Seminar "Client-Centricity in the Public Administration System: Standard, Mechanisms and Implementation Cases"

Experts in the field of research on current trends and standards of a client-oriented approach and their application in public institutions shared their knowledge and experience. Evgeny Styrin, Head of the International Laboratory of Digital Transformation in Public Administration at the Higher School of Economics moderated the seminar. Gennady Stryuk, Deputy Head of the Laboratory for Research on Leadership Practices and Client-Centricity, was invited as a debater.

At the seminar, Victor Kharchenko, Deputy General Director of Laboratory of System and Architectural Solutions LLC (L-STAR LLC), made a presentation on the topic "Development of Standards of Client-Centricity "State for People" and "State for Business": Meanings and Perspectives". Two years have passed since the standards were developed, but in the legal field, the concept of client-centricity has not yet found its way into the norms of legislation on the provision of services to citizens and businesses. The report was constructed as a discussion on the topic of introducing a client-centric approach in public administration in the development of standards of client-centricity "The State for people" and "The State for business". The main initiatives related to the introduction of a client-centered approach in public administration were considered and the principles uniting these initiatives were shown. It is determined that the client-centric approach in state and municipal management is based on identifying and studying the needs of the client, constantly improving the interaction of authorities and authorized organizations with the client to meet his needs with the intention to exceed his expectations. The report outlined who the client is, what the client's needs are in terms of documents, what the standards require, who is obliged to comply with the standards. The requirements of the State for People standard for identifying and studying customer needs, for designing new services and services, reengineering existing services and services, for the process of providing services and services to meet customer needs, as well as requirements for interaction with customers at individual points of interaction are disclosed. It is determined that the requirements at the points of interaction with the client require periodic updating.

Victor Kharchenko noted that there was no separate standard for business anywhere in the world, and revealed the specifics of the requirements of the standard "State for Business" in comparison with the standard "State for People". He highlighted the effects inherent in the standard: increasing the satisfaction of representatives of the business community due to the targeting of the state in providing services, reducing business costs when interacting with the state through the use of digital and platform solutions in the provision of state (municipal) services; increasing the attractiveness of the Russian Federation for doing business. At the end of the report, the speaker highlighted weaknesses in the client-centered approach.

Mikhail Ushakov, Head of the project office of the State Budgetary Institution of Moscow "Analytical Center for Control Activities", made a report on the topic "Client-Centric Approach in the Development of Services (using the example of the Main Control Department of the city of Moscow)". The report examined the practice of using a client-centric approach in automating internal processes in the interests of government agencies themselves. The speaker said that customer focus is one of the key approaches to designing any digital services in the commercial sector. In government agencies, this trend is also clearly visible at both the federal and regional levels. Using the example of designing an Analytical System for the control activities of the Moscow Central Control, the speaker reviewed the main tools and practices used in interaction with internal clients, in particular Customer Journey Map, Deep Dive Interview, Design Thinking. Some of them were successful, some were not. The author spoke about positive and negative examples of direct adherence to customer-centricity requirements and customer wishes. In conclusion, the speaker highlighted the effects of changing the paradigm of using a client-centric approach in the development of internal services in terms of increasing coverage, lowering the login threshold for new employees, freeing up time when automating routine tasks and managing workload when automating a personalized task flow based on user data.

Anastasiya Larionova, Deputy Head of the Project office of Glavcontrol in Moscow, spoke about The Client-Centric Approach in the Implementation of State Control (Supervision). The speaker said that it is traditionally customary to talk about the client-centricity of public services, but recently the topic of a client-centric approach in the implementation of state control (supervision) has been gaining popularity. At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to who is seen as a "client" during creating a digital environment of the state control. Anastasiya Larionova presented an example of an information system in which services have been created to ensure comfortable and effective interaction between business and government, a controlled person and a controller. She highlighted the basic principles of organizing the process of developing services for business: open dialogue, self-control, prevention, anonymity and data security, relevance, accessibility of information. She revealed the content of services for convenient interaction and prevention (self-examination, counseling), for anonymous self-checking and timely prevention (calendar of control dates, online calculator for assessing the likelihood of violations), sections for information (control magazine, help center). In conclusion, the speaker highlighted the advantages of a multi-level register of requirements for methodologists, supervisors and businesses in terms of information, automation and analytics.

Ilya Stepanov, Director of the Center for New Technologies in Budget Services Management, Junior Researcher at the International Laboratory for Digital Transformation in Public Administration, made a presentation on "Client-Centricity in the Work of Labor Inspections: Key Tools and Public Assessment of Real Practices." Within the framework of the presentation, the main directions of using the services of interaction of the Federal Service for Labor and Employment with employees and employers in the field of labor relations and protection of citizens' labor rights (digital services, services for personal reception of citizens, inspections and preventive measures of employers) were considered. I.M. Stepanov spoke about the features of data sources for assessing and developing client-centricity in the work of labor inspections: surveys of employees and employers, monitoring the work of reference phones of state labor inspections, qualitative research, conducting in-depth interviews with business representatives).

In order to demonstrate in practice the assessment of satisfaction of employees and employers with the result of interaction with labor inspections, the speaker presented the results of the assessment in a number of subjects of the Russian Federation on the main groups of studied indicators: satisfaction of reference groups with the comprehensibility and accessibility of information, assessment of the services of the portal «Onlajnisnpekciya.rf» (Russian Online Inspection), satisfaction of reference groups with interaction with labor inspectors, satisfaction of employees with the processes of organizing waiting in line at a personal appointment and the final response to their request, employers' assessment of the acceptability of costs during the audit, as well as the credibility of the inspection. The result of constructing an integrated assessment to measure the level of client-centricity of labor inspections based on a comprehensive criterion was also considered.

Research in the Field of Monitoring Services and Feedback in the System of Tools for Implementing Client-Centricity in the Executive Authorities of the Russian Federation was presented in the report by Anna Mironova, Head of the department at the State for People Development Center of the Analytical Center under the Government of the Russian Federation. The speaker presented a system of tools for implementing client-centricity, deployed within the framework of the federal project "The State for People", considered the role, significance and first results of the implementation of a mechanism for monitoring services and feedback in the executive authorities of the Russian Federation. As a part of the use of such a mechanism, the quality of customer interaction with the authority is assessed through the collection, aggregation and analysis of objective (in the case of monitoring data) and subjective data received (in the case of subjective feedback data) directly from external and internal customers. As a result, customer satisfaction is determined not only with the provision of services and services in general, but also with respect to individual elements of the process, for example, the level of satisfaction with the convenience and efficiency of the provision of services (services) is measured. The data obtained from the results of feedback collection and analysis enable the executive authorities to identify the "pains" and problems of the client at any stage and within any form of interaction, on the basis of which new services and services of the state are designed and optimized. The speaker also presented for discussion the results of research on identifying the perception of citizens and businesses of services, support measures and other types of interaction with the state, conducted by the Analytical Center under the Government of the Russian Federation in 2022-2023.

Gennady Stryuk, Deputy Head of the Laboratory for Research on Leadership Practices and Client-Centricity at the Higher School of Economics, noted the importance in the long-term formation of elements of public management culture not only among civil servants, but also among citizens who ensure the demand for client-centricity. Civil servants should be imbued with the spirit of client-centricity, consider it a value for themselves personally and promote the principles of client-centricity in working with citizens, in providing public services to businesses, as well as in interaction between various authorities. In this case, the principles and mechanisms prescribed in the standards of client-centricity become a real embodiment in practice. The task is complicated by the fact that it is necessary to ensure vertical integration in client-centricity, when civil servants at all levels of government must ensure the work of authorities in the interests of citizens, that is, on the principles of client-centricity.

In general, the experts shared their research in the field of developing client-oriented policies and standards, as well as identifying factors that determine the effectiveness of government interaction with customers. The discussion at the seminar facilitated the exchange of ideas and best practices between the participants. Scientists and experts discussed the potential challenges and benefits of client-centricity in public administration, as well as shared strategies and tools for implementing this approach in organizations.

The seminar allowed the participants to expand their knowledge and understanding in this area, as well as to receive valuable research and practical recommendations for improving the interaction of the state with citizens and business structures.