Workers at the Social Security Administration are working harder and enjoying it less, while its customers grow ever more frustrated.That's a major take-away from a recent Government Accountability Office report detailing the negative impact of SSA staff cuts.
One important note: In contrast to a generally bleak assessment of the agency, the report did shine a light on the conscientious federal employees who sometimes sacrifice personal time to boost productivity....
Managers and staff told GAO investigators "that they often do not have time to take their breaks, including lunch. Some staff told us that they feel they are letting down their colleagues and feel guilty about taking time off, regardless of whether they use credit hours or annual leave." ...
The increasing demands on the staff has resulted in higher stress, lower morale and decreasing job satisfaction. And managers suffer from it the most, with 74 percent reporting high stress levels.
SSA Commissioner Michael J. Astrue put the blame on Congress for not giving the agency enough money. ...
Managers responding to a survey by the National Council of Social Security Management Associations [NCSSMA] "estimated that they would need a staffing increase of 16.7 percent to provide adequate public service," the report says.
Apr 2, 2009
Working Harder, Enjoying It Less And Giving Poor Service
From Joe Davidson's Federal Diary at the Washington Post:
So why was Michael Astrue telling Congress that those last two Bush Administration budgets were all his agency needed, when clearly they were not? And what does Michael Astrue think of hiring another 10,000 or so employees as the NCSSMA suggests? It seems to me that it is past time for Astrue to openly state his opinion on the number of new employees that Social Security needs to give adequate service to the public.
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3 comments:
The situation with regards to staffing, morale, stress levels, etc. is true. I don't believe however that throwing money at the situation will make matters better. Why hire more people if you can't make a committment to training the people you have? That's a major problem that Comissioner Astrue fails consistently to address. Fill the offices to the gills with staff but don't train them properly and you will still have stress and morale problems. It's a huge mess all levels of management is to blame.
Ditto...Management is to blame. For the most part, the agency's management has hired/recommended family and friends with no experience in processing claims. It has taken the experience employees who have the technical knowledge years to learn the programs and processes. The newer employees are not trained on the technical aspect of the job. Since SSA has gone "technical" management claims there is no need for the employees to learn the techncial aspect of the job. Therefore, due to "innovation" the agency's opinion is they don't need additional man/woman power. Which is why Astrue is not providing an honest answer. The agency and he, would look foolish. IT, the new technology, doesn't do it all. Claims are processed manually, there is a need of personnel to handle these claims, however, based upon the lack of personnel claims are processed in an untimely manner. Blame it on the rain....yea, that's the ticket.
I don't know what planet you are living on, but on this one Commissioner Astrue is not King. Although he is the head of an independent agency, he is still part of the Executive Branch. He must make his budget requests through the Office of Management and Budget, and through the committees of Congress. Astrue does not submit a budget request to Congress—only the President can do that. Astrue does not control SSA’s funding—except indirectly through his efforts behind the scenes within the Administration and with the Congress to persuade them to grant more funding.
As Bismarck observed, politics is the art of the possible. Requesting 10,000 new employees would be foolish, as it is utterly impractical and will never happen. Also, imagining that the Commissioner can just ask for huge additional sums of money anytime he wants, is beyond naïve.
And--in point of actual fact, as opposed to the myths you continue to spread--SSA has in the two years of Astrue’s tenure received a total of $1.2 billion beyond the President’s budget requests. This happened because Astrue went to the Congress and lobbied behind the scenes for more money; and because he lobbied the Administration to add money for SSA to the Stimulus Package. The Democrats in Congress did not initiate any of this (although they enacted it into law—to their credit). This all happened because of SSA initiatives.
Moreover, the President’s request for FY 2009 was itself a 6% increase over the 2008 funding level, and the current FY 2010 President’s request is a 10% increase over the 2009 level. At a time when many other parts of the Executive Branch are facing reductions in their budgets. These increases in funding are also due to Astrue’s efforts—working behind the scenes to persuade the Administration to increase SSA’s funding.
Because Astrue does not rise up on his hind legs and bray about money and staffing the way the union officials do, or the way you do on this blog, you ignorantly assume that he is not doing his job. He is in fact doing the best that can be done in the real circumstances in which we work.
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