Customer Covid-19 Survey results
11/30/2020
To better understand how changes caused by the coronavirus crisis have impacted the public sector, we conducted a survey with our Zurich Municipal customers.
It revealed these key findings:
- 80% of respondents have strengthened relationships with the community
- 71% of respondents have strengthened relationships with their customers
- 71% of respondents say their organisation has provided new services as a result of Covid-19
- 54% of respondents say their organisation is busier than normal
1. The public sector is busier than ever
One could argue that the public sector has never had a more critical role to play in our lives, offering healthcare, financial support and safety advice – at a time when people need it the most.
The public health workforce and local government have reshaped their work in a bid to contain the infection and protect the most vulnerable. Health services have been close to being overwhelmed following coronavirus infection between March and April.
Therefore, Zurich Municipal customers are busier than ever, especially as many roles involve risk assessment and compliance. Seemingly they are also dealing with a lot of change and added pressures in order to help their organisations adapt and comply with Covid-19 guidelines and regulations.
Additionally, 71% of organisations have provided new services as a result of the crisis, creating further pressures on employees in the current climate.
We can expect this to continue, as the number of people in hospital with coronavirus has been rising again, with occupancy levels already exceeding most of their spring peak.
2. Positive community relationships are on the rise
In times of trouble, we repeatedly turn to parties that we trust. As the local community becomes an important focus for citizens during the pandemic, we are seeing a shift in attitudes and an uplifting sense of community around our local services, such as the showing of support for healthcare workers, with the Clap for our Carers campaign.
The previous ‘fire break’, saw a huge number of volunteers running errands for vulnerable residents, such as grocery shopping, prescription collection, or just being someone friendly to talk to at the end of the phone.
Research shows that 80% of customers feel relationships with the community have strengthened - largely due to the fact that many have set up additional services, which are better supporting key community groups.
For example, housing customers have strengthened relationships with the community, by contacting their residents and offering additional help at this challenging time.
3. Public finances have been significantly hit
Unsurprisingly, the biggest challenges facing organisations are financial, as well as concerns about new ways of working.
This trend is likely to continue, as the investment in healthcare needed is on-going, along with additional economic measures to support businesses and their employees, such as, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which was due to end on the 31 October 2020. The scheme will now be extended, with the government paying 80% of wages for the hours furloughed employees do not work, up to a cap of £2,500 for periods from 1 November 2020.
4. Uncertainty and ensuring safety posing challenges
Public services are facing multiple priorities over the next six to 12 months: financial, new ways of working, safety and the second wave of coronavirus.
As the epidemic continues to disrupt day to day lives, business routines, supply chains and operating models, customers are feeling the strain that this change brings.
In the current environment, respondents indicated that the uncertainty of Covid-19 and ensuring everyone's safety also pose real challenges.
In addition, 49% said they were nervous about job security, while 5% say their organisation have made redundancies. 48% have made use of the furlough scheme and 55% have sought additional government grants and support outside of furlough.
5. Other facts
Zurich Municipal received praise for maintaining high levels of service throughout lockdown and communication throughout the pandemic was rated highly – with 83% of customers giving communications 4 or 5 stars out of 5.
‘’Not just with Covid-related information but ensuring business as usual as well. Greatly appreciated.”
We’d like to thank our clients for their continued support and also thank those who took part in the recent research. Any customers interested in taking part in future surveys, can find out more here. The next survey will be going out to our panel soon.
