Offering
Marketing Research, Opinion Surveys, Focus Groups, Mystery Shopper
Audits on Awareness, Values, Attitudes, Perception and Behaviour in
Asia. Services include Customer Satisfaction Surveys, Employee
Engagement Surveys, Advertising and Branding Studies, Awareness
Knowledge Attitude Usage Research
COPYRIGHT
NOTICE: Written permission has to be obtained from Forbes Research
on the usage of Forbes NCSI (Public Sector) benchmarks.
NEWS:: July 18 2016
AWARD
OF FORBES RESEARCH GOLD MEDAL 2015-2016
Congratulations
to Mr. Khong Jia Jin (B. Accountancy & B. Business) of NTU who has been awarded the
Forbes Research Gold Medal.
NEWS:: July 15 2015
AWARD
OF FORBES RESEARCH GOLD MEDAL 2014-2015
Congratulations
to Mr. Cai WenJie (B. Business) of NTU who has been awarded the
Forbes Research Gold Medal.
NEWS:: Nov 11 2013
LAUNCH OF AGC PLUS SURVEY: Plain Laws Understandable by Singaporeans survey
Forbes Research has been commissioned to conduct an online survey to gather response and suggestions on how the Singapore Statute Book can remain accessible and to improve the readability of our legislation. The survey will be opened till 12 December 2013.
NEWS:: July 4 2012
AWARD
OF FORBES RESEARCH GOLD MEDAL 2011-2012
Congratulations
to Mr. Tay Ming Hoe Ivan (B. Business) of NTU who has been awarded the
Forbes Research Gold Medal.
NEWS:: May 3 2012
LUCKY DRAW RESULT FOR "SYSTEMS-W2" SURVEY
Congratulations to Ms. LP Lim (ISS NICF-Cobit course), who won the Lucky Draw held under witness.
NEWS:: April 14 2012
INCENTIVE FOR "SYSTEMS-W2" SURVEY
This is an invitation-only survey. Invitees should have received their passwords in their email. Invitees who submit their surveys by 25 April 2012 stands a chance to win a SAMSUNG Galaxy Tab P6800LSAXSP Silver 7in 16GB 3G WIFI Android Tablet (Without Contract) or Cash equivalent of S$800. Only valid submissions qualify, terms apply.

NEWS:: January 13 2012
STUDY ON POLYTECHNIC GRADUATES
This survey is closed. We will be holding the Lucky Draw sometime on the week of 16 Jan 2012. Please use the survey link in your email to view the results of the Lucky Draw. Winners will be notified.
NEWS:: August 27 2010
AWARD
OF FORBES RESEARCH GOLD MEDAL 2010
Congratulations
to Ms. Tan Siew Lin Phyllis (B. Business) of NTU for being awarded the
Forbes Research Gold Medal.
NEWS:: February 10 2010
AWARD
OF FORBES RESEARCH GOLD MEDAL 2009
Congratulations
to Ms. Chua Xiao Ying (B. Business) of NTU for being awarded the
Forbes Research Gold Medal. This award which is administered by NTU
was given in recognition of her distinguished performance in the
subject of marketing and marketing research. We look forward to
having Xiao Ying joining the industry.
NEWS:: December 4 2009
HDB,
CPF, POLYCLINICS, NLB, ICA...
DEFINING
MOMENTS IN PUBLIC SERVICES
Many
public services are of the low-involvement type. You use it and
promptly forget about the encounter. No special impressions are
formed. However, there are defining moments of service encounters
that leave you with a strong impression of public services.
From
the 2124 respondents surveyed, the following Ministries/Statutory
Boards left an imprint which may be good or bad. These are the top
10 organisations that impacted the satisfaction score of public
services:
Ministry/Statutory Board |
Number |
Weightage % |
HDB |
360 |
17.0 |
CPF |
274 |
12.9 |
POLYCLINICS |
257 |
12.1 |
NLB |
193 |
9.1 |
ICA |
171 |
8.1 |
PUBLIC HOSPITALS |
144 |
6.8 |
CDC & TCs |
143 |
6.7 |
IRAS |
65 |
3.1 |
MOM |
62 |
2.9 |
LTA |
60 |
2.8 |
Others also cited: PA, HPB, NEA, MCYS, AVA, SSC |
|
|
A
substantial 360 respondents or 17% cited HDB as the organisation
that left the strongest impression on them (may be positive or
negative). This is followed by CPF, and the Polyclinics. The rest
are listed in the table above.
To
get a high Forbes NCSI (Public sector) score, the scores of these
organisations have to improve, more so for those with higher
weightage.
In
coming releases, we will highlight those who scored above the Forbes
NCSI (Public sector) Index score of 6.75 and those who scored below.
NEWS:: November 22 2009
HOW
DOES THE PUBLIC ACCESS GOVERNMENT SERVICES
AND
ARE THEY SATISFIED?
The
vast majority (93.6%) of the public still access government services
over the counter (OTC), 80.7% via telephone, and 54.2% used website
and e-services. Less than half (46.2%) used letters and emails.
While website and e-services may be more efficient, these cannot
replace the 2 most popular channels anytime soon.
OTC
has the highest satisfaction level, with 88.6% expressing
satisfaction and a mean score of 7.09 out of 10. Satisfaction with
service channel via telephone had 23.8% dissatisfied users and a
mean of 6.58. Often, service channel via telephone first goes
through the merry-go-round of AVRS, which has more dissatisfied
users than satisfied ones.
One
has to be circumspect when interpreting the scores for the different
channels, as they are not necessarily equivalents. Qualitative
studies have shown that telephone enquiries are a lot broader and
less well defined. The public uses telephone calls or information
from websites to screen and narrow down or identify the right
agencies that can address their issues. So those who go down to an
agency's counters have already narrowed their search. Their problems
would also be better defined. The types of transactions and
expectations, not to mention demographics are quite different for
the different channel users.
e-Services
have high satisfaction level. In fact, 44.8% gave at least an 8, out
of 10. With e-Services, better service integration is possible.
However, the challenge is how to get more of those who use OTC and
telephone channels to use web-based services instead. The keys lie
in awareness, ease of use/navigation, comprehensiveness of
information, service integration, etc. Here is where usability
testing of websites and e-services become useful. Please contact us
for more information on usability testing.

NEWS:: November 14 2009
Being
passed from one government agency to another used to be a favourite
complaint by the public. Sometime in 2005 or earlier, the government
spoke of a "no wrong door" policy which aim was to provide
seamless and integrated public services.
The
2009 Forbes NCSI measured the Accessibility Index at 6.81 out of 10.
While close to 80% gave a favourable rating, about half are only
"somewhat" positive and about 1 in 5 did not give a thumbs
up.

The
NCSI consistency index measures how consistent public service is on
service quality and reliability. The index is 6.52 which is average
and opinions are divided. The overall take is that more has to be
done to bring about a similar level of service across agencies.
NEWS:: November 8 2009
As our office is currently undergoing
renovation, there may be intermittent disruptions to our main
telephone line.
Forbes has decided not to release the NCSI
(Public Sector) report for sale. We will instead publish the
findings online.
NEWS:: November 7 2009
PUBLIC SERVICES SATISFACTION
INDEX COMPARED
Forbes NCSI satisfaction indices compared
SECTOR
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009
|
Retail (Major Stores) Satisfaction Index
|
7.30
|
7.60
|
7.65
|
Not avail yet
|
Public Sector Satisfaction Index
|
PSD
|
|
|
6.75
|
Our Forbes National Customer Satisfaction Index
(NCSI) which was developed with Spring Singapore between 2004 and
2006, have tracked customer satisfaction using a common set of
questions that scored satisfaction items on a scale from 1 to 10.
The higher the score, the better.
The NCSI Retail (Major Stores) have been fairly
stable, starting with an Index score of 7.3 in 2006, it went up in
the subsequent year but leveled at around 7.6 out of 10. The 2009
score is not available yet. Typically the percentage of Dissatisfied
Customers average about 3% and Very Satisfied about 55%. The
Slightly Satisfied group is about 42%.
We recognise that public services would not
match the retail industry in terms of satisfaction scores because
public sector agencies also have a regulatory / enforcement role.
Besides, its product and service policies target the masses and are
mostly not customised to specific segments or individuals. Also,
customers often do not have a choice of service providers because
for the masses, there are few alternatives to public housing,
education, transport or health services. The one-size-fits-all
approach, which is typical of public services, is a limiting factor
in terms of achieving high customer satisfaction. Consequently, the
percentage of Dissatisfied Customers stand at 16.2% and the Very
Satisfied at 31% for public services.
Within the limits of its constraints, what
level of improvements can public services target?
What should public services benchmark itself
against?
Ideally the best benchmark for our 2009 survey
would be the 2006 ECPS score. We are skeptical of comparison with
overseas public services because the cultural aspects of
satisfaction ratings have not been robustly addressed. From numerous
surveys conducted over the past 25 years, we have found a cultural
bias in how different ethnic groups and nationalities rate
satisfaction. The differences are statistically significant even
when the same statements and rating scales are used. What then is
the basis to compare Singaporean’s (based on our mix of ethnic
groups) ratings of our public services with, say, American’s
ratings of their public services?
Coming up next, Forbes NCSI (Public Services)
scores on:
- Satisfaction
components: Accessibility, Reliability, Service Effectiveness,
etc.
- Outcomes
- how public services affect the public's trust and
willingness to collaborate with the agencies
We will also answer the question: Which
agencies most impacted the public’s perception of public services?
NEWS::
October 31 2009 Straits
Times HOME Page B9 "Thumbs-up for public services"
PRESS
RELEASE:: October 29 2009
EIGHT IN 10 GIVE THUMBS UP TO GOVERNMENT
SERVICES
Forbes (NCSI) Public Sector offers insights into general public's
view of public services in Singapore
SINGAPORE
- October 29,
2009 - Nearly 8 in every 10 members of the public agree that
public services in Singapore are accessible, according to a recent independent
study conducted by
Forbes Research Pte Ltd. About 80 per cent of the respondents in the
Customer Perception and Satisfaction Survey also said that the
service quality and reliability were consistent across Government
agencies.
Conducted
between March
and June 2009, the survey
aims to offer an insight into the general masses' view of public
services in Singapore. It mirrors the External Customer Perception
Survey (ECPS) study commissioned by Prime Minister's Office in
2005/06, with some modifications to update the questions. The
2005/06 ECPS was designed and conducted by Forbes Research using the
Forbes NCSI customer satisfaction framework.
The
survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 2,140
randomly selected individuals to gauge the level of customer
satisfaction when using Government services.
Among
the various service platforms available, respondents who used
over-the-counter services and e-services expressed the highest
levels of satisfaction.
According
to the results of this study, Government agencies' staff achieved
high ratings for their effective services. Staff is knowledgeable
in subject matter
(7.12 of 10 points),
able to
understand customers' needs (6.95 of 10 points)
and provide accurate information accordingly
(7.08 of 10 points).
Forbes NCSI also explored public interest in providing feedback and
input to Government agencies. Although 65% of respondents expressed
interest in providing feedback and comments regarding public
policies, only 10.8% had participated in such feedback and
consultation exercises.
Despite
90% of respondents expressing ease in contacting the appropriate
officers and obtaining the required information, a third of the
respondents felt that some agencies were still restricted by rules
and regulations. While agency staff displayed flexibility to
accommodate customer needs, the rules and regulations sometimes
hindered their ability to deliver.
Forbes
hopes government
departments will strive to better these benchmark levels and improve
their services to the public.
For
further information, please contact us via "Contact Us"
tab above.
Back
To Top >>
Offering
Marketing Research, Opinion Surveys, Focus Groups, Mystery Shopper
Audits on Awareness, Values, Attitudes, Perception and Behaviour in
Asia. Services include Customer Satisfaction Surveys, Employee
Engagement Surveys, Advertising and Branding Studies, Awareness
Knowledge Attitude Usage Research
|