THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (SSA) - UNITED STATES

Description, size and scope of the SSA

The SSA is responsible for administering three major programmes: the Old-Age and Survivors' Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) programmes, commonly known as "Social Security", and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programme. Disability and survivors' benefits make up about 30 per cent of all Social Security benefits paid. Social Security is a successful domestic programme and arguably the most effective anti-poverty programme ever created in the United States. Today, without Social Security, about 50 per cent of the elderly would be living in poverty.

The SSI provides cash assistance to financially needy individuals who are aged, blind or disabled. To be eligible to receive SSI benefits, individuals must have little in the way of personal savings or income. In providing a basic subsistence level, currently 74 per cent of the poverty level, the SSI is the safety net that protects them from destitution.

In addition to its basic programmes, the SSA also provides a significant measure of service delivery support to other programmes, particularly:

• Black Lung: Cash benefits paid monthly to coal mine workers and their dependants and survivors under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act.

• Medicare: The SSA staff determine Medicare eligibility, maintain the computerized records of Medicare eligibility, and collect Medicare premiums through withholdings from Social Security payments. Annually, the SSA devotes about 1.536 workyears in supporting these workloads and is reimbursed by the Medicare trust fund.

• •Medicaid: In 31 States and the District of Columbia, eligibility for SSI benefits confers automatic entitlement to Medicaid. Thus, SSI eligibility determination made by the SSA saves a considerable amount of workyears for these States.

• •Railroad Retirement: The SSA provides services in connection with entitlement to benefits from the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) by taking applications, determining jurisdiction, and coordinating benefit payments with the RRB.

• •Food Stamps: The SSA assists the Department of Agriculture by providing information about the food stamp programme and taking food stamp applications for qualified OASI, DI, and SSI claimants.

The context

The US Government will collect US$473 billion in taxes for social security in the year 2000. These taxes will be credited to the OASI and DI trust funds of the SSA, along with US$56 billion in interest on Treasury securities held by the trust funds. SSA Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 estimates of benefit outlays and beneficiaries per programme are shown below:

The SSA organization and structure

To administer the programmes, the SSA:

• •issues social security numbers (SSNs);

• •maintains earnings records for wage earners and self-employed individuals;

• •takes claims and determines eligibility information;

• •educates the public about the programmes; and

• •conducts research, policy analysis and programme evaluation.

The SSA integrates these activities across all programmes through a single national service-delivery structure. By doing so, the SSA is able to enhance efficiency, avoid duplication of effort and increase opportunities to provide one-stop services to its customers. The SSA's total administrative budget proposal for all programmes is US$6.89 billion, an amount equal to 1.6 per cent of total programme outlays.

The SSA Service Delivery Network includes:

• •1,348 field offices,

• •132 hearings offices,

• •36 teleservice centres,

• •1 data operations centre,
• •6 programme service centres.

Performance goals and results

The SSA Mission Statement is "to promote the economic security of the nation's people through compassionate and vigilant leadership in shaping and managing America' social security programmes".

In order to accomplish its mission, the SSA's September 1997 strategic plan created a set of five strategic goals that encompass all of the SSA's programme activities and address the universe of competing needsof the wide variety of SSA stakeholders. The strategic goals are:

• •to promote valued, strong and responsive social security programmes and conduct effective policy development, research and programme evaluation;
• •to deliver customer-responsive, world-class service;
• •to make SSA programme management the best in business, with zero tolerance for fraud and abuse;
• •to be an employer that values and invests in each employee;
• •to strengthen public understanding of the social security programmes.

Each strategic goal is subdivided into performance objectives which are published and widely dispersed. Performance of the programmes is tracked using various traditional and new outcome measures to help the SSA and others assess whether the social security programmes and the SSI are achieving their intended outcomes.

"A" grade evaluation by Syracuse University

The Social Security Administration participated, along with 14 other federal agencies, in a project known as the Government Performance Project (GPP). The GPP was a private study undertaken to gather and compare management performance information at all levels of Government in five management areas: financial management; human resources management; information technology; capital management; and managing for results. The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, New York, in partnership with the magazine Government Executive, undertook this assessment of the performance of government agencies in order to expand public understanding of performance issues and allow agencies to learn from one another. The SSA received an "A" grade evaluation. The Commissioner of Social Security, Mr. Kenneth Apfel, attributed the SSA's success to its continuing focus on service to the public, an area which has long been a priority for the agency. Human Resource policies and procedures also contributed in large measure to the "A" grading, including the SSA's use of:

• •equal opportunities and affirmative action principles in the full range of personnel activities;
• •adaptive devices for employees with disabilities and personnel assistants, reader and sign language interpreters for others;
• •family-friendly work environments providing support and flexibility for balancing work and family responsibilities;
• •full partnerships with unions - the SSA and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) agreed in principle in 1994 to cooperate in partnership councils throughout the organization;
• •training and career development in the areas of strategic planning, succession planning and training delivery technologies.

• Strategic planning: Training supports SSA strategic objectives and is an essential component of SSA activities. It is regarded as an enabler of major SSA initiatives and is integrated into the strategic planning process. All of the SSA's national career development and management training programmes are based on developing employees in specific competencies identified in the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Leadership Effectiveness Framework (LEF) model. The competencies for the development programmes may change, as neccessary, to ensure they support the agency's strategic needs.

• Succession planning: A "retirement wave" study indicated that 60 per cent of non-supervisory staff and 70 per cent of supervisors will leave through some type of retirement over the next five years. Nearly 80 per cent of its managers will be eligible to retire by 2002. At the upper levels of management, the numbers of potential retirees are even higher: 82 per cent of senior executives, 91 per cent at grade GS-15, and 93 per cent at grade GS-14. Recruitment and career development programmes reflect these findings, and a massive amount of training, including national leadership programmes, is under way in order to ensure that succession plans are achieved.

• Training delivery techniques: The identified training needs indicate that learning opportunities need to be provided for 65,000 federal and 12,000 state employees with decreasing budget availability. To meet this challenge, the SSA is making use of learning technology to assist in the delivery of training, particularly: interactive video training (IVT) broadcast from two studios at SSA headquarters and three in SSA regions; stand-alone workstations at each SSA site offering customized and off-the-shelf CD ROM multimedia programmes for large audiences with common training needs; Intranet/Internet training available over the SSA's Office of Training Intranet Home Page and through a "Virtual Campus" offering all types of training; and training available to all SSA employees at their own workstations.

The SSA's approach to high performance working

Significant changes in the management and operation of federal agencies have occurred under the auspices of the present Government. Although federal legislation exists to govern how the agencies must work (e.g. pay and financial management), the Government has backed away from such constraints and agencies have become much more free to decide their own mode of operation within the requirement of producing their own strategic plans. Oversight of agency operations has been much reduced; OPM manuals have been withdrawn as have manuals of the General Accounting Office (GAO).

The President's Management Council (PMC) is committed to improving the performance of the federal Government. The PMC has recognized that human resource development leads to improved federal performance. In April 1995, the PMC asked for specific actions on making HRD more effective in improving the performance of the federal Government. The response of the Government-wide Human Resource Development Council was:

The best way to improve Government HRD is to have high expectations of HRD - and to communicate and reinforce those expectations. The central expectation of HRD is that its contributions result in high performing federal agencies.

In most organizations, HRD has its roots in the training activity. However, HRD has evolved to include career development, organizational development, and performance improvement. HRD is an integral part of a high performing federal agency. Organizations need people who can get the job done. People get the job done when they are highly skilled, continually improve their skills and are in an environment designed to capitalize on their skills. HRD provides a planned and systematic way for people to identify and learn the skills they need to get the job done. An appropriate view of HRD extends beyond training into a much wider array of tools for enhancing performance.

The Human Resource Development Council considers that HRD contributes to the business of the SSA by performing the following roles: ⁽¹⁾

• Clarifying the SSA's business goals: The Government Performance Results Act puts the responsibility on the OPM to help the SSA to develop a strategic planning and performance measurement training programme and otherwise provide managers with an orientation on the development and use of strategic planning and programme performance measurement.

• •Promoting systems thinking and a future orientation: HRD professionals need constantly to stay abreast of new methods and ideas for helping the SSA define its ideal future and assess present performance against it. HRD supports management through the use of a systems approach to planning and decision-making and through learning networks. The futurist role helps to create workplaces that become laboratories for new ways of improving management practices, assessment tools, and learning systems.

• •Building coalitions: To improve performance across the SSA, HRD needs to build coalitions with those who influence the resources and environment of the organization. A high performing individual or team needs well-designed working space, state-of-the-art technology, up-to-date knowledge and skills, supporting systems and incentives.

• •Facilitating workplace learning: Traditional "training" has often involved a one-way communication from a teacher to a student. "Learning," on the other hand, comes from within the learner. Learning involves moving from what a person knows and can do to acquiring new knowledge and capabilities. The role of the HRD individual as learning facilitator includes helping individuals move through the process of acquiring new knowledge and capabilities. Facilitating workplace learning means ensuring that, as changes take place in the SSA's technologies, systems, environment, and programmes, learning opportunities are integrated where needed. With HRD as the facilitator of workplace learning, SSA employees at all levels have the capabilities required such that the SSA can - effectively and efficiently - achieve its goals, produce its results, and have its desired impact.

• •Integrating people and technology: As each new wave of technology has been introduced into organizations, it has often been implemented without an understanding of the impact on human dynamics. HRD has a key role to integrate the use of technology for learning into the business practices of the SSA. HRD assists in planning, implementing and utilizing technology - for learning and workforce improvement. HRD's goal is to help SSA employees access information, performance support and learning, where and when they need it.

• •Brokering talent and services: The SSA's HRD professionals provide a variety of learning services and support systems. In addition to providing these services directly, they serve as brokers and talent scouts - reviewing and acquiring external programmes. Identifying internal training and development providers and helping them develop their platform skills, mentoring capability and facilitation skills is a part of the HRD professional's role in bringing the best talent to the task at hand.

• •Modelling high performance behaviours: The SSA's human resource development professionals see themselves as change agents. As such, they demonstrate the personal, interpersonal, and professional competencies they encourage and help develop in others. They demonstrate in their everyday business lives those behaviours that are essential to develop the SSA as a high performing agency. Performance improvement is enhanced when people understand desired organizational outcomes and see the behaviours that contribute to these outcomes.

Characteristics of the SSA as a high performing federal agency

Current thinking on organizations moves away from viewing them as analogous to machines to a more holistic concept of them as human ecosystems. Within an ecosystem, certain climatic conditions must interact synergistically in order for living organisms to thrive and grow. Organisms within an ecosystem are dependent on each other. SSA managers are encouraged to introduce a climate for learning in every part of the organization. ⁽²⁾ Ten conditions for growth and high performance in the SSA have been identified by the US Human Resources Development Council:

Work clarity: SSA managers endeavour to assure that everyone understands why the SSA exists and what is important and that each employee has a clear sense of how he or she contributes to the SSA's performance. Thousands of copies of the SSA's strategic plan and annual performance plans are distributed internally and externally. Every one of the SSA's facilities receive multiple copies. SSA executives travel to regional management conferences and speak at inter-agency conferences on the strategic plan, performance plan, and agency performance priorities.

Capability assessment: HRD has participated in a process to identify the people and technology required to support the SSA's strategic business goals and to be congruent with customer expectations. HRD uses established competency models to assess its current capability and includes in its assessment the capabilities of internal HRD professionals, others in the SSA and outside resources. Also, HRD is clear on the gaps between SSA aspirations and its current state.

Goals for success: HRD sets high performance, measurable goals. It seeks to be effective today and better tomorrow. It expects and supports personal growth and mastery related to a variety of disciplines - including the SSA's business, organizational psychology, leadership, information technology and adult learning. In addition, HRD recognizes that high performance colleagues are integral to the accomplishment of organizational goals. HRD emphasizes getting things done.

Creative recognition: The SSA encourages creative and new ideas in any area. The SSA allows people to grow and develop in their specialty and to learn new ones. The HRD activity finds new and creative ways to recognize growth and performance. It rewards work that is consistent with the SSA's values and helps accomplish the SSA's goals. Finally, HRD rewards people whose behaviour is consistent with changes the SSA wishes to achieve.

Strategic resource alignment: The SSA has strategically aligned its resources to the SSA's performance goals. Resources include people, appropriate technology, equipment, facilities, materials, and information. HRD participates in an integrated systems approach to resource management. Finally, HRD appropriately uses alignment tools such as process re-engineering.

Multiple source feedback: SSA activity has encouraged ongoing, multiple-source feedback from customers and stakeholders (including taxpayers and the general public who experience the agency's services). This feedback occurs on a daily basis and annually, face-to-face and through surveys. The feedback is focused on development and growth.

Managing work and change for vitality: Creating an SSA work environment that energizes people through a high involvement (inclusive) process, leaders in the SSA HRD activity seek to: effectively communicate; design flexible structures; create family-friendly and flexible work options; and capitalize on the diversity of contribution available from each person. HRD's leaders manage work in ways that create and maintain individual and organizational vitality and which are consistent with values and vision. In addition, the SSA's HRD leaders provide meaning and challenge people, and they value learning on a daily basis.

Continuous learning: There is a need to maintain a learning environment in order to achieve the SSA's changing/evolving goals. There are planned approaches to sharing and transferring knowledge. The SSA's learning environment is supported by formal and informal mentoring programmes (Senior Executive Service, Advanced Leadership Programs, Leadership Development Program and Presidential Management Intern Program). Each has an assigned mentor for the duration of the programme. The Office of Human Resources prepares and supports these mentors so that their responsibilities are both understood and fulfilled. In addition to the development programmes, each employee newly selected or promoted to a technical position in the agency (e.g. Claims Representative, Benefit Authorizer) is assigned a mentor who assists him/her throughout the "probationary" period. In addition to the obvious benefits of formal mentoring, it also fosters a climate in which some employees seek and/or function as mentors on an informal basis as well. People in HRD master and improve how they do the work today and anticipate and prepare for the future. Continuous learning is part of work and a valued activity. Building and maintaining high trust among members is recognized as a key ingredient for continuous learning.

Team readiness: In any team in the SSA, members have identified team characteristics, skills, and values. Team characteristics include right size, requisite expertise, and all kinds of diversity. Team skills include building trust, questioning mental models, creating shared visions, negotiating, managing processes, and giving and receiving feedback. Team values include respect for one another, integrity, and honesty. Teams value diversity, collaboration, and mutual support and creativity; there is a willingness to share information, learn together, and discuss mutual problems. Team members are open to new ideas and are willing to question their assumptions.

Individual readiness: The SSA's leaders recognize that an individual's investment in self promotes readiness for optimal performance, individually and as part of a team. To invest in themselves, individuals first gain an awareness of their workstyle preferences and achieve balance between work and personal life. People engage in career/life planning that leads to "skill-based tenure". People manage stress and maintain and enhance their health. They achieve continuous personal growth. Personal values include a love of learning and a passion for excellence. People value integrity, commitment, accountability, energy, speed, and teamwork. They are willing to operate beyond boundaries, to share knowledge, and to change. They understand the mission of the SSA, and accomplishing that mission is important to them.

SSA operations: Customer service

Changes in the roles of field customer service staff

The SSA has long been known as an agency that delivers quality service - service provided by an experienced and dedicated workforce and management team. Over the past five years or so, the roles of SSA employees who interview customers in field offices have not changed substantially. Interviewers are generally divided into claims representatives and service representatives. Claims representatives may be programme specialists (SSA retirement and survivors/disability insurance or supplemental security income) or they may be generalists. A claims representative assists customers by completing applications for initial SSA or SSI benefits, by completing requests for reconsideration or hearings related to denied initial claims applications and by handling complicated post entitlement actions like continuing disability reviews, SSI redeterminations and overpayment personal conferences. Approximately one-third of claims representatives are generalists and two thirds are specialists. Service representatives are normally generalists. They help SSA beneficiaries and recipients with post entitlement activities such as reporting changes in address, marital and student status, direct deposit changes, explaining notices and other corrections to benefit records. Service representatives also handle reception duties in many offices.

The continued improvement in overall customer satisfaction with the SSA's service cannot be traced to just one or a few specific activities. There is a range of activities that the SSA has carried out over the past several years to increase its public awareness and to provide the tools for direct contact employees to provide more complete service to customers. The SSA's success can largely be attributed to the fact that for many years it has obtained information from customers about their satisfaction with service. Annual satisfaction surveys, comment cards, focus groups and special surveys have helped the SSA understand the needs and satisfaction of most of its customer groups.

Commissioner's forums on the SSA, improvements in disability processing, reduced hearings processing times, and systems upgrades have also helped field employees process work better. Communications have been improved through the use of both the Internet and Intranet. Training with an emphasis on courtesy and the hiring of employees who have the tools to be effective communicators have all contributed to the SSA's continued success as a customer service organization.

Role of the government employees' union in improving customer service

In an effort to improve quality, integrity and customer service over the last few years, the SSA has embarked on an ambitious series of initiatives involving the administration of the two federal disability programmes it administers. In particular, the SSA devoted considerable time and energy to its Disability Redesign Plan. One part of the Plan provides for the creation of a disability claims manager (DCM) in both the federal and state sectors responsible for the complete processing of an initial disability claim. A working group was formed charged with recommending approaches for an incremental assumption of full DCM duties for both federal and state employees in order to facilitate the testing and, ultimately, the full implementation of the DCM. The working group was also charged with developing a plan for piloting the DCM position. The working group consisted of wide representation from SSA management and federal/state employee union representatives. The government employee union representatives were equally involved in the following working group activities:

• developing a national guideline for work flow and work processes associated with testing the new DCM position;

• developing a DCM pilot evaluation;

• preparing recommendations regarding formal DCM training for federal and state employees;

• providing input for the formation of a coaching cadre responsible for providing ongoing on-the-job training for DCM's after completion of formal training for a specified period time;

• making recommendations for the pilot, which included staffing, training and resources need.

Teamworking

There are no formal teaming activities under way in the field offices. However, in one of the other components, the programme service centres, the team concept has been piloted. The union representing those employees and management formed a joint committee, and each of the six programme service centres now has a teaming pilot under way; each team consists of 10-12 bargaining unit members and has both a union and management sponsor. The joint union-management committee developed a national team training package. All team members, sponsors and the team facilitators in each location were given three to four days of training before their teaming pilot started. The pilots are scheduled to continue through the end of April 2000.

Problems and constraints in improving customer service

More than ten years ago, the SSA understood that the future held increasing workloads, decreasing staff and a customer base doing more and more business by telephone and alternative service delivery modes. As a result, the SSA established an 800 telephone number service that has been responsive and cost effective. Service delivery was also addressed in the design of systems that have focused on making work portable. In this way, the many variables that drive service delivery changes can be quickly and effectively addressed by moving work to where the staffing resources reside.

Measurement of the improvements in customer service

In 1993, President Clinton and Vice President Gore asked all federal agencies to become more customer focused - to find out what customers want from the Government, to stop assuming that they knew and to set customer service standards. Since that time, the SSA has learned from academia and from best-in-business organizations how to become more customer focused and the importance of fully understanding customers. As previously stated, an annual customer satisfaction survey has been used to capture valid national-level data on the quality of service provided during face-to-face contacts with the public. In February 1998, Commissioner Apfel approved a new programme, called the Market Measurement Program (MMP), for the SSA. The SSA's MMP includes a variety of data collection activities that, taken together, give the agency the information it needs to fully understand its market of customers, employees and stakeholders. The MMP consists of data collection activities tailored to each of these three segments. This programme and other related activities such as best practice inventories provide the structure that ensures that the SSA continually has complete, current data from those who have a stake in the successful operation of the agency. Effective use of market research requires turning data into information through analysis. During the planning process, market information is combined with resource and other data enabling the agency to make balanced decisions.

Next steps in further improvement in customer service

The SSA continues to improve the functionality of its software and the use of new computer technology to improve the service provided to customers. As the SSA moves into the new millennium, it will expand its use of the Internet to provide service to the public. Currently, the SSA has three Internet applications being used by the public. The SSA's Internet strategy continues to be discussed by agency officials but is expected to be a major vehicle in the continuing efforts to improve the way it does business with the public.

1. ¹ The roles described were written by John Zottoli (principal author) and other members of the Committee for High Performing Federal Agencies, Human Resource Development Council, United States Government.

2. The encouragement is contained in rhe preface by Vice-President Al Gore to "Getting results through learning", a booklet published by the Human Resource Development Council of the US Government, June 1997.

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