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Your Washington director Jesse Jones outlines plan to boost customer experience across state agencies
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Summary
Jesse Jones, director of Your Washington, told state employees in a virtual Q&A that agency improvement plans arrive in March, the office will run pilots and focus groups, and staff can submit ideas to the office; Jones highlighted a 15,000-response staff survey and said the effort is operating with "little or no money."
Jesse Jones, director of Your Washington, outlined his priorities for improving how Washington state agencies serve residents during a virtual question-and-answer session with state employees.
Jones said he moved into state government after a long career as an investigative reporter and helped shape Executive Order 2503, which he described as a directive to coordinate customer-experience improvements across every agency. "We have no money," Jones said frankly about the office's resources, adding that the work will depend on staff collaboration and low-cost changes rather than new budget allocations. He said agencies' improvement plans are due in March, when his office will begin implementing and supporting cross-agency pilots.
Jones emphasized better interagency communication as a central goal. He described a program to collect pilots from agencies so successful efforts can be shared and reused. "Everybody's pilots. We want to see what they're working on because, you know what? Maybe we can share," he said, urging staff to reach out to counterparts in other agencies and to Your Washington with ideas.
He highlighted findings from a staff survey the office conducted, saying it drew roughly 15,000 responses with what he called a 67% response rate. Jones said the survey revealed lessons about frontline workers and will inform priorities for training, messaging and policy changes. He also described planned focus groups with frontline employees to identify practical changes and determine how policies or programs might be reworked to reduce burdens on staff and customers.
On performance measurement, Jones said his team will rely on customer-satisfaction indicators (CSAT) and related metrics such as trust, ease and efficiency, and will focus on growth over time rather than a single public ranking. "If you go from a 1 to a 1.5, you're a superstar," he said, arguing small improvements matter.
Jones asked state employees to submit improvement ideas and offered the office as a clearinghouse for suggestions that get stuck inside agencies. He said a deputy would post a public-facing staff survey and that the office has already received requests from employees seeking status updates on specific cases. Jones declined to provide a lasting formal authority over agencies, noting that Your Washington will partner with agencies rather than direct them: "We have no authority with any one agency," he said, distinguishing the office from models in other states that can "parachute in."
During the moderated Q&A, employees asked how to advocate for user-research champions, where staff should submit improvement ideas and how to balance staff wellness with customer-experience goals. Jones encouraged staff to try change within their agencies and to contact Your Washington when they encounter barriers; he said the governor had charged him with elevating promising recommendations to leadership. He cited Utah and New York as examples of states that have reduced silos but noted structural differences in authority and organization.
Greg Menninger, program manager for the Productivity Board, opened and closed the session and urged attendees to complete a brief feedback survey. Jones closed by thanking attendees for participation and reiterating the office's interest in hearing practical ideas from frontline staff.
Next steps Jones identified include collecting agency plans in March, running a small set of pilot focus groups with frontline employees, and posting the public-facing staff survey for broader feedback.
