IMPORTANT NEWS...

Department of Business and Professional Regulation Empowers Employees to Break Through Red Tape to Serve Customers In-Need

October 27, 2009

TALLAHASSEE—Today Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Charles W. Drago announced the “You Save the Day” internal initiative aimed at empowering employees to break through bureaucratic processes to help customers who need immediate assistance. 

“By definition, government is bureaucracy.  While defined procedures are necessary to run an efficient organization, they should never prevent an employee from providing fast relief to a customer who needs help,” stated Secretary Drago.  “This initiative is based on a simple foundation: our customers are people, people who are sometimes in extreme circumstances, and employees have a responsibility to step in and fix these situations.  Sometimes this can make the difference between a business surviving or failing.”

The department initiative comes on the heels of an employee who elevated a real estate broker’s issue and indirectly prevented two sales associates from losing their jobs.  An employee in the Customer Contact Center noted that a real estate broker had made errors on his application and would have to wait weeks to receive his license.  The broker was indirectly going to be put in the position of laying-off two sales associates since they could not work under his inactive license.  That employee raised the issue, and it was quickly resolved. 

“You Save the Day” is similar to what Toyota does when allowing assembly line workers to stop production to fix problems. The same principle is being applied to state government, which requires an organizational culture shift.  Employees are encouraged to view every transaction as an opportunity to identify and respond to a customer in an extenuating circumstance.  This culture shift at DBPR begins with “You Save the Day.”

The department’s mission is to license efficiently and regulate fairly.  The department licenses more than one million businesses and professionals ranging from real estate agents, veterinarians, and accountants to contractors and cosmetologists.  For more information, please visit www.MyFloridaLicense.com.

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