Customer service has been a growing area of interest for the City of Kirkland. Having better customer service is an established goal of the Kirkland City Council, and the remodel of Kirkland City Hall has made way for an information desk to go right up front to assist visitors.
“We’re the first point of contact for city hall,” Customer Service Program Lead Sara Waters said, adding she and the volunteers working there answer the phones and greet in-person visitors who are there for meetings with city staff members or to engage with the services the city offers such as passport application processing.
Waters is a full-time city employee, and she coordinates the scheduling and training for the customer service program. She started at this position in October 2015, and she took it upon herself to work alongside the volunteer reception assistants to provide stability and direction at the front desk, which they all seem to appreciate.
“(People who come into city hall) need to be interacted with; they need to have someone to talk to,” Dave Aubry, who has been a volunteer since 2002, said. “The new layout and the new people have been doing a very good job of turning things around.”
The reception assistants also find reward in helping their fellow citizens.
“I feel like I’m doing something useful,” Shirley Hood, who has been volunteering for two years, said.
“It’s great that a customer is greeted and has a place to sit,” 10-year volunteer Joie Goodwin added. “It’s so welcoming.”
The evidence of the increased appreciation for the restructuring of the front desk can be seen in the increase in hours volunteered. “It makes for a better volunteer experience when you’re tangibly part of a team,” City of Kirkland Volunteer Coordinator Patrick Tefft said.
In 2015, the front desk volunteer hours totaled 734, while the total was at 1,290 as of Dec. 12 in 2016.
“I think we’ve had a very successful year,” Waters said, adding they only have two two-hour shifts in need of volunteers during normal business hours, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Tefft said the city as a whole has been steadily increasing its number of volunteer hours as well, something he attributed to the variety of opportunities, from indoor to outdoor activities to having options about how frequently to volunteer, including one-time events and weekly and monthly opportunities.
“Kirkland is a community where people really value being involved,” he said, adding that they have volunteers of all ages, from teens to seniors.
Kirkland City Hall front desk volunteers and staff, along with Volunteer Coordinator Patrick Tefft (standing, second from left), gather for an end-of-year appreciation breakfast. CATHERINE KRUMMEY/Kirkland Reporter
