“Assessment of Civil Service Reform for Service Quality Improvement and Customer satisfaction: the case of Holeta City Administration, Oromia, Ethiopia”

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the implications of Civil Service Reform on service quality improvement and customer satisfaction in Holeta City Administration, Oromia, Ethiopia. To achieve the research objectives, a mixed-methods approach, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, was employed. The results indicate that several issues exist in service delivery practices, including inefficient time usage, inadequate information quality for customers, and deficiencies in professionalism, competent staffing, and equitable treatment of customers. These problems negatively impact the effective implementation of civil service reform, leading to a decline in service delivery quality and customer satisfaction. Despite these challenges, the study reveals that service quality indicators—such as tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, and assurance—significantly influence customer satisfaction in the study area, with these factors identified as critical determinants of customer satisfaction. For example, when all factors are held constant, customer satisfaction is predicted to have a value of -0.31. Additionally, findings indicate that a 10% increase in tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, and assurance would result in increases in customer satisfaction by 70%, 16.6%, 39.5%, 41.1%, and 80%, respectively, when all other independent variables are controlled. These findings underscore the urgent need for stakeholder intervention to meet government objectives in the implementation of civil service reform programs, ensuring the delivery of quality services and enhancing customer satisfaction in the government offices within the study area. Consequently, it is essential that civil service reform practices are adequately implemented and that reform program packages are comprehensively applied.