Oh, No! Say It Ain’t So!
Job Posting Seeks Skills In “Resolving Customer Issues”
One of the most ideological and damaging environmental policies of the Christie Administration was DEP Commissioner Bob Martin’s “customer service” management initiative. Every DEP staffer was required to take “customer service” training, essentially like a business school indoctrination session.
That management initiative fundamentally transformed the DEP from an independent “regulatory agency” into an overt “service provider” to the business community. The “goods and services” DEP “sold” to its “customers” were quick and easy rubber stamp permit and regulatory approvals, in exchange for permit fees (a deep perversion of the original “polluter pays” policy).
The DEP staffers were transformed from public servants into sales clerks to the business community.
This is not a semantic or tangential issue. The culture and management policy of a regulatory agency are critically important to its functions and ability to serve the public interest and protect human health and the environment.
A “customer service” policy legitimizes and openly celebrates the corrupt corporate capture model.
I strenuously opposed that initiative, see:
So I was disturbed to just now see that corrupt management initiative embraced by the Pinelands Commission.
The Commission just posted a job announcement for a Management Information Specialist. Among the required skills and responsibilities were “Resolving Customer Issues”. Read it and weep:
JOB OPPORTUNITY – The New Jersey Pinelands Commission, an independent state agency with regulatory jurisdiction over the million-acre Pinelands Area, is accepting applications for the full-time position of Management Information Systems Specialist 4.
This position supports the Pinelands Commission’s Information Systems internal helpdesk. The successful candidate will have excellent communication skills and a desire to make users more comfortable with the technologies they use daily. Responsibilities include: ensuring a timely response to all user inquiries and escalating support tickets to appropriate staff when necessary; organizing resources so they are easy to locate; maintaining an inventory of supplies; resolving customer issues, answering questions and offering access to helpful resources; maintaining accurate documentation and creating new documentation to address recurring problems; and following up with customers as needed to ensure any problems are resolved.
I immediately called bullshit and demanded the Executive Director Grogan delete this “customer service” garbage:
———- Original Message ———-
From: Bill WOLFE <b>
To: “Grogan, Susan [PINELANDS]” <Susan.Grogan@pinelands.nj.gov>
Cc: Mark Lohbauer <mlohbauer@jgscgroup.com>
Date: 03/19/2024 10:28 AM EDT
Subject: Fwd: Job Opportunity: Pinelands Commission Management Information Specialist 4
Dear Director Grogan:
This function is included in the solicitation:
“resolving customer issues”
The common definition of “customer” is:
“a person or organization that buys goods or services from a store or business.
“Mr. Harrison was a regular customer at the Golden Lion”
The Commission is a public agency and does not sell anything and thus has no “customers”, see:
https://www.nj.gov/pinelands/about/business/
If I am wrong about that and missed some commercial function, please correct me and tell me what goods and/or services are sold to “customers” by the Commission.
If not, please delate this function from the job posting.
I still recall the negative implications of the Christie DEP’s “customer service” management initiative and I’d hate to learn that this is being emulated by the Commission.
Wolfe
