IRS Strategy for Managing Customer Service Improvements Shows Promise But Could Be Improved

IRS established a promising strategy for managing the implementation of the agency’s customer service initiatives. A Program Office and Steering Committee Managed Implementation

IRS’ basic management strategy was to establish a central office, TSI, in January 1998 to manage the overall implementation of customer service improvements that were being carried out by many different IRS and Treasury offices. It can be used to identify program overlap, duplication, or fragmentation. According to TSI officials, however, this information was not routinely completed and updated by offices implementing the initiatives. TSI Had Early Management Problems

Early actions to develop the database notwithstanding, TSI had problems in carrying out its responsibilities during its first months of operation. However, IRS had not assessed the need for information on expected costs and benefits and how results of the initiatives were to be measured. As of January 1999, managers for a few of the 25 initiatives we reviewed had documented management information on costs and benefits, milestones and completion dates, and anticipated results. Such efforts have resulted in improved performance. It provides agencies with tools to determine whether they have used public resources economically, efficiently, and effectively to achieve the purposes for which they were appropriated. Conclusions

As of January 1999, IRS had established priorities, reduced the number of initiatives to a manageable level, aligned them with its strategic goals and objectives, and assigned accountability for individual initiatives. IRS also improved its ability to monitor and track individual initiatives by providing on-line access to its database and by asking managers responsible for work on individual initiatives to input information on milestones and completion dates. Recommendations

We recommend that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue develop an approach and provide guidance to managers for determining the appropriate cost and benefit information for the customer service initiatives and for measuring the results of the initiatives in relation to IRS’ customer service objectives. Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

	Objective

At the request of the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Oversight, Committee on Ways and Means, we agreed to assess IRS’ strategy for managing the implementation of its customer service initiatives—including whether IRS had developed information on expected costs and benefits, milestones and completion dates, and performance measures to gauge results. By January 1, 1999, expand telephone service to 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) efforts to improve customer service.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) IRS' strategy for managing the implementation of its customer service initiatives shows promise but could be improved; (2) IRS' basic approach was to establish a central office, the Taxpayer Service and Treatment Improvement Program (TSI), and form a high-level steering committee, chaired by the Commissioner, to oversee the implementation of improvement initiatives that were being carried out by many different IRS and Department of the Treasury offices; (3) TSI and the steering committee were established in January 1998; (4) in its early months, TSI had problems carrying out its responsibilities; (5) officials attributed most of the problems to the large number of potential initiatives on the agenda; (6) by January 1999, TSI and the steering committee had taken steps to: (a) prioritize the initiatives, reducing the number to 157 primary initiatives; (b) align these initiatives to IRS' newly established strategic goals and objectives; and (c) assign accountability for their completion to specific executives; (7) TSI provided offices involved in day-to-day implementation of individual initiatives with on-line access to the central information database it had developed to categorize and monitor progress on the initiatives; (8) IRS could further improve its customer service management strategy; (9) by January 1999, TSI had identified a need for information on milestones and completion dates for each primary initiative and asked offices implementing individual initiatives to input this information into its database; (10) however, TSI had not assessed the need for information on: (a) expected costs and benefits; and (b) performance measures; (11) managers in a few of the offices implementing initiatives GAO reviewed had documented all these types of information on their own, but this information was not being used by IRS' leadership; (12) as past GAO reports have shown, not only do high-performing, results-oriented organizations set priorities, align activities with mission-related goals and objectives, and assign accountability, but they also develop and use information to monitor progress and evaluate results; (13) information on costs, benefits, milestones and completion dates, and performance measures is critical to successfully managing for results; (14) although it can be difficult to develop, this information provides agencies with tools they can use to monitor and evaluate how efficiently and effectively programs are achieving their purposes; and (15) it is important to help determine whether public resources have been used to achieve the purposes for which they were appropriated.