WHEREAS: the State of Louisiana intends to achieve higher levels of citizen satisfaction by delivering quality, timely, and responsive government services which meet its customer service obligations;
WHEREAS: to enable the State of Louisiana to meet its goal of providing a superior level of customer service, all levels of state government employees could benefit from a statewide employee customer service training program that identifies customer expectations and assists state government employees in satisfying those expectations;
NOW THEREFORE I, M.J. "MIKE" FOSTER, JR., Governor of the State of Louisiana, by virtue of the authority vested by the Constitution and laws of the State of Louisiana, do hereby order and direct as follows:
SECTION 1: State Customer Service Standard. All departments and agencies in the Executive Branch, State of Louisiana, and all officers and employees thereof (hereafter "state agencies") shall strive to deliver to the individuals and entities they serve effective, efficient, and responsive customer service that is of the highest quality.
SECTION 2: Implementation of Standard. In implementing the state customer service standard, all state agencies that serve the public directly shall perform the following nonexclusive list of duties:
SECTION 3: Support for State Government Employees. Each state agency shall work with its employees to develop a state employee plan that will compliment the state agency's customer service strategy. Each plan shall describe the customer service training resources and programs being provided by the state agency for its employees who are directly serving customers and for the managers of those employees. The plan should identify the types of training resources and programs that would improve the state agency's customer service levels, indicate how those training resources and programs would improve the level of the state agency's customer service, and provide a strategy which indicates how those training resources and programs will be provided. The state employee plan shall also include the following information:
SECTION 4: Annual Customer Service Plan. Beginning with the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1998, each state agency shall implement an annual customer service plan. The state agency shall develop its initial plan and submit it to the Office of the Governor, through the commissioner of Administration, by November 1, 1998. The state agency shall develop and submit an annual update by November 1 of each successive year.
The state agency's annual customer service plan shall include the state agency's customer service goals for complying with the state customer service standard that is specifically tailored to the particular service provided by the state agency. Each plan shall identify and describe the level of customer service being delivered to customers by relevant, successful governmental or nongovernmental agencies, and present a comparative evaluation of the difference in quality of the customer service provided by the state agency and by relevant, successful governmental or nongovernmental agencies. If the level of quality of the state agency's customer service is not equivalent to, or better than, the level of the relevant, successful governmental or nongovernmental agency customer service, the state agency shall explain the reason for the disparity in the customer service quality, and the action being taken to rectify the situation.
SECTION 5: Annual Customer Service Assessment. Beginning with December 1998, at the end of every calendar year, each state agency shall implement an annual customer service assessment that elicits from customers and employees information regarding:
SECTION 6: Miscellaneous Provisions. This Order shall not and does not create any right of action, any cause of action, or any substantive, procedural, or equitable right enforceable by, or in favor of, any person or entity against the State of Louisiana or any department, commission, board, agency, political subdivision, or officer or employee thereof.
All departments, commissions, boards, agencies, and officers of the state, or any political subdivision thereof, are authorized and directed to cooperate with the implementation of the provisions of this Order.
This Order is effective upon signature and shall continue in effect until amended, modified, terminated, or rescinded by the Governor, or terminated by operation of law.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have set my hand officially and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the State of Louisiana, at the Capitol, in the City of Baton Rouge, on this 23rd of September, 1997.
M.J. "Mike" Foster, Jr.
Governor
ATTEST BY
THE GOVERNOR
Fox McKeithen
Secretary of the State