Public-Facing Staff Survey
Why We Asked Public-Facing Staff to Share Their Experience
Public-facing staff are closest to customers. They answer questions, explain complex processes, and often absorb stress and uncertainty when customers are confused, frustrated, or worried about outcomes.
This survey was designed to better understand:
- What customers ask most often
- Where staff experience friction in serving the public
- What helps staff deliver good service — and what makes it harder
By listening directly to staff experiences, we aim to translate what we heard into meaningful improvements in policy, process, and support.
How to Read These Results
About the Data and Quotes
The findings shown in this dashboard below reflect thousands of survey responses from public-facing staff across state government.
The charts summarize patterns across responses. The quotes are real comments shared by staff, lightly edited only to protect privacy and improve clarity.
Together, they highlight not just what customers are asking for — but the care, effort, and problem-solving staff bring to each interaction.
What We’re Hearing
Key Themes Across Responses
Across agencies and types of work, staff consistently described similar experiences:
- Customers most often seek clarity, reassurance, and understanding, especially when timelines or requirements are unclear
- Staff regularly go above and beyond to help customers navigate complex or confusing systems
- Emotional labor — managing stress, fear, or frustration — is a routine part of public-facing work
- Policies, systems, and workload pressures often require staff to compensate in order to deliver good service
These themes appear across many agency functions, showing how customer experience is shaped by both systems and the people working within them.
What Staff Want Leadership — and the Public — to Understand
From their responses, staff emphasized:
- A strong commitment to public service and helping people through difficult moments
- Pride in making a difference for customers, even when the work is challenging
- That training is helpful, but cannot replace clear policies, reliable systems, and adequate staffing
- That supporting customers well depends on supporting the people doing the work
These insights reflect the often unseen effort that makes public service work.
Quotes shown throughout this dashboard are drawn directly from staff survey responses and lightly edited for clarity and privacy.