Chapter 4 Annual Performance Report and 2007 Annual Performance Plan

for Parcel Select is next-day for packages entered at delivery units prior to 7:00 AM. The Postal Service delivers 98% of properly prepared, addressed, and entered Parcel Select pieces within the standard.

The Postal Service employs numerous other tools, such as color coding for Standard Mail and a 24-hour clock operating performance checklist. The end-to-end mail visibility processes in development will also help address factors that affect performance but are not currently incorporated in performance measures, such as accurate measures of when mailings are actually entered into the system by commercial mailers. The seamless acceptance initiatives outlined in the Strategic Transformation Plan 2006–2010 will provide more complete information to mailers.

E. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION MEASUREMENTS

Service improvement extends beyond ontime delivery to the overall experience that customers have with the Postal Service. The primary measure of customer satisfaction is the Customer Satisfaction Measurement system (CSM). CSM is an independent assessment of both residential and business customer experiences with postal products, services, and service representatives. A total of 1.1 million residential and 400,000 business responses to the CSM survey are received each year. Residential response rates are 20%. Business response rates are higher 50%. That is consistent with industry standards of between 10 to 30% for customer satisfaction surveys. CSM data are used to assess customer satisfaction nationwide and to help area, district, and local managers determine where improvements would most benefit customers. Since 2002 customers have rated overall satisfaction with the Postal Service at 93% or better (percent rating the Postal Service as excellent / very good / good).

Elements of the CSM are verified by other measurements. For example, consumer and small businesses experience in Post Offices is complemented by a national Mystery Shopper program, conducted by a different outside contractor. The most recent results are available upon request from the Postal Services Consumer Advocate. The Corporate Customer Contact system, which annually handles more than 65 million customer inquiries, is also a diagnostic that helps identify, track, and resolve customer problems. Customers can access the Postal Service in person, through a 800-ASK-USPS, via e-mail, and through the Postal Service Web site, usps.com.

A program similar to the Mystery Shopper is in place for business customers to help assess their experience at business mail acceptance units. The Business Service Network (BSN) is available to selected business customers to resolve problems. Small business mailers address local issues through the Postal Customer Council (PCC) in their area, and larger mailers regularly work on issues through the Mailers’ Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC), which meets quarterly.

Together, these processes represent one of the largest customer outreach programs in either the public or the private sector. A separate, independent national customer satisfaction survey, the American Customer Satisfaction Index, includes the Postal Service in its program. Overall, the Postal Service is the most improved of all measured services since the survey began in 1994. The most recent results are available at www. theacsi.org.

4. Achieve Results with a Customer-Focused, Performance-Based Culture

As one of the nation’s largest employers, the Postal Service has a special responsibility to its workforce to promote a safe working environment. Safety is used as a strategic measure of the Postal Service’s commitment to its employees.

The Postal Service’s internal accident, injury, and illness information systems support the requirements for reporting established by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The Illness and Injury Rate is based on the total number of illnesses and injuries multiplied by 200,000 workhours and divided by the number of hours worked by all employees. The 200,000 represents the number of hours that 100 employees working 40 hours a week would work in a year. It provides the standard base for calculating incidence rates.

Creating a customer-focused, results-based culture requires a consistent commitment to improving the workplace. Employee attitudes represent a summary of the effectiveness of a number of postal human capital management programs. Each postal quarter, one-fourth of the career employee population receives a survey at their work stations. Participation is voluntary and anonymous. Employees are given time on-the-clock to complete the surveys and seal them in postage-paid envelopes that are mailed to an independent contractor for analysis and quarterly reporting. Response rates average about 66%. Six questions focusing on individual recognition, work unit accountability, harassment and discrimination, and treatment by supervisors, have been identified as key indicators of performance and results. These questions are used to create an index which is tracked for organization and unit-level performance trends. In addition, the survey has recently been redesigned to obtain additional employee feedback.