Managers can read every performance report a branch or ministry office submits and still not know what a citizen or customer actually experiences at the counter. The only way to see a service the way the public sees it is to experience it the same way they do — anonymously, without staff knowing they are being observed. That is exactly what mystery shopping, sometimes called secret shopping, is built to do.

In practice, a mystery shopper takes on the role of an ordinary citizen or customer, moves through the same stages a real service-seeker would, and quietly records how officials and staff actually behave, rather than how they are supposed to behave on paper. Ministries and private companies alike use this technique to review and evaluate services, procedures and staff performance on a recurring, confidential basis, then act on what the shopper records to correct and improve the service.

Who should attend?

• Government employees involved in overseeing and evaluating the work of ministry offices
• Managers of internal control and administrative-oversight departments within companies
• Teams responsible for developing and modernising the way a ministry or department operates
• Delegates assigned by senior leadership to monitor and report on a ministry's day-to-day performance

How will attendees benefit?

By the end of the training course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the working mechanism a mystery shopper follows to achieve the objective of each visit, and the specific behaviours to observe while inside the ministry or office
• Plan and schedule a programme of visits across different offices, including the dates and sequence each visit should follow
• Analyse visit results and turn observations into proposed solutions and recommendations for a final report
• Apply recognised criteria for conducting a mystery-shopping exercise professionally, and identify the quality objectives each visit is meant to target
• Measure how consistently a branch or office commits to delivering its service according to the specifications set for it
• Assess the competency of the staff member responsible for delivering that service against the same specifications

Module 1: The Role and Mandate of the Mystery Shopper

• What a mystery shopper's role is when preparing observations for senior officials
• Confirming staff attendance and presence at their desks throughout official working hours
• Assessing how senior officials treat ordinary citizens who need their services
• Confirming that officials deal with all citizens fairly and equally
• Watching for any improper use of authority or a private office by officials

Module 2: Monitoring and Documenting Service Delivery

• The shopper's role in monitoring and recording observations on how a ministry office delivers its service
• What a mystery shopper should include when writing up a visit report
• Identifying and prioritising which services to evaluate during a visit

Module 3: Planning and Conducting Visits

• Designing a visit programme: which offices to cover and the schedule visits should follow
• Conducting covert visits without staff being aware they are being evaluated

Module 4: Analysing Results and Measuring Performance

• Analysing the outcomes of a round of visits and translating them into recommendations
• Measuring how consistently a branch commits to delivering its service to specification
• Measuring the competency of the staff member responsible for that service