Federal Manager's Daily Report

Efforts to improve the customer experience with federal agencies “have already begun to pay off” and the Trump administration should build on that momentum, according to a report from the Partnership for Public Service.

“The White House should make it a goal to improve citizens’ experience with government services, sending a clear signal that it plans to make government work better for the American people,” it said. Potential benefits include improved safety and security, reduced waste, and a lower regulatory burden on the public, it said.

It cited initiatives including the VA’s MyVA program focused on improving the experience of veterans receiving services from that department; a State Department online service for reporting missing passports; improved electronic collection by SSA of salary information used to calculate benefits; and creation of the U.S. Digital Service to help agencies design and deliver better digital services.

The improved results for agencies in 2016 in the American Customer Satisfaction Index, the first increase in three years, were “largely driven by increased satisfaction with government websites,” it said.

Recommendations included expanding self-service channels that can improve the customer experience with fewer employees needed to provide the services; revising the Paperwork Reduction Act to make it easier for agencies to solicit customer feedback; establishing a customer experience online dashboard on services that most affect the public; and building partnerships that cross organizational boundaries so that the government “presents a simple, unified face to the public.”