Item - 2025.SE8.1

The Service Excellence Committee recommends that:

1. The Executive Committee request the City Manager to ensure the Service Promise is reviewed with the Senior Leadership Team at least bi-annually, and that the division heads spot check compliance within their areas of responsibility. 

This report responds to a request from Executive Committee to report back to the Service Excellence Committee on the Service Promise Refresh implementation progress.

The Service Promise Refresh Initiative is part of the City of Toronto's journey towards greater service excellence. It renewed the City's guidelines for professional and consistent service in daily interactions with customers, Members of Council, and other City staff and partners. The Service Promise Refresh was initiated to enhance consistency across Divisions, continue a respectful workplace culture and provide the public with a greater understanding of what they can expect in their daily interactions with the City.

The refreshed Service Promise has been implemented across the City. In December 2024, the City published the refreshed Service Promise and Standards publicly on the City of Toronto website and updates have also been made to Divisional Customer Service Standards, where appropriate, to ensure alignment with the refreshed Service Promise across the organization. The refreshed Service Promise was developed in consultation with representatives from 40 City Divisions.

Divisional management are responsible for ensuring ongoing staff compliance with the Service Promise. Examples of Divisional-led implementation include requests to update email signatures, Division Heads sharing corporate messaging with staff, and setting autoreplies for Divisional inboxes to provide confidence to the public on when they can expect a response, in a timeframe that meets the Service Standards outlined in the Service Promise. Periodic reminders about obligations to implement the Service Promise will continue to be shared via corporate communications with staff, and with people managers, who are responsible for monitoring the performance of their direct reports to ensure compliance with the Service Promise.