Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kim Ikang) has seen an increase in residents' satisfaction with administrative services as the friendliness of employees at the Dong Administrative Welfare Centers, which are closely connected to residents' daily lives, has improved.
On the 19th, Seo-gu announced that it is conducting friendliness consulting across 18 Dong Administrative Welfare Centers, the Seo-gu Office Civil Service Center, and the 365 Civil Service Center.
Last October, a pilot friendliness consulting was conducted at four key Dong centers and the district office civil service center, and this year the consulting target was expanded to 20 locations.
As a result, friendliness significantly improved within six months.
While the average friendliness score of the five pilot locations last year was only 67.5 points, the average friendliness score of the 20 locations that underwent consulting in the first half of this year rose sharply to 83.26 points.
In particular, seven Dongs including Chipyeong-dong, Sangmu 2-dong, and Seochang-dong recorded top-tier friendliness scores of 90 points or higher.
Seo-gu reported that professional monitoring personnel regularly conducted on-site monitoring, resulting in overall improvements in friendliness criteria such as environment and work posture, greeting, listening and response attitude, counseling ability, and farewell greetings.
According to the consulting agency, the friendliness scores far exceeded the average 70-point range typical of local governments and public institutions, and even surpassed the level of banks, which are known as the epitome of friendly service.
Residents are also feeling these changes firsthand. On the ‘Baro Munja Harangkke’ platform, which allows direct communication with the mayor, residents have sent numerous text messages praising the friendly administrative services, such as “The friendliness of the Dong employees made the Dong office work enjoyable,” and “Today was a day when I received friendlier public official service than at the service center I visited for electronic product AS.”
Kim Ikang, Mayor of Seo-gu, said, “The civil service desk that communicates directly with residents is the frontline for securing administrative trust,” and added, “Friendliness consulting is not a tool to evaluate employees but ultimately aims to improve the quality of administrative services.”
He continued, “We will actively consider motivational measures such as providing innovative incentives for Dong employees who are working hard to improve residents’ satisfaction with administration through revitalizing the atmosphere.”
Meanwhile, Seo-gu plans to continuously implement policies to enhance civil service response capabilities, including conducting customized friendliness training by analyzing shortcomings based on the results of this consulting.
Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Shin Dongho baekok@asiae.co.kr
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