11.1 Customer Service and Interpersonal Skills

11.1 Customer Service and Interpersonal Skills

Quick Summary: OPM defines Customer Service as works with clients and customers to assess their needs, provide information or assistance, resolve their problems, or satisfy their expectations; knows about available products and services; is committed to providing quality products and services. It adds a note: clients and customers include any individuals who use or receive the services or products that your work unit produces, including the general public, individuals who work in the agency, other agencies, or organizations outside the Government. It defines Interpersonal Skills as treats others with courtesy, sensitivity, and respect. Considers and responds appropriately to the needs and feelings of different people in different situations.

Who counts as a customer

OPM's note is broader than most people assume, and it changes how the competency should be read.

The second row is the one candidates overlook. A colleague in another unit who depends on a report your team produces is a customer under this definition. So this competency is not only about public-facing roles. If your work unit produces something anyone uses, Customer Service applies to you.

Customer Service, clause by clause

The first clause is the most instructive. Assess their needs comes before providing anything. A great deal of poor service consists of answering the question that was asked rather than addressing the need behind it, or providing the standard response before establishing what the person actually requires.

The knows about available products and services clause is also worth noting: knowing what your unit can offer is treated as part of the competency, because you cannot direct someone usefully if you do not know what is available.

In practice

• Asking clarifying questions before answering, when the request is ambiguous.
• Explaining clearly what can be done, and what cannot, and why.
• Following through so the matter actually reaches resolution.
• Directing someone accurately when it belongs elsewhere, rather than deflecting.
• Treating an internal colleague's request with the same seriousness as an external one.

Interpersonal Skills, clause by clause

That final clause makes adaptability part of the competency. The same approach does not suit everyone: someone distressed needs a different response from someone in a hurry, and a colleague you work with daily requires something different from a member of the public contacting the agency for the first time. Responding appropriately means calibrating to the person and the situation, not applying a uniform manner.

In practice

• Remaining courteous under pressure and with difficult people.
• Noticing when someone is confused, frustrated or upset, and adjusting accordingly.
• Giving people your attention rather than half of it.
• Disagreeing without personalising the disagreement.
• Adapting explanations to what the listener actually needs.

Distinguishing the two

Customer Service is outcome-oriented. Did the person's need get assessed, addressed and resolved?

Interpersonal Skills is manner-oriented. Were they treated with courtesy, sensitivity and respect along the way?

They come apart in both directions. Someone can resolve a problem efficiently while being curt — good service, weak interpersonal skills. Someone can be unfailingly pleasant while never actually resolving anything — good interpersonal skills, weak service. OPM measures both separately, and both are named as distinct competencies in job announcements.

Where else these appear

Interpersonal Skills is also measured by the Early Career Judgment Assessment component of the Early Career Talent Assessment (Section 12.1). Note that ECTA's definition of Interpersonal Skills is fuller than the standard Occupational Interaction wording: shows understanding, friendliness, courtesy, tact, empathy, concern, and politeness to others; develops and maintains effective relationships with others; may include effectively dealing with individuals who are difficult, hostile, or distressed; relates well to people from varied backgrounds and different situations.

That expanded wording is useful reading for both assessments, because it makes explicit what "different people in different situations" implies — including dealing with people who are difficult, hostile or distressed.

Answering accurately

As always: read thoroughly, be honest, do not overthink. Understanding the definitions helps mainly by widening the frame. If you have been reading Customer Service as "dealing with the public", OPM's note tells you it also covers colleagues, other agencies and outside organisations — which likely makes it far more relevant to your actual work than you assumed.