Penny Winder is director of Alpha Parking Ltd
Don’t let your
To understand the challenges your civil enforcement officers face on a daily basis, get streetwise by learning from the retail sector, says Penny Winder
M
CEOs’ performance be a mystery
and were patrolled by experienced staff who held the City and Guilds Level 2 CEO qualification. Te mystery shopper patrolled each
ake no mistake, it’s tough on the streets and the working life of a CEO is far from easy. Tis often-maligned role is about much more
than simply issuing parking tickets. CEOs act as the ‘eyes and ears’ of the
council on the streets – and, in addition to firmly but fairly enforcing parking regulations, as we know, their duties have been expanded. Nowadays, these might include inspecting blues badges, reporting inaccurate or missing signs and lines and helping to deter car crime. Unfortunately, dealing with verbal and
even physical abuse is now sadly also a daily occurrence. For CEOs to continue performing
this crucial role for councils, it is vital their employers offer them the necessary support and training for what is among the toughest local authority jobs. But how can you measure how well your parking enforcement policy is being implemented, where there are any gaps in enforcement, and where extra training may be needed? A measurement tool that can be used,
which people may be more familiar with in the context of retail stores, is that of an independent mystery shopper. Mystery shopping is a technique that
28 AUGUST 2010
On the beat: mystery
shopping can tell you a lot about CEOs
street within the beat as though they were an active CEO carrying out parking enforcement duties, recording all the same data. Te information gathered was cross- referenced with the council’s PCN data for the real CEOs, who were patrolling at the same time. Te results showed that, although there
was a high degree of compliance to parking restrictions throughout the borough, there were some inconsistencies in enforcing the parking protocol. Trough the use of mystery shopping, these inconsistencies
One London borough wanted to understand why the number of penalty charge notices (PCN) had dropped under its new contract
monitors CEOs and notice processing staff in their working environment and, if used correctly, can effectively ascertain how they interact with the public, how efficiently they carry out their role and their knowledge of the parking services. Tere are a number of ways that the
technique can prove invaluable. One London borough wanted to understand why the number of penalty charge notices (PCN) had dropped under its new enforcement contract. A number of existing parking ‘beats’
were selected for the study to establish a snapshot of data, parking compliance and PCN activity within the borough. Beats were chosen to be as
representative of the borough as possible
were identified and remedied. In another example, a council in north-
east England employed mystery shopping to measure the local council’s overall parking performance. Te mystery shopper team posed as
members of the public, interacting with CEOs within a designated patrol beat. Te resulting data was used to provide
constructive advice and recommendations on how the service could be improved and where training was needed. So mystery shopping can achieve a lot
more than measuring the customer service at your local retail stores!
HAVE YOUR SAY Any views? Write to
editor@parkingnews.co.uk
www.britishparking.co.uk
© JAY WILLIAMS
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