Surveying and responding to customer satisfaction is important to the workforce system under WIOA, but is woven into the law’s requirements in strange ways.
It is not an explicitly assigned responsibility of any particular entity, but it is a required element of review in certification of a One-Stop Center. 20 CFR 678.800 – One-Stop Certification – instructs the state board to include customer satisfaction in establishing certification criteria and procedures for certification:
(a)(2) The criteria must be consistent with the Governor’s and State WDB’s guidelines, guidance, and policies on infrastructure funding decisions, described in §678.705. The criteria must evaluate the one-stop centers and one-stop delivery system for effectiveness, including customer satisfaction, physical and programmatic accessibility, and continuous improvement.
20 CFR 678.800
The next section of 678.800 emphasizes customer satisfaction by requiring the use of customer feedback in the One-Stop Certification process:
(b) Evaluations of effectiveness must include how well the one-stop center integrates available services for participants and businesses, meets the workforce development needs of participants and the employment needs of local employers, operates in a cost-efficient manner, coordinates services among the one-stop partner programs, and provides access to partner program services to the maximum extent practicable, including providing services outside of regular business hours where there is a workforce need, as identified by the Local WDB. These evaluations must take into account feedback from one-stop customers.…
20 CFR 687.800
The evaluation of customer satisfaction is also a requirement of WIOA Annual Report narritaves. From TEGL 5-18:
Describe the state’s approach to customer satisfaction, which may include such information used for one-stop center certification, in accordance with 20 CFR 678.800. This description should include: 1) the state’s methodologies; 2) the number of individuals/employers who were provided customer satisfaction outreach, the response rate, and efforts made to improve the response rate; 3) the results and whether the results are generalizable to the entire population of customers; and4) a description of any continuous improvement processes for incorporating the customer satisfaction feedback.
TEGL 5-18
It’s one thing to have a survey designed to elicit feedback, but continuous improvement requires that customers actually use it!
How do you connect with customers (and reportable individuals) in today’s world of virtual One-Stops and virtual services?
Hightower Workforce Initiatives will work with your team to design a customer feedback process that
- Proactively engages customers,
- Automates the feedback process through technology,
- Incorporates feedback into daily operations, and
- Simplifies the process for customers and staff.
Contact us for more information about how our solutions can work for your team!
