Federal CX is unique. Prioritize three fundamentals to succeed.

Federal CX is unique. Prioritize three fundamentals to succeed.

The White House’s executive orders to improve CX and improve diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, as well as the President’s Management Agenda, empower U.S. federal agencies to spend more time and resources on critically examining and advancing their customer and employee experiences. As agencies do so, they may look for inspiration in the variety of tools and strategies being adopted by commercial organizations. Yet, how federal agencies succeed with CX will not look the same as the commercial sector’s efforts. Why??

• Scale: The federal government must serve millions of people every day—operating at an enormous scale and with high degrees of complexity across a diverse span of missions. This includes not just customers, but employees as well—the government is responsible for the employee experience of the largest, most diverse workforce in the nation.?
• Mandate for Equity: The government must serve all people equitably. This requires considering and supporting all aspects of diversity – racial, social, and economic – that make up America’s population and the government’s own workforce.??
• Mission-Driven Focus: The federal government focuses first and foremost on mission outcomes and compliance, not profit.?

There are certainly many applicable learnings from the commercial sector. However, the government doesn’t need to copy digital giants’ CX initiatives. Instead, it should focus on identifying and meeting the fundamental needs of its customers, which will require solutions both big and small, digital and analog, and cutting-edge and commonplace.??

At the end of the day, people want public service experiences that are simple, human, and secure. These principles are core to achieving the Administration’s CX objectives.??

The 3 fundamentals for federal CX?

1.Simple: No one wants to encounter frustration or confusion when they need something from the government. Instead, they want easy access to tools and services—which means the federal government, in turn, needs to prioritize creating simple, streamlined experiences for users.??

This is not a revolutionary concept, but it’s impossible to overstress its importance. What’s more, it’s even more important for government, because many customers may interact with the government 1-2x per year at most. It’s critical for the experience to be intuitive and easily accessible from the first interaction.??

2. Human: People must feel heard and respected when they interact with the government, especially because they are often engaging during times of urgent need or vulnerability. Otherwise, agencies risk further eroding declining levels of trust in government.??

Yet, based on our recent data, 61% of U.S. respondents said they often found it frustrating to access government services. And only 7% of U.S. residents believe the government is completely sensitive to addressing their requests—and just 29% say they are somewhat sensitive.??

3. Secure: If people presume and trust that their data is secure, and used for their benefit, they’ll feel more comfortable sharing it. In fact, 51% of U.S. residents agree or strongly agree they feel comfortable sharing more personal data with government agencies if it means more convenient and efficient service delivery. ?

What do these fundamentals look like in action??

Recently, Accenture Federal Services collaborated with the Partnership for Public Service for our annual “Government for the People” report, which provides a roadmap for advancing federal CX and includes profiles of five high impact federal services.

The profiles show that many agencies are keeping simplicity, humanity, and security top of mind:?

• When the Social Security Administration (SSA) redesigned its website, it prioritized simplicity in the customer experience and reducing administrative burden. For example, screening tools help orient customers to the exact information they need for their situation, instead of requiring customers to wade through complex, irrelevant information. SSA is also exploring integrating service channels, so customers can complete cross-channels tasks without starting over or re-entering information.??
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is increasing its commitment to trauma-informed communication, and ensuring that its customer experiences treat people first and foremost with humanity. “FEMA revamped the recording customers hear when they first call the agency, focusing on FEMA’s role in supporting survivors and de-emphasizing legal disclaimers that could be intimidating to some customers,” the profile notes. “The agency also provides training to inspectors to ensure they are prepared to engage with and support customers during the process, rather than solely focused on completing their inspection checklist.”?
• The Bureau of Consular Affairs has noted that, despite progress in digitization of the passport renewal process, customers wishing to apply for a passport for the first time must still visit an in-person location to present necessary documents – and this is due to security requirements and data sharing challenges. They are exploring options to overcome these challenges while keeping the security of customers’ data firmly centered.??

You can read the full “Government for the People” report and more profiles on agencies’ customer experience efforts here.?

Overall, agencies continue to make tremendous advancements with CX, but the opportunity ahead is profound. To deliver experiences people want and better mission outcomes, agencies can focus their efforts first and foremost on people’s fundamental need for simplicity, humanity, and security.?

Thank you to my co-author Ben Cannon.?