New theme introduced for Service Quality Award 2004-05
Service Quality Award

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Steering Committee on Force Strategy on Quality of Service has set "Integration of People, Process and Technology" as the theme of the Service Quality Award 2004-05, which is now open to submissions from formations, divisions or units until July 21.

The Award was launched in April last year in support of the Commissioner's Three-year Strategic Action Plan in providing quality service.

Assistant Commissioner (Service Quality), Mr Charles Wong Doon-yee, said that the main objective of setting a theme for this year's Award was to provide a clear focus and direction for preparation of submissions to the competition.

Explaining the essence of the theme, Mr Wong pointed out that the key to providing quality service is improvement to work processes, partnership and utilisation of technology, all of which are inter-related for the pursuit of service excellence.

Mr Charles Wong explained: "A good work process is one which is effective, simple and easily understood by the public. A work process lacking in these essential elements may be regarded as red tape, and may give rise to complaints from the public. As service-users are the overriding consideration for work processes, a good work process should be able to meet the needs of the public."

Mr Wong defined "integration of people" as partnership within the Force, or with other government departments or non-governmental organisations for the common objective of providing a customer-focused service. "Partnership can contribute to reaching consensus on work focuses, identifying public aspirations, and working out the best ways of meeting the aspirations," he noted.

Speaking on utilisation of technology, Mr Wong was anxious to remind those planning submissions to the Award that it is not confined to IT or high-tech. "I hope that colleagues would not be deterred by the term 'technology'. It can be innovative use of what we already have. It is better use of existing systems and resources, such as the Internet, video equipment, and even mobile telephones or cameras. For example, we can study how our forms can be improved for the benefit of the public, and how our mill-barriers can be better used for improving crowd control work, etc.," said Mr Wong.

In conclusion, Mr Wong reiterated that the Award is aimed at promoting and reinforcing a customer-focused culture of quality service in all formations. It also serves to recognise commitment to the promotion of best practices in the workplace and motivating formations to seek continuous improvement in the pursuit of service excellence.

The Award has three stages. In stage one, participating teams should submit a description of not more than 2,000 words (in either English or Chinese) providing information on projects and initiatives within the assessment criteria and include examples of results achieved.

In stage two, participating teams, which have passed the preliminary assessment at stage one, will be invited to nominate three officers (including at least one JPO) to give a presentation in either English or Chinese of not more than 15 minutes. The adjudicating panel may ask the teams to elaborate on parts of their presentation for up to 10 minutes after the presentation.

The prize presentation ceremony will form stage three, where the top three shortlisted units will give a final presentation to compete for the championship. The results will be decided by the votes of all the Major Formation Commanders and members of the Strategic Direction Group (SDG) present.

A total of eight awards will be presented, and successful teams will receive a trophy and a certificate signed by the Commissioner. The champion, 1st runner-up and 2nd runner-up will additionally receive cash prizes of $12,000, $8,000 and $6,000 respectively.

More information about the Award is available in SQW's (PRB) Homepage on POINT.

ACP (SQ) Charles Wong Doon-yee calls for active participation in the Service Quality Award