NIA-CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (February 24, 2012) — Hospitality Training Consultant Ms. Elmeader Brookes expressed hope on February 22, 2012, that the two-day Customer Service Workshop she facilitated for new entrants to the Public Service on Nevis, would make a difference in the work environment and ethics of the participants.

The Workshop which concluded later that day at the Red Cross Building in Charlestown, was hosted by the Human Resource Department, Premier’s Ministry in the Nevis Island Administration. It was the first of two seminars on the same topic. The second will be held for another group of Junior Officers next week.

“For two morning sessions we had 10 persons attending from various Government Departments. It’s Customer Service and the topics that we covered have been the basics of customer service. We touched on Effective Communication as well as handling difficult customers.

“I am hoping that they would strive for service excellence. I am hoping that they would find the discussions and tips that have been passed on to be useful in their day to day work at the various offices and that they would put them into practise and improve on the level of customer service that they give to the public,” she said.

Meantime, three of the participants shared their view on the training. Ms. Shoya Lawrence from the Department of Social Services said she hoped to take back some of the key points back to her work environment

“I am hoping that I can actually take back some of the key points for example we had customer service in regards to ethics in and out of the office, not only zooming in on the customers that we see every day as clients but also our peers our colleagues, they too can be referred to as customers.

“So from this workshop I am hoping I can take back some of the stuff to my office and implement them and of course, get my colleagues to join with me so that at the end of the day and for the rest of our professional lives, we can have a more enhanced working environment,” she said.

The only male participant Mr. Adrien Joseph who is a junior officer at the Information Technology Department echoed similar sentiments to Ms. Lawrence.

“I work at the IT Department as a Technician. I am here in this workshop today and what I would really like to bring back to the work place to know and to understand how to better deal with the customers that I deal with,” he said.

Ms. Alba Hunt of the Financial Services Regulation and Supervision Department said she was selected from her office to attend the Customer Service Workshop and hoped to a better understanding of what Customer Service should be like.

“I can take back what I have learnt at this seminar to the office and portray what good customer service should really be like,” she said.

The Seminar was attended by participants from the Social Services, Community Development, Financial Services, Information Technology, Statistics and Economic Planning Departments.

The participants for the second Customer Services Workshop slated for February 27th and 28th will be drawn from the Alexandra Hospital, Post Office, Agriculture and Customs Departments.