At the National Day Rally Speech, PM spoke about the importance for Singapore to raise our service standards. I have been asked to oversee this matter.
Why GEMS?
Since then, I have received numerous feedback and spoken to many people, including members of the public, academics, workers and business leaders. Many of them gave me very valuable inputs. All of them agreed that this is an important area worthy of a national effort. There are two reasons.
2. The first is the economic. The service industries are an important engine of growth and are generating the bulk of the new jobs, including in retail, hotels, restaurants, transport and entertainment. Better service standards will lead to more tourists, faster growth, brighter business prospects for entrepreneurs, and more jobs for Singaporeans. However, internationally, our service ranking has been slipping. The 2005 Global Competitiveness Report rank Singapore's customer orientation at 17th, better than the year before where we were 21st but still below our 8th position in 1998.
3. The second reason is social. We want a gracious society, where Singaporeans treat each other with kindness and mutual respect. We want to see Singaporean customers appreciating the service provided by the service worker, whom in turn is proud of what he is doing and does it with professionalism. Service excellence is a clear indication that we have succeeded in developing a gracious and more caring society. This is an important ingredient for a better home.
4. Therefore, everyone has a stake in our move towards service excellence.
Great Service Begins With Me
5. How do we bring this about?
6. Some people told me encouraging service workers to do GST - Greet-Smile-Thanks - will go a long way. Others said it was all about the bosses adopting the right business strategy, setting up good service delivery systems and training t heir workers. Still others say that if customers in Singapore behave better, they would get better service. Because good customers get good service, while bad and unreasonable customers naturally turn off the service workers.
7. I have come to the conclusion that they are all right. This is a complex and multi-dimensional issue. Raising service standards requires the effort of everyone - the employers, the workers, as well as the customers.
8. Everyone plays a part. Whoever you are, the right attitude to adopt is to say 'Great service begins with me'. If you are an employer, go the extra mile to train your staff, emphasize good service, and do not just compete on low price as your default business strategy. If you are service worker, go the extra mile to be helpful to the customers and leave them an unforgettable experience. If you are the customer, never treat service workers like your servant or slave, but go the extra mile to show your appreciation when you are served well.
Not a Top-Down Committee, But a Bottom-Up Movement
9. That is why we have decided to call this the Movement to Go-The-Extra-Mile for Service, or GEMS for short. Channel News Asia suggested this and I thought that it sums up well what we must aim to do.
10. We have decided to call this a Movement because service excellence affects all of us, and all of us have a part to play. So this is not to be a top -down, Government committee to direct people what to do. It will not work, because people will not have ownership of the effort. Contrary to what some members of the public think we are - judging from their emails and letters - we are also not a complaint bureau that takes bad service providers to task, nor an arbitration council to mediate problems between customers and service providers. I believe there are existing mechanisms to address those grievances.
11. Instead, GEMS is an encompassing movement under which we encourage all Singaporeans to play their part, and take the initiative to improve service levels . There are already many existing initiatives - the Customers Centric Initiative driven by NTUC, SPRING and WDA, the Singapore Learning Festival, the Excellent Service Awards, the Tourism Awards, and so on. What we want to do is to encourage even more ideas and initiatives, so as to keep up the momentum for change.
12. So go ahead, think of new ideas, however out of the box they are that could improve service levels, and then do it. For example, Elim Chew of 77th Street wants to introduce mobile trainers to go to all her outlets to train the service staff. Others want to start a mystery shoppers' initiative to keep our retail outlets on their toes. CNA is thinking of producing a reality TV series where teams of service workers and their employers, already known for their good service, compete against each other to deliver even better service. Another writer suggested that we should have a Singapore welcome, like the Thais have their Sawadicup and Indians have their Nemeste, to give identity and pride to the Singapore brand of service.
The GEMS champions
13. I am pleased that a group of people from various fields have agreed to he lp me drive this national movement for service excellence. There are twenty-one members in this core group, including myself. Their diversity reflects the inclusive nature of GEMS . They include business leaders from the retail, F&B, airline and hotel industries, members from the media, representatives from the training industry, the labour union and CASE. They are supported by an inter- agency secretariat.
14. We have identified a 4-prong framework to promote service excellence.
(i) Leadership
(ii) Capabilities
(iii) Mindset
(iv) SMEs
15. Some of the members have kindly agreed to help me champion these:
a. Ms Jennie Chua (Raffles Holdings) and Mr John Cheston (Robinsons) will be the champions on the issue of leadership, i.e. how to encourage employers to take the lead in making service competitiveness their business strategy;
b. Mr Octavio Gamarra (Ritz Carlton Millennia) and Mr Tan Pee Teck (SIA) will be the champions on the issue of capabilities, i.e. how to train service workers to be competent, knowledgeable and effective in their jobs;
c. Mr Kenneth Chan (McDonalds) and Mr Douglas Foo (Apex- PAL) will be the champions on the issue of mindsets, i.e. to help Singaporeans understand that a career in services are honorable and respectable, that service workers deserve our respect, and to motivate workers to give of their best;
d. Ms Elim Chew (77th Street) and Mr Michael Ma (Indochine) will be the champ ions for SMEs, i.e. to give special attention to this group of companies in term s of upgrading their service standards.
16. If you want to help us or have views to contribute, then here's our email address: GEMS@wda.gov.sg.
Conclusion
17. All of us here are excited by this endeavor. To develop a service culture is a long term effort. We have to start with a like-minded group, build it up to reach a critical mass, and let GEMS snowball into a broad change a cross our society.
18. GEMS requires the effort of everyone. It is not just the business of SIA or the big hotel chains. Every service outlet, from a retail shop to a neighbourhood restaurant, can play a part. This is why for today's press conference, I chose to hold it at Muthu's Curry. They have become a food institution in Singapore. And they are making an effort to upgrade their service to offer something more to their customers. I think establishments like Muthu's deserve our support.
19. And if every business, big or small, feels that they can play a part in developing service excellence for Singapore; and every worker, every customer chip in and put in an effort, we will collectively make a big difference. Today, when Singaporeans talk about our city, we are all proud to say we are clean and safe. The GEMS Movement would have arrived, when Singaporeans too speak proudly of our excellent service culture. So let's all play our part and be a GEM.
