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  • "Mystery Shoppers" at Schools

    In todays advertiser they had a article regarding the "Mystery Shopper" Program at doe Schools.

    What do you think?

    Personally(since I work at a school) I think its a lame bull crap idea for a bunch of different reasons.

    A. We are government employees. No other government agency that I know of has this kind of program. Mostly it occurs in stores/restaurants
    B. Why don't they target the most important service providers in the Schools, TEachers themselves. My guess its because everyone fears the HSTA. It seems like they are targeting the least paid, longest working(school support staff usually work 12months and a full 8hr work day compared to the teachers 6 or 7) and usually most underappreciated group in the school system
    C. I just don't see there is a need to spend money on things like this at a state level. If every school/complex/district wanted to spend extra effort on customer service then they should go ahead and do it.
    D. If customer service evaluations won't affect individual employees then whats the point. Try firing someone in the HGEA because they didn't provide a irate customer with a huge smile.

    Whats your thoughts on the topic?
    Last edited by bitachu; June 9, 2006, 12:07 PM.
    'If you have a problem. If no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire, The A Team"

  • #2
    Re: "Mystery Shoppers" at Schools

    Bitachu, I have to agree. Like many of you know, I'm a school board mom. I think this idea is bizarre. What the pho are they throwing money at something like this for? Why not spring for a p.e. teacher for my school instead? Who wants to know if Hawaii public schools provide good customer service? Why don't they throw their mystery shoppers at the planning and permitting office, or at the drivers' licensing division? Who THINKS of this CRAP?!
    Aloha from Lavagal

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: "Mystery Shoppers" at Schools

      Originally posted by lavagal
      ... Who wants to know if Hawaii public schools provide good customer service? ...
      Yeah i'm like if customer service is our biggest problem at the the DOE then they should fire all the old clerks and secretaries in the office and replace them with some 20yr college students. I mean we are here to make sure the school runs effectively while providing support services to students, teachers, other staff, and lastly parents.

      I just can't wait when I win my "Aloha Awards". Unless it involves another 50$ a week so I can earn a decent wage I could really care less. Not to mention i'll be getting a "Letter of Hope" so I can make sure I can improve on my own personality issues..HAH
      'If you have a problem. If no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire, The A Team"

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: "Mystery Shoppers" at Schools

        Originally posted by from the Honolulu Advertiser
        It's officially being called Project Aloha, and it expects to employ the whole retinue of tools used by private enterprise to keep employees on their toes to serve customers well and keep them coming back. These include unannounced evaluators, or "mystery shoppers," posing as parents, secret callers to schools and state and district offices, and a survey of all personnel beforehand to see where the institution is falling short now.
        The posing as parents is what concerns me. If they are trying to get a non-existant child enrolled in their school, then I don't see an issue here, other than trying to determine how well treated they were by the staff of the school which is what this thing was supposed to do.

        However if the posing as parents were trying to access existing student records or anything to do with students at the school that these posers have no business in then this project is really ill-convieced.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: "Mystery Shoppers" at Schools

          Originally posted by bitachu
          It seems like they are targeting the least paid, longest working (school support staff usually work 12months and a full 8hr work day compared to the teachers 6 or 7) and usually most underappreciated group in the school system.
          Whoa, whoa. Let's back that up for a minute. You think teachers only work six or seven hours a day? I get to school at 6:30 every morning (unless I've something extra to work on, in which case I get there at 6:00) and on a good day, I'm out of there by 4:00. On a typical day, I'm out closer to 6:00. I get home (on nights when I'm not working on my graduate degree) and allow myself an hour or two to take care of other areas of my life (such as they exist), and then I start thinking about what I have to have ready for the next day at school.

          Weekends aren't days off; they are days when I can work, uninterrupted, on all the other things that make up my job but which I can never get to during the school day, because, you know, I'm teaching: administrative paperwork, grading, class advisor stuff, long-term planning, shopping for supplies, coaching the math team, rooting for the basketball team, and taking care of the yearbook.

          It's not as bad as it was when I was younger, because I've done a lot of the work already, but I had to earn that, and it's been ten years.

          I don't know what you do at your school, and you probably have good reason to feel "underappreciated," but you almost certainly make more per hour than I do, and I'm still paying for the education that I had to get in order to do this job, ten years after graduating from college. And how much of your job do you take home with you to work on during The Late Show with David Letterman? And how much of your own money do you have to spend just to enable you to do your job better? And how often do you have to call parents on your own time?

          I happen to agree with you that this "mystery shopper" thing is a joke, and if you do custodial or secretarial work, I'll agree that you're the most underappreciated workers on campus (underappreciated by everyone EXCEPT teachers, who all know how important you are!), but you will never get people to sympathize with you if you're going to belittle or minimize the time, energy, effort, and love teachers spend every day doing a job everyone values but few are willing to pay for. We're trying to make the world better; we didn't end up in these jobs for lack of other options.
          But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
          GrouchyTeacher.com

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: "Mystery Shoppers" at Schools

            Man, Scriv...I so wanted to say the same thing on behalf of my teacher friends but, well, you just said it so much better. I'll just say...DITTO!

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: "Mystery Shoppers" at Schools

              Originally posted by scrivener
              Whoa, whoa. Let's back that up for a minute. You think teachers only work six or seven hours a day? I get to school at 6:30 every morning (unless I've something extra to work on, in which case I get there at 6:00) and on a good day, I'm out of there by 4:00. On a typical day, I'm out closer to 6:00. I get home (on nights when I'm not working on my graduate degree) and allow myself an hour or two to take care of other areas of my life (such as they exist), and then I start thinking about what I have to have ready for the next day at school.

              Weekends aren't days off; they are days when I can work, uninterrupted, on all the other things that make up my job but which I can never get to during the school day, because, you know, I'm teaching: administrative paperwork, grading, class advisor stuff, long-term planning, shopping for supplies, coaching the math team, rooting for the basketball team, and taking care of the yearbook.

              It's not as bad as it was when I was younger, because I've done a lot of the work already, but I had to earn that, and it's been ten years.

              I don't know what you do at your school, and you probably have good reason to feel "underappreciated," but you almost certainly make more per hour than I do, and I'm still paying for the education that I had to get in order to do this job, ten years after graduating from college. And how much of your job do you take home with you to work on during The Late Show with David Letterman? And how much of your own money do you have to spend just to enable you to do your job better? And how often do you have to call parents on your own time?

              I happen to agree with you that this "mystery shopper" thing is a joke, and if you do custodial or secretarial work, I'll agree that you're the most underappreciated workers on campus (underappreciated by everyone EXCEPT teachers, who all know how important you are!), but you will never get people to sympathize with you if you're going to belittle or minimize the time, energy, effort, and love teachers spend every day doing a job everyone values but few are willing to pay for. We're trying to make the world better; we didn't end up in these jobs for lack of other options.
              To answer some of your questions:

              A. maybe i should have stated that teachers on average spend less hours at the school.. I'm usually one of the last on campus.
              B. If I go with my daily pay I gurantee i make less than you.
              C. I didn't mean to belittle teachers, I just stated out if your going to evaluate teachers with "mystery shoppers" maybe there should be some sort of assessors who secretly grade and evaluate teachers(those giving the most direct service at schools).
              D. I don't take any work home with me...but how much work i take home isn't the issue...my goal of this is why are they secretly evaluating certain staff at schools and not others...

              And relax cuz nothing was directed to you personally....my comment about teachers why teachers didnt' half to go thru the same process...
              'If you have a problem. If no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire, The A Team"

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: "Mystery Shoppers" at Schools

                Originally posted by bitachu
                C. I didn't mean to belittle teachers, I just stated out if your going to evaluate [support staff] with "mystery shoppers" maybe there should be some sort of assessors who secretly grade and evaluate teachers(those giving the most direct service at schools).
                ...
                And relax cuz nothing was directed to you personally....my comment about teachers why teachers didnt' half to go thru the same process...
                I wasn't taking it personally, so if I sounded personally defensive, I apologize for my miscommunication. I was sticking up for the entire profession, using my own experience as an example. Do you know how often we hear that we only work six hours per day? It gets old very, very quickly. The only thing more upsetting is hearing people refer to the profession as "something to fall back on."

                Are you familiar with the No Child Left Behind Act? I'll agree that this is not "secret" evaluation, but teachers are now being evaluated for something they have only partial control over: Students' performance on tests. Honest to God, I'd much, much, much rather be evaluated secretly, and so would just about every teacher I know. Then we'd be evaluated based on what we actually DO in the classroom, and not on some criteria with so many variables we don't have any control over.

                Let's say you were a cafeteria worker. Would you rather be evaluated secretly, based on the product you put out and how safely and by-the-book you prepare the meals, or would you rather be evaluated based on students' health? For every child who is overweight, say, your school would lose funding, and if students refused to eat their meals, blame would fall on you for not making them appealing enough, and eventually, some other organization would come in and tell you how to do your job. That would suck, wouldn't it? That's how public school teachers are getting evaluated all across the country.

                I hear what you're saying; nobody wants to be spied upon (except me, I guess) at work, but why don't you tell us what you do, and what would be a better solution, rather than wonder why teachers don't have to be evaluated similarly?
                But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                GrouchyTeacher.com

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: "Mystery Shoppers" at Schools

                  Originally posted by bitachu
                  A. We are government employees. No other government agency that I know of has this kind of program.
                  Aren't airport screeners getting secretly tested all the time? That was my impression, anyway, based on news articles about how frequently something dangerous gets through the system.
                  But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                  GrouchyTeacher.com

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: "Mystery Shoppers" at Schools

                    From what we were told at a meeting down at Pacific Beach "Hotel" Conference area...last week...

                    It's not just the schools... however, all DOE state offices too!

                    It will be more of an opportunity to see and evaluate how the communication flows at more of the front end... ie; Clerical staff and those that deal with the general public.

                    I don't think the teachers will be mystery shopped personally.
                    They have enough to worry about.

                    I do know that it will come in all forms.... whether it be from phone calls to people and how they reply... to Fax's, Letters, and even Email using.

                    I think Email replies maybe biggies w/ the BCC feature!

                    I think our clerical staff do a wonderful job.... as well as everyone else in our office.... so I'm not to worried.

                    However, I do know that they are looking at Re-Evaluating a lot of State positions w/in DOE and changing the way some offices work....etc...

                    This will begin in 2007
                    Last edited by damontucker; June 9, 2006, 05:32 PM. Reason: forgot to add "hotel"

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: "Mystery Shoppers" at Schools

                      I like the idea of incorporating Mystery shoppers in the DOE. People think just because they got their job they don't have to be nice or at least courteous anymore.

                      Mystery shoppers keep everyone on their toes that yes they are being evaluated and their efforts (or lack of them) are being monitored. If you are already doing a good job of interacting with the general public, then you have nothing to fear. But if you are indifferent then this is a wake up call to think twice before blowing off a customer because that personal phone call on government time is more important.

                      Some people are just downright rude to others especially if they believe they have all the time in the world to take their time because they are the only place in which a person can get that information. But to the other person who is on their fast dissolving lunch break and see the person behind the counter just jabbing away with a co-worker instead of doing their job it's absolutely frustrating. And the clerk wonders why that customer has an attitude problem when they finally get around to helping them.

                      I've been on both sides of customer service having people swear in my face because they couldn't get what they wanted. I just smile and try to help them anyway. I tell them, "I'm sorry but I'll keep trying to assist you until you are satisfied" Hey what else can you do other than giving some attitude back and then you just fuel the anger and nobody wins.

                      As the front line to the general public, if you cannot deal with appropriate customer service then you should find a back office job. Customer service isn't easy and it ain't for those with attitude problems, and for those who can turn an ugly situation into a winning one, they don't have a thing to worry about, but for those who feel they hold all the cards and can treat the general public anyway they feel, well better think again.

                      I think it's about time Government workers are put to the fire when it comes to customer service, hey mystery shoppers isn't a new concept and in the retail business its pretty much been the way you get promoted or disciplined for a long time now. You got something to bitch about? Then you got something to hide as well. It's all about being nice or at least cordial. If that's too tough of a concept to deal with, then I'm sorry it's not the customer's fault.
                      Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: "Mystery Shoppers" at Schools

                        I have a few concerns with this concept...

                        1. The Honolulu Advertiser mentioned in the article that a lot of military parents have volunteered for this, this group being the one with the most complaints about customer service at schools. Are there going to be a lot of parents already harboring grudges (who knows how big these grudges are and how resentful they are toward the schools) who are picked to be mystery shoppers? What's the process for picking the mystery shoppers? Is there some kind of psychological screening? Is the process similar to picking a jury for a case? Or is anybody and everybody who volunteers being accepted? After all, these mystery shoppers will possibly be wielding considerable powers to get someone fired. What kind of training are the mystery shoppers getting? If they call in to the school, are the calls being monitored, or is it going to be all what both sides claim happened?

                        2. I would think that it be fair that the people who are being targeted for these mystery programs get formal training so that they have a specific plan of action that they are supposed to take when they come into contact with "difficult" or "challenging" parents. Is such training being given to school personnel?

                        Having been in customer service, both as a regular employee on the "front lines" and as a manager at a major educational institution, I KNOW how difficult and irate and upset parents can become when they are frustrated. I know how easily tempers can be frayed due to miscommunication and differences in viewpoint. I really hope that both the mystery shoppers and the school employees are being given appropriate training so that everybody isn't flying blind into this "experiment" and so that everybody has a fair chance to do their best and accomplish appropriately the goals of this mystery shopper program.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: "Mystery Shoppers" at Schools

                          Originally posted by bitachu
                          Whats your thoughts on the topic?
                          I'm more concerned that someone who writes the above sentence is allowed to work in a school environment.

                          Even if a DOE employee is not a teacher, he/she should have rudimentary language skills.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: "Mystery Shoppers" at Schools

                            Originally posted by AbsolutChaos
                            I have a few concerns with this concept...

                            1. The Honolulu Advertiser mentioned in the article that a lot of military parents have volunteered for this, this group being the one with the most complaints about customer service at schools. Are there going to be a lot of parents already harboring grudges (who knows how big these grudges are and how resentful they are toward the schools) who are picked to be mystery shoppers? What's the process for picking the mystery shoppers? Is there some kind of psychological screening? Is the process similar to picking a jury for a case? Or is anybody and everybody who volunteers being accepted? After all, these mystery shoppers will possibly be wielding considerable powers to get someone fired. What kind of training are the mystery shoppers getting? If they call in to the school, are the calls being monitored, or is it going to be all what both sides claim happened?

                            2. I would think that it be fair that the people who are being targeted for these mystery programs get formal training so that they have a specific plan of action that they are supposed to take when they come into contact with "difficult" or "challenging" parents. Is such training being given to school personnel?
                            Good points. Yes I believe all who will be on the receiving end of the mystery shopper should be able to have some training in the area of customer service before any evaluation system is put into place. This would give employees the opportunity to be able to identify if they are being unprofessional about their work and their dealings with the public before being put to the test. That's only fair.

                            And for any mystery shopper to critique any employee should be given training on the appropriate methods of engaging in a situation without provoking a bad situation such as not demanding attention when the employee is actively helping another either on the phone or in person. In other words, before the mystery shopper can go out and ruin someone's government career, they must abide by some code of conduct to treat the "victim" with due respect in order to evaluate a proper customer service response.
                            Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

                            Comment

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