We found that the Agency has not established a common customer service vision. The Agency does not have a cohesive strategy that connects all its customer service channels. The Information Intake Group (IIG) staff have customer service performance measures included in their performance plans; however, it is unclear how meeting these standards would achieve the Agency’s intended customer service goals. We also found that Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) customer service standards are not publicly available, nor does the Agency collect feedback from its customers. As a result, EEOC cannot measure its progress or make improvements to its customer service efforts.
We found that the IIG has improved its call hold time over the last two years, but it remains above industry standards at 23 minutes. In fiscal year (FY) 2021, the IIG’s call abandonment rate was 36 percent. Over the last five years, more customers are contacting the Agency via email and wait an average of eight days to receive a response which does not meet the IIG’s standard of 3 days. We also found that the IIG has a robust quality assurance program for incoming calls, but not for responses sent to customers via email.
The IIG collects information on approximately 30,000 customer inquiries each year, known as an 846, and this information is sent to the district offices. We found that there are no specific criteria for generating an 846 and the districts find most of these files duplicative. The returns on investment to address 846 inquiries is unclear.