At a time when public sector bodies are under pressure from constrained budgets and rising demand on services, it is more important than ever to build good faith with citizens through the quality of the experience delivered. The bar has been set in the private sector, where the increased digitisation of channels since the pandemic has enabled customers to self-serve more and interact with brands more seamlessly. So, how is the public sector faring?
Citizen experience under the spotlight
New research from KPMG throws light on this question. Our Citizen Experience Excellence report is an extensive benchmarking of citizens’ views on the quality of their interactions with the public sector across central government, local government, healthcare and transport. Now in its third year, we have reached around 55,000 citizen evaluations of their experiences. The analysis mirrors KPMG’s wider Customer Experience Excellence research which examines customers’ experience with private sector businesses that has been running for 14 years.
In the research, we measure satisfaction against Six Pillars that are key to the citizen experience: Personalisation, Time & Effort, Meeting Expectations, Integrity, Resolution, and Empathy.
Citizen satisfaction and trust on the decline
Given the pressures affecting the public sector, it probably won’t be a surprise that satisfaction with public bodies tracks behind that of the private sector across each one of these pillars – although the scores are very close for Empathy, a traditional strong point for areas such as healthcare in particular.
But if this is not surprising, it is nevertheless disappointing that we find an 11% decline in citizen satisfaction between 2021 and 2023. It’s a worrying picture – we found that citizens are becoming more and more frustrated with their experience of trying to find information and navigate government services.
Trust is also in decline. This is another major concern because trust is key to any relationship and therefore to the drivers of satisfaction. Over 30% of citizens believe that the public sector doesn't prioritise their best interests or those of the community, which significantly harms citizen satisfaction. Our studies uncover a shocking 27% decline in satisfaction levels when this belief persists.
Embracing digital channels
However, there were some encouragements too. One of the standout shifts is the rise of the ‘digital citizen’. Just as customers have embraced digital interactions with private sector businesses, so too they are looking to move online with public services. There is evidence of government and public sector organisations making progress here – in particular, where they’ve made digital enhancements. For the first time, citizens were more satisfied with their interactions over digital channels than more traditional routes like email or phone – and this generally applied whatever the age of the respondent, from Gen Z to the over 55s.
The key to building on this is to ensure that digitisation is connected across the organisation, not just in silos or pockets. Adopting an end-to-end citizen-centric approach can result in a win-win: a much improved citizen experience and, for the organisation, significant cost reductions by eliminating duplications, errors, overlaps and handovers.
Three key insights
There is a lot to digest and reflect on in our research, but I would call out three key points to help public sector bodies focus their efforts:
- Balance reducing costs with service delivery. Good resolution creates a 9% uplift when done well, but 45% of citizens said that getting resolution to their issue was difficult. This just leads to increased cost through citizens repeatedly contacting the organisation for an update or further information (we estimate that each single contact carries a cost of between £5 and £8) – and increases the workload on already stretched staff. Look for ways to increase opportunities for citizens to self-serve through digitisation and more frictionless experiences.
- Embrace new technology to enhance delivery. There is a 15% increase in satisfaction when citizens use digital channels. But they still use traditional, high cost channels such as phone, email and face-to-face 50% of the time. Understand where the opportunities are to increase digital service delivery, and prioritise connecting these so that the citizen has a more seamless experience where they don’t need to re-enter all their details each time. When citizens feel that the organisation knows and recognises them, satisfaction and goodwill increases.
- Understand what matters most to build trust. The public sector scores well on security, with 86% of citizens confident that their data is secure. This is an increase from last year – and is a credit to the sector. But the wider finding that 30% of citizens don’t believe the public sector acts in their best interests is a real concern. Focus on really understanding your citizens, including by different segments and cohorts, and then concentrate on delivering against their needs and priorities. Keep citizens informed and up to date – show them that you care and are working hard to address their issue or concern.
