The ISSA Guidelines for Social Security Administration were prepared by the ISSA General Secretariat with the ISSA technical commissions.

The institution believes that service quality has no end point but can always be improved.

In all sectors of the economy, service standards are constantly improving. Social security institutions will need to respond as people demand levels of service comparable to those they receive elsewhere.

To improve service quality, the institution invests in the skills and capability of the staff who deliver its services.

The institution measures and publishes performance against its service standards and uses this data to predict future demand for services.

This produces organizational transparency, which helps lead to sustained improvement.

The institution treats people with respect, dignity and courtesy.

This is achieved through a set of standard operating principles consistent with social norms. Treating people with respect, dignity and courtesy is a quality factor fundamental to excellent service delivery. While the institution will not necessarily be praised for this, it is what people expect as the basic component of quality service. Failure to meet this standard leaves the administration open to public criticism and loss of confidence and trust.

The institution considers and embeds quality at each stage of product development from concept (policy intent) to delivery of a social security benefit or service.

A product (or service offering) is defined as all the component elements that constitute a social security benefit or service, including:

The institution designs, reviews and updates social programmes from the user’s perspective by listening to and engaging participants.

By engaging participants in all aspects of the design (or review and updating) of a social programme, the institution gains access to a vast pool of expertise that helps solve problems, generates new ideas and inspires innovation. By involving and listening to participants, the institution will:

These guidelines assist social security institutions to:

The institution adopts a formal methodological approach to service quality starting with a clear statement on the importance of service quality and how it intends to deliver and measure it.