Federal Agencies Commit to Strengthening Customer Service
In a recent executive order (EO), President Biden outlined a people-centered approach for improving customer service in the federal government, emphasizing efficiency and accountability, and furthering the President’s Management Agenda. To implement this initiative, the administration plans to develop a sustainable funding model for the Technology Modernization Fund and increasing investment in the U.S. Digital Service.
Government services continue to be difficult to access due to a tangle of government websites, offices, and phone numbers, which prompted the executive order.
In accordance with the EO, 17 federal agencies have pledged 36 actions to improve the customer experience. The following are categories of committed actions:
retirement coordination;
filing and managing your taxes;
surviving a disaster;
traveling in a work capacity;
financing post-secondary education;
managing Veterans Affairs healthcare and benefits;
reducing barriers for those in poverty;
financing your business;
supporting women,
infants and children;
managing your health; and
updating personal information.
At the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), upcoming actions will allow veterans, beneficiaries, caregivers or other representatives, to have access to VA digital services through an integrated and fully accessible platform on VA.gov and a flagship VA mobile app. The State Department will develop an online passport renewal system will allow Americans to save time, effort, and cost associated with printing, going to the post office, and using paper checks. Further, the Office of Management and Budget will collaborate with the Digital Service to redesign the grant application process for tribal communities, and an expanded USA.gov will provide a centralized and streamlined federal access point.
Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Jason Miller reported that agencies can accomplish most actions in the short-term.
“We’re going to measure [customer service] at a granular level including designing and delivering our services from the user perspective. We’re going to report on that performance,” Miller stated, “High-impact service providers are going to be required to have annual improvement plans.”
President Biden’s EO is the latest effort to measure and improve public-facing government services over the past 30 years. The EO referenced an EO from the Clinton Administration that directed government agencies to collect public feedback on how well they deliver services and ensuring that government services are comparable to those provided by private-sector companies. It also highlighted two Obama Administration EOs that instructed agencies to draft customer service plans and to use behavioral science to identify opportunities to help eligible individuals, families, communities, and businesses access public programs and benefits.
“Removing bureaucratic red tape…ensur[es] the American people will have better access to the services they need and deserve. Making sure the government has the right tools, a strong workforce, and proper accountability in delivering critical services is at the core of the work of our Committee,” stated Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
According to Forrester’s 2021 federal customer experience metrics, most agencies are on track for improvement, with the highest scores since the company began tracking these metrics in 2015. Interagency customer satisfaction scores improved by 1.5 percent, bringing the overall score to 62.6 percent. In addition, Forrester found that many agencies and programs made significant improvements this year in customer experience metrics, including the VA, Medicare, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and HealthCare.gov.
The National Park Service and the Postal Service (USPS), two of the federal government’s most popular service providers, reported statistically significant losses in customer satisfaction. Forrester's index showed a loss of 5.35 percent for USPS, the largest ever.
“Despite the genuinely good, hard work of the customer experience professionals there, these are very complex organizations. That’s one of the reasons why they’re HISPs to begin with, because they’re big and complex, and they do a lot of stuff. And so of course, those are the most difficult ones to improve,” stated Forrester Vice President Rick Parrish.
