São Paulo's "TimeSaver" Centers

Abstract

In São Paulo, Brazil, the state government has created Centers for Attending to the Citizen, called "Poupatempo" (TimeSaver). Similar to the SAC centers in Bahia, the Poupatempo model brings together multiple state, municipal, and federal government agencies to provide services to citizens in a single location. The centers offer citizens tremendous time savings, while also delivering services with greater courtesy and professionalism.

Application Context

Public services such as licenses, permits, unemployment services, etc., traditionally have been delivered by disparate government agencies, at different locations, and with very different service standards. While at those government agencies, São Paulo's citizens typically were treated with less coutesy, speed, and professionalism than in the private sector.

A New Approach

Poupatempo brings multiple government services together in a single location. Despite the evident differences in agency culture and types of services that these government agencies provide, Poupatempo instills uniform standards for service quality. The objective is not simply to deliver services more quickly, but also to strenthen the ideals of citizenship by treating each person who enters a Poupatempo center with respect and dignity -- and by applying the same service rules and standards -- irrespective of a person's social class, occuption, race, gender, etc. As a consequence, Poupatempo also earns greater respect from the public for state government and its employees.

Poupatempo centers have been placed in locations convenient to the public, close to major public transportation stops, for example. At the time of writing (August 2001), seven centers are in operation, four in the capital, one in the greater metropolitan region of São Paulo, and two in the interior of the state. Plans are in palce to install at least one Poupatempo center in each of São Paulo's 15 administrative regions.

A reception desk sits at the entrance to each Poupatempo. There a visitor can solicit information about the service(s) he or she needs. A map (and number) indicates where each of the separate agencies is located within the Poupatempo center. Once a person has reached the appropriate agency, he or she is registered in Poupatempo's computerized tracking system and receives an electronic ticket that indicates the service desired and the estimated wait time. (If it is more than a short wait, the citizen can leave the center and return at the time indicated on the registration ticket to be attended by the next available agent.) Roving, uniformed assistants are available to answer questions and respond to problems.

The most common services solicited at Poupatempo centers are:

• vehicle registration
• driver's license (new or renewal)
• national identification card
• labor card
• unemployment insurance

Many more services are offered. However, the number varies between Poupatempo centers according to their size. In total, more than 300 separate services are provided by Poupatempo's participating agencies. At the Poupatempo Itaquera, an office of the Special Civil Court was opened in March 2001. There any citizen over the age of 18 can initiate a civil court proceeding, so long as the dispute does not exceed 20 minium salaries. Like all other services at Poupatempo, the Court office is open Monday-Friday, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and on Saturdays, from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Citizens can call a toll free number to learn the locations of Poupatempo centers, the agencies and services offered at each one, the documents required for any service, how to obtain those documents, and the fees charged (if any) for any given service. The same information is also available via the Poupatempo website. In addition, the site presents statistical data regarding the the number of people served and the results of customer satisfaction surveys (see below).

Implementation Challenges

Staff training is a critical part of the Poupatempo model. The training is fairly extensive. In preparation for the launch of a new Poupatempo in São Bernardo do Campo (within the São Paulo metropolitan region), more than 450 public employees were trained in service management, comportment, ethics, service standards, and how to handle problems that might arise.

Employees are trained to provide several different services. This allows some flexibility in responding to fluxuations in the demand for different services. Thus, when the computerized tracking system indicates that the waiting time exceeds the norm for a given service, the manager can instruct particular staff members to shift to the location (and service) in greatest demand.

The Secretariat for Government and Strategic Management and the São Paulo Government Data Processing Company (PRODESP) have been the key actors responsible for implementing Poupatempo.

Managing all of the participating agencies presents some special challenges. Each Poupatempo has a lead manager. Overall management of the posts is carried out by a committee directed by the Secretariat for Government and Strategic Management, and composed of representatives from each Poupatempo and each participating agency.

This management structure provides an opporutnity for questions and problems to be raised and addressed, particularly where common service standards are concerned. Nevertheless, the effective functioning of the system relies upon managers ability to convince and cajole, rather than to dictate to these (semi-independent) government agencies. In fact, several of the service providers participating in Poupatempo are private sector companies (e.g., the privatized state utility companies). The state wants their participation, because it is an added convenience for citizens. However, managers have limited leverage when trying to resolve problems with the quality of services these agencies provide, if and when problems emerge. (The state can threaten to exclude a private company from Poupatempo if the level of service is persistently unsatisfactory. However, that is not a subtle managerial tool.)

Benefits and Costs

The number of people served by Poupatempo is tremendous. In 2000, the six Poupatempos delivered over 8 million services. Nearly 1.5 million calls were also made to the toll free Poupatempo telefone information service. In August 2001, over 50,000 people per day were served by the Poupatempo system.

A customer satisfaction survey conducted in 2000 for five of the Poupatempo posts yeilded the following result: service at each of the posts was rated "excellent" or "good" by over 94% of respondents. (The results ranged from 94.4% to 98.7%.)

Spontaneous written comments from visitors to Poupatempo posts exceed 40,000 over the last three years. Roughly one-half of these comments praise Poupatempo, one-quarter offer suggestions, and another one-quarter are complaints.

In 2000, the estimated investment cost to set up a 5,000 sq. meter Poupatempo center in São Paulo was approximately R$6.5 million -- including design costs, construction, furniture, installation of telephone and computer connections, selection and training of personnel, uniforms, and publicity.

Over the medium term, the Goverment of São Paulo plans to close the offices of a number of state agencies located near Poupatermpo posts. This is an additional challenge, but will represent significant cost savings for the government. The cost of office space within a Poupatempo post is far less than the cost to lease and operate a separate building.

Key Lessons

Poupatempo demonstrates that dramatic improvements in service delivery can be realized without a great deal of back-office reengineering. Much of the improvement was unrelated to information technology. However, modern information systems are integral to the interaction between the citizen and public employee at the Poupatempo posts. Information technology is also essential for the management of the workflow, and was important for "selling" the Citizen Service Center model as a "modern" system of the highest quality.

Case study author: Jeffrey Rinne of the World Bank, with information kindly provided by Dalmo Nogueira, Secretário Adjunto, Secretaria de Estado do Governo e Gestão Estratégica, Governo do Estado de São Paulo; Roberto Agune, Sistema Estratégica de Informações, Secretaria de Estado do Governo e Gestão Estratégica; and Luis Agune, Manager, Poupatempo Santo Amaro.
Date submitted: August 23, 2001