The public sector stands out in the study. First, there is no comparison between 2017 and 2018, since the sector is a new addition to the study, and second, given the specific nature of the services, it was evaluated separately, and therefore it is not included in the top 100 ranking. Nevertheless, the results are still interesting.
Cultural institutions or, more specifically, “Státní hrady a zámky” (National castles and chateaux) and the National Theatre in Prague are clear winners of this sector. With the average pillar score of 7.7 they would make it into the top ten of the top 100 ranking if the sector was included. Both have shown outstanding results in the Expectations pillar, which means that the customers expect a high-quality cultural experience, and that is exactly what they get. The National Theatre did well in the Time and effort pillar too – visitors often praised the quick and easy ticket reservation system.
The Trade License Office, Czech Point, and municipal and local authorities would have made it into the top 100 as well, though they lack in the Integrity and Personalization pillars when compared to the two sector winners. Czech Point’s results are quite interesting – it did fairly well in most of the pillars (the results are average within the entire study and above-average in the sector), but it falls behind significantly in the Empathy pillar. The customers’ comments about clerks sipping on a cup of coffee behind a closed counter while watching the queue grow longer and longer might explain why the sector did so poorly in this metric, ending up 5% below the study’s average.
The Czech Social Security Administration and the Employment Office are the outsiders, showing the worst results in the sector (the Employment Office is so far behind it scored 10% below the study’s average on all pillars). Although it would be fair to mention that a regular public administration branch can hardly compete with brands like the National Theatre or “Státní hrady a zámky” – in people’s minds, those institutions are seen as positive sources of good experiences, while they only go to an administration office when they have to, and often, they are the ones who need something. Therefore, it makes complete sense for different public institutions to have different starting positions. Nevertheless, the administration offices at the very bottom of the ranking could still try to learn from those that did better. To give an example, there is over 1 point of difference between the Trade License Office and the Employment Office in some pillars, with the Trade License Office doing better. The comments from the Trade License Office clients repeatedly mention a positive attitude, personal approach and friendly, helpful staff.
“I had to go through an inspection at the office. The official was absolutely great and very professional.” (Trade License Office)
“The castle manager who served as our guide had a really great attitude. Keep it up!” (Státní hrady a zámky)
“I went to the Employment Office to arrange an extension of my parental leave. The official at the counter was quite nice and helped me fill out the form.” (Employment Office)