September 19, 2024
Survey reveals service delivery deficiencies
ZIMBABWE’S inaugural State of Services Economy Survey (SOSES) found some gaps within various sectors of the country’s economy.
Results of the survey, which was bankrolled by ZB Financial Holdings (ZBFHL), in partnership with Topline Research Solutions (TSR), Tatu Advertising and the country’s top business and finance paper, The Financial Gazette, were published last week.
The economy’s state of services scored 69 percent on an index developed as part of the survey, which TSR chief executive Patson Gasura said means there is a 31 percent chance that a client will be dissatisfied with a service provider within the economy.
Patson Gasura, TSR chief executive
“Imagine a situation where all organisations in Zimbabwe and even all people will be motivated to treat their customers as people,” Gasura said.
“So, this is a revolution; it’s a war we are creating among ourselves that lets us simply treat people as people; that’s the vision. Customer service now needs to be a unique selling point for brand Zimbabwe; it must be a reason for visitors to come here to see that we serve people well,” he added.
The tourism industry was the best performing sector with a score of 76 percent, followed by insurance or assurance at 75 percent. Utilities, health and education scored lowest — 59 percent, 60 percent and 64 percent respectively.
“We think there is a need for a sector skill development authority and an institution. South Africa has service sector education training authorities. They have 23 of them. You have seen a lot of staff complaints and staff needs.
I don’t think universities will do that alone, so we need that intervention. “With the most problematic sectors, like the lowest score reported in public hospitals and utilities, they are calling for immediate intervention,” Gasura said. Veteran academic, Mandivamba Rukuni, said the mark of any advanced economy was the state of its service delivery.
“Innovation is the pinnacle of any economy and so we are still two steps away from being a full service economy, but what ZB and The Financial Gazette have done to this economy, I am pleased they have done it well,” he said.
“They have introduced this concept of a service economy at a time when we need it most, because, in fact, I would say that this concept should now be infused much more consciously in National Development Strategy (NDS) 1 and 2.
It really should be one of the drivers for NDS 1 and 2. If we do that, if we follow this idea and the fact that it is being driven by research, good data coming through, and this being followed through over the next few years, then Zimbabwe will be the first African Lion economy,” Rukuni added.
ZBFHL chief executive Shepherd Fungura said his company was motivated to promote the growth of the service industry. “At ZB, we believe that one can only improve their standards of service through honest feedback. Honest feedback motivates us to improve.
“The survey will offer insights into the service economy, informing us all of the standards we aspire to pursue and maintain for our valued customers. “Therefore, pioneering this survey will allow us to drive a positive change and promote a culture of excellent service not just in the service industry but the nation as a whole,” he said.
SOSES is a nationwide survey curated by ZB to track and create a baseline for measuring customer experience across various service industries, including government and quasi-government entities.
