Archive
_________________________________________________________________________________
Document Name: The U.S. Gov. & Fed. Employees (11 of 23)
Date: 09/01/94
Owner: National Performance Review
_________________________________________________________________________________
Title: Standards for Our Customers: The U.S. Gov. & Fed. Employees (11 of 23)
Author: Vice President Al Gore's National Performance Review
Date: September, 1994
**********************************************************
CUSTOMER GROUP: The U.S. Government and Federal Employees
**********************************************************
When Vice President Gore visited federal employees in a series of
town hall meetings, he asked them, "Where is the red tape? Where are
the processes the slowest?" They gave him a list: personnel,
procurement, office space, and travel. The internal management
functions of the federal government are known to be bureaucratic,
cumbersome, and slow. Not only does this frustrate everyone, it costs
money. Federal employees are finding out for themselves that they can
build systems that work better, cost less, and better serve the
customer -- even if the customer is themselves.
Agencies that serve federal employees and organizations include the
Office of Personnel Management, which oversees regulations for
employees and employee benefits, and the General Services Administra-
tion, which oversees regulations for buying goods and services. Each
federal agency also has administrative functions and is pursuing its
own internal customer service focus.
Filling a Job, Getting a Job
****************************
Hiring federal employees has always been a slow, painful process. You
have to prepare position descriptions, evaluation criteria, crediting
plans, and vacancy announce-ments. Then you review them all. Then you
screen applications (sometimes as long as 50 pages) for basic
qualifications. Then a panel of experts evaluates applications and
ranks them according to qualifications. Then you conduct interviews.
Depending on the number of applicants, the process can take six
months or more.
This is a bad deal if you're trying to hire. It's even worse if
you're trying to get hired.
Now, there is a better way. It was developed by the Office of
Personnel Management, which has taken great strides in the past year
in using cutting-edge technology to keep job seekers informed and to
screen applicants. Having a high-tech approach to the federal job
search not only speeds up the process, it improves the quantity and
quality of the applicant pool by projecting a more dynamic, modern
image for the government. Job seekers also win because looking for a
federal job doesn't mean doing a platform dive into a pool of red
tape.
Now anyone with a touch-tone phone or a personal computer and a modem
can find out about nearly any job available in the entire government
and learn how to apply for it -- seven days a week, around the clock.
A job seeker can even apply for some of these jobs by phone. It's
simple to find and apply for any nursing job in the federal
government, for example; just dial 1-800-800-USRN. It's one of the
most intelligently designed, customer-friendly automated phone
systems to be found anywhere, public or private.
Applications for other jobs are done electronically with a simple
multiple-choice form. These applications are then screened by
computer, eliminating the need for specialists to spend hours and
hours plowing through piles of SF-171 job application forms, looking
for basic qualifications.
The Interior Department's Mineral Management Service recently took
advantage of the new system. "Not only is the system faster, but we
also receive more candidates from sources that we had not previously
considered," says Robert E. Brown, associate director for
administration and budget. He estimates that the system will save $9
million a year in staffing and processing costs when used
departmentwide.
****************************************************************
Highlights from Customer Service Standards:
OPM's Federal Employment Information System
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
OPM has established the following service standards for job seekers
using the Federal Employment Information System:
--- We will provide you with courteous and timely service.
--- We will update our nationwide job listings every business day.
--- We will have Employment Information Specialists available to
answer your questions.
--- We will provide 24 hours a day, seven days a week access to
nationwide job information and application request services through a
variety of electronic media.
--- We will respond to your requests for applications and/or routine
information within one business day.
--- We will use your suggestions and complaints to improve our
service continually. We will always remember we work for you, the
American public.
General Services Administration's FTS2000 program
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
GSA manages the federal government's FTS2000 program for long-
distance voice, data, and video telecommunications services. There
are 1.7 million federal telecommunications customers in the United
States, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Some of the
program's customer service standards are as follows:
--- Overhead rates will not exceed 8 percent.
--- Prices paid by customers will remain below the average of the
lowest commercial rates.
--- Agency requests for exceptions to FTS2000 will be responded to
within 15 days.
--- Monthly statements of accounts will be issued to customers by the
16th of the month.
--- Customer satisfaction with overall handling of trouble reports by
the FTS service providers will be maintained at a 95 percent level.
--- Ninety-five percent of the issues raised during our annual Users
Forums will be resolved as scheduled.
****************************************************************
The travel system in the Department of Defense was also filled with
useless rules. Department of Defense employees fill out 11.7 million
travel vouchers a year; that's 45,000 a day. The traditional process
includes 17 steps and takes about three weeks. "It seems sometimes
they do more traveling getting their orders done than they do when
they actually get on a plane," says Air Force Captain Rod Berk, who
was tasked with reducing the red tape for the Defense travel system.
Berk's new process requires only four steps and cuts processing time
from three weeks to one day. The new electronic system even sends
checks out in one day. "It makes life easier for us," says Joan
Diamond, chief of the travel division says. "Everything is automated,
so we don't have to shuffle papers around."
Best of all are the savings to the taxpayer. The project is currently
in a pilot stage; the Defense Department estimates that once the
system is up and running departmentwide, it will save about $1
billion in processing costs over a five-year period.
When you buy something for your home or family, you want to spend as
little money as possible, but you also need to think about value. If
you work for the federal government, on the other hand, and you want
to make a small purchase, you don't have time to look for bargains.
You have to fill out a stack of forms and go through lots of time-
consuming drivel. Processing costs for small purchases are about $50
each. Few individuals would consider paying a $50 service charge for
every purchase they made.
Now, to make small purchases easier, GSA has introduced purchase
cards for most government purchases under $2,500. Not only are the
purchase cards more convenient, they're cost-effective: GSA has
signed a contract with Visa that gives rebates on many purchases, and
federal agencies can save billions of dollars in paperwork,
processing time, and administrative costs. Also, federal employees
will finally be able to buy the basic goods and services that are
essential to day-to-day operations.
GSA is also working hard to improve the services it provides
governmentwide, like office space, rental cars, and long-distance
phone service. In the past, GSA rates have not always worked out to
be cheaper. Now, in many instances, GSA has adopted a stance of
competing against private sector firms to provide the best deal. So
GSA must be competitive, or it loses the business.
****************************************************************
Your Standards
These agencies and offices are publishing customer service standards
for federal employees and other federal agencies. The standards
appear in the "U.S. Government and Federal Employees" section of
Appendix B.
Department of Commerce
Bureau of the Census
Governments Division Reimbursable Surveys
Department of Defense
Defense Commissary Agency
Legislative Affairs
Personnel and Readiness
Department of State
Office of Foreign Missions
Department of the Treasury
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
U.S. Mint
U.S. Secret Service
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Executive Office of the President
Admittance to White House Complex
EOP Libraries
White House Conference Rooms
General Services Administration
Fleet Management System
Fleet Management Services, Region 2
Office of FTS2000
Office of Personnel Management
Federal Employment Information System
Office of Insurance Programs
Retirement and Insurance Group
U.S. International Trade Commission
****************************************************************