniform service for customers. This call centre will make it possible for our customers and stakeholders to get assistance while at home or workplace. We are hopeful that it will also reduce the long queues at our offices. Ladies and gentlemen, the call centre is an ideal strategy for my Ministry since is big with and has extensive customer support needs.

The established call centre is manned by six agents who are officers from various departments within the Ministry. All the calls going through to the call centre are logged in a system called HELP DESK SYSTEM which helps the management to assess which department needs more attention as the system gives reports on all the calls logged and their solutions. I would like to assure you ladies and gentlemen that the call centre agents are closely monitored for quality control, level of proficiency and customer service.

Director of ceremonies, the launch of my Ministry call centre is a reminder our stakeholders and members of the public that we are at your service. I believe that all of you gathered here this morning will make use of the service and give feedback so as to assist us to continuously improve our service.

Ladies and gentlemen I would like to invite you to join me in congratulating my Ministry for this commendable initiative. With those few remarks, Director of ceremonies I declare the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs Call Centre officially launched. Ke a leboga.