IG: As the agency switched that work to offsite early in the pandemic, several management controls over the customer service line fell short. Image: Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffIn response to a survey touching on one of the major current issues in the federal workforce—the impact on productivity of telework–nearly nine-tenths of SSA employees who answer questions on the agency’s 800 number customer service line agreed that “when I telework, I am able to provide the same level of service to callers I did when I worked in the office.”
Of the 11 percent—among the more than 1,100 who responded to the question—who disagreed, the two most cited reasons did not involve lack of availability of needed information or lack of in-person support when working offsite, but rather technical problems with the phone system and internet connections.
The survey, conducted by the inspector general’s office at the SSA as part of a broader assessment of the 800 line service, is one of the few surveys of employee views regarding telework conducted by an agency office rather than an employee union. The union-conducted surveys similarly have shown a strong belief that productivity is just as good, if not better, when working remotely.
The report also said, however, that as the agency switched that work to offsite early in the pandemic, several management controls over the customer service line fell short. The agency did not meet its goal of conducting at least three observations of calls—either live or recorded—per employee per month; and “did not always timely intervene with 800-number employees identified through speech analytics as providing problematic service to callers,” it said.
The IG said those issues remain important even though the SSA began reopening its offices to the public in April 2022 because it “continues encouraging the public to use its online and telephone service options and rely on SSA’s telephone services as a primary service channel.”
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