Government agencies, which do business with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District, from throughout Germany attended a Customer Partnering Workshop, at the Wiesbaden Army Airfield Community Activity Center. The goal of the workshop was to d...
WIESBADEN, Germany - Customer service, no matter how good, can always be improved. With that in mind, the senior leadership at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Europe District here hosted a customer partnering workshop to ask one question, "How can we serve you better'"
The one-day workshop held in the Community Activity Center at the Wiesbaden Army Airfield Jan. 27 resulted from the annual USACE Military Programs Customer Survey which revealed some areas where the district could continue to improve.
Shortly after the start of a new fiscal year, the district sends a survey to representatives from each agency the district works with and asks them to rate the quality of service received. Survey questions range from general customer service to specific questions concerning construction projects and renovations.
According to Kristopher Hurst, the program management branch chief, the survey was used as a baseline for the workshop.
"We focused on areas in the survey where we either didn't receive a high numeric rating or we received an average rating of three, on a scale of one through five, with no written feedback," Hurst said. "Then we focused our presentations on those areas."
Presentations were designed specifically to generate conversation while addressing the customers' concerns. Some areas discussed included the cost of doing business with the district, the acquisition process and construction oversight.
Hurst said that the goal of the workshop was to promote customer feedback in an effort to improve services. And, although the conversation escalated at times, he said district leadership expected and welcomed diverging opinions.
"Open and honest feedback is always good," Hurst said. "We wanted a good lively discussion."
Hurst also said that building trust with the customers was important.
"We wanted them to know that we were listening to them," Hurst said. "They needed to trust that we heard them and that we are going to do something about their concerns."
In his opening remarks, Mark Roncoli, district deputy engineer, stated that the purpose of the workshop was also to identify actionable items for improvement.
"We recognize that there are areas in our customer service where we can improve. We are committed to our customers at making these areas our top near- and long-term priorities," Roncoli said.
One of the district's customers, Col. Brad Dunbar II, program manager with the USA Health Facilities Planning Agency said the presentations and discussions at the workshop were worth the time.
"The whole workshop was purely related to partnering and understanding the district better," Dunbar said. "Now I have a better understanding of some of the challenges the district faces."
Dunbar said he appreciated the opportunity to network not only with the district but with other customers too.
Nearly 40 customers from various garrisons, District Public Works and other military agencies attended.
Roger Gerber, chief of the U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden transformation stationing management office, said the workshop was a good first step.
"I think the topics for discussions were very good," Gerber said. "But it will be the actions taken by the district from this point forward that will determine whether the workshop was really successful."
Hurst described the workshop's success as an ongoing process.
'It [success] is like a race that doesn't have a finish line," he said. "Success is, if we can incrementally improve our processes to provide better service for our customers. And I believe that we have made great strides in stepping forward in the areas where the customers have expressed a desire for our improvement."
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