IRS Plans to Base Staffing on Strategic Goals Rather Than Annual Funding

IRS faces an annual challenge in determining the staffing level for its toll- free telephone customer service operations. IRS has not established a long-term, desired level-of-telephone-service goal based on the needs of taxpayers and the costs and benefits of meeting them, and then determined what staffing level is needed to achieve that service level. Rather, IRS annually determines the level of funding it will seek for its customer service workforce, based on its judgment of how to best balance its efforts to assist taxpayers and to ensure their compliance with tax laws, and then calculates the expected level of service that funding level will provide. In an effort to improve its recruiting for customer service representatives, IRS is in the early stages of developing a national recruiting strategy. As the Government Performance and Results Act and SSA experience suggest, IRS will also need support for its long- and short-term goals from congressional stakeholders. Customer Service: Human Capital Management at Selected Public and Private Call Centers (GAO/GGD-00-161, Aug. 22, 2000).
Why GAO Did This Study

Each year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) determines the staffing level for its toll-free telephone customer service operations.

What GAO Found

GAO found that IRS lacks a long-term telephone customer service goal that reflects the needs of taxpayers and the costs and benefits of meeting that goal. Rather, IRS annually determines the level of funding it will seek for its customer service workforce, using its judgment of how to best balance service and compliance activities. IRS then calculates the level of service that funding levels will provide. This approach is inconsistent with the Government Performance and Results Act and the practice of selected public and private call centers that field questions. IRS recognizes the shortcomings of its personnel management and will include performance measures and goals in its 2002 strategic plan. According to IRS officials, the agency also faces challenges in recruiting, training, retaining, and scheduling customer service representatives. IRS is developing a strategy to address each of these issues.