CUSTOMER SERVICE PRINCIPLES

Our Purpose ….
Our Cross Cultural and Immigrant Services Employment initiatives fulfill the Mission of the YMCA by helping individuals to find, create and maintain meaningful employment, thereby supporting personal development and motivating participants to reach their potential as contributing members of society.

Our Service ….
A comprehensive range of employment programs and services promotes self-awareness and self-reliance, adaptability and individual empowerment through the acquisition of employable and self-employment skills.

Our Commitment ….
YMCA Cross Cultural and Immigrant Services is committed to customers and the community. We believe in quality customer service. Customers can expect….

A confidential, timely, reliable, individualized, accessible service. You will work with knowledgeable professionals who are courteous and approachable.

Your Feedback ….
We like to receive your comments and concerns about our services. We encourage you to let us know by completing a comment card or talking to our staff. All suggestions and complaints are taken seriously and responded to within one business day.

Your Rights ….
We guarantee to you the following rights:

• Courteous Service – Staff treat all customers equitably in a warm and welcoming manner

• Knowledgeable Professionals – Staff are well trained and current with respect to issues facing our clients

• Confidentiality – Participants and employers are guaranteed the right to confidential services

•  Accessibility – Both our facility and our staff are accessible to our clients physically and linguistically

• Delivery of Timely Services – Service delivery standards are provided in writing and are upheld by our staff

• Reliable Services – Both physical and program standards are of the highest quality

• Accessible Complaints Procedure – Customer concerns are taken seriously

1. Courteous Service – Staff treat all customers equitably in a warm and welcoming manner

• YMCA Cross Cultural and Immigrant Services is committed to continuously maintaining an open and supportive environment. All staff members are to greet every customer with a smile and initiate contact at every opportunity. (i.e.: say hi, ask about the weather, job search, open ended questions are better)
• Acknowledge customers as soon as possible
  Make eye contact
  Speak to client in a kind, caring and professional tone of voice
  If there is a delay in service advise customer of timeframe
• Courteous service includes:
  Wearing name tag to ensure that customers can clearly identify staff
  Maintaining a professional appearance
  Personally guiding customers to resources (i.e. walking with them to show them the fax machine)
  Greeting customers in the Resource Centre for appointments and workshops and escorting them to the door upon completion
  Advising customers of the duration of appointments, workshops, meetings, etc.
  Refraining from answering phones while in an appointment with a customer
  Welcoming customers to return if further services are required
• We recognize that each customer’s need is unique to them and we respect our customers’ individuality by:
  Taking the time to get to know our clients
  Remembering details about our clients so they feel recognized
  Being flexible
  Addressing customers by their first names
  Giving the same service to people no matter how they present (no pre-judgment)
• All staff members actively listen to customers and responds appropriately.
• When responding to telephone inquiries, staff actively listen and clarify customer’s needs to ensure they are transferred to appropriate knowledgeable staff.
• We ensure that interoffice issues are discussed in appropriate venues. (i.e. office, meeting room and/or boardroom)

2. Knowledgeable Professionals – Staff are well trained and current with respect to issues facing our clients

• We ensure that through our performance management process, staff has access to continuous education to attend training and workshops on an ongoing basis internally and externally.
• We ensure that staff has continuous contact with customers to ensure they are current with respect to the issues faced by:
  Providing opportunities to work with customers through workshops, Resource Centre rotation, cross training, etc.
• We are sensitive to the diversity of our customers and our community. We seek out and provide opportunities for staff training.
• We commit to keeping current with respect to developments in the employment area as well as social issues locally, provincially and federally by:
  Using resources such as daily newspapers, community websites, directories, all other staff.
  Sharing information and resources with each other when appropriate.
  Researching issues for customers and providing answers in a timely manner.
  Actively participating on community committees and events

3. Confidentiality – Participants and employers are guaranteed the right to confidential services

• We take confidentiality very seriously and have all staff sign a confidentiality agreement according to our Personnel Policy on Confidentiality when they are hired.
• We have updated policies that are reviewed by our Board on a regular basis concerning all provincial and federal privacy legislation that are available for review.
• We ensure that participants understand our confidentiality document prior to signing.
• We ensure customer confidentiality by:
  Enforcing the office standards for storage and retention of both electronic and paper documents. This includes ensuring all private information is out of view and locked up at night. Additionally, everyone is responsible for ensuring that any information left in common areas, (i.e. Resource Centre, meeting rooms, sitting areas, photocopiers, and computer screens) is picked up and disposed of appropriately.
  Ensuring staff discuss customer information only when necessary and in appropriately private areas (i.e. meeting rooms, etc.)
  Determining the appropriate venue for meeting with customers depending upon their needs.
  Respecting their anonymity in public.

4. Accessibility – Both our facility and our staff are accessible to our customers physically and linguistically

• We are accessible to customers with physical disabilities.
• We will accommodate clients who require services in other languages.
• We are open weekdays Monday to Thursday from 8:30am to 4:30pm, Fridays 8:30 to 12:00. Extended hours are on Thursday evenings until 7:30 and Saturdays 9:00am to 1:00pm.
• Our staff are accessible to customers by:
  Ensuring front desk has access to staff through our paging system. Resource Centre staff uses discretion to determine when it is appropriate to contact staff during a scheduled appointment.
  Circulating in the Resource Centre
• We provide individualized services to reflect our customers’ unique needs.
• We review our programs and services regularly to ensure they remain accessible to our customers.
• We take our services and programs into the community to meet the needs of our customers and the community at large.

5. Delivery of Timely Services – Service delivery standards are provided in writing and are upheld by our staff

• We negotiate expectations, needs, and/or requirements up front and make a plan to fulfill obligations with our customers.
• We consistently use our information management systems to ensure that customers have the ability to schedule appointments within the following timeframes:
  Walk-ins screened same day
  ntake appointments within 3 business days
• We respond to voicemail and email within 24 hours.

6. Reliable Services – Both physical and program standards are of the highest quality

• We commit to reliability of staff, hours and equipment for our clients and offer back-up alternatives in times of emergency.
• We commit to having the highest programming standards by:
  Reviewing workshops and other resources on a semi-annual basis at a minimum
  Continuously improving
• We deliver what we commit to.

7. Accessible Complaints Procedure – Customer concerns are taken seriously

• All concerns are taken seriously and will be addressed in a thorough and professional manner by:
  Allowing for an anonymous complaint procedure
  Providing suggestion boxes throughout the building
  Asking for input through surveys
  Acknowledging verbal and written complaints within 24 hours and committing to resolve them as soon as possible
  If at any time a complaint is not resolved in a satisfactory manner, the Program Supervisor, General Manager of CCIS, VP of Community Services, the CEO and then the Board of Directors will meet with the concerned party to resolve the issue

If you require any further elaboration on any area in our Customer Service Principles please feel free to discuss it with any member of our staff