Health Resources and Services Administration
SUPPORTING STATEMENT
Put your Project Title here
A. Justification
1. Circumstances of Information Collection
This is a request for OMB approval of a qualitative voluntary customer satisfaction survey or focus group under HRSA’s generic clearance.
The Division of Grants Management Operations (DGMO), located within the Office of Federal Assistance Management (OFAM), will obtain feedback from internal and external customers with whom staff interact. Providing high quality and timely customer service is an element within the Performance Management Appraisal Programs (PMAPs) of Grants Management staff, and the survey will provide a way to measure the degree to which this is being accomplished.
Executive Order 12862 directs agencies that "provide significant services directly to the public" to "survey customers to determine the kind and quality of services they want and their level of satisfaction with existing services". The surveying of individuals with whom DGMO staff interact is to provide insight regarding overall customer satisfaction and the confidence in the information received; the effectiveness and quality of the service; the ease, efficiency, and transparency of the processes described; and the helpfulness of staff.
2. Purpose and Use of the Information
As previously mentioned, customer service is an element within the PMAPs of Grants Management staff. It is presently difficult for managers to measure performance in this area because most interactions staff have with their customers occur without the involvement of their supervisor. The survey will provide a way to measure the degree to which customer service expectations are being met. DGMO supervisors will use the data collected from the survey to help inform decisions regarding employee performance in this area; positive experiences can be recognized and negative (or neutral) experiences offer opportunities for staff improvement. It will also be used as a tool to assess the types of questions our customers have and if additional trainings are warranted for a larger audience for the most common issues. DGMO would like to pilot the survey with one small Branch first and use it as an opportunity to refine the questions and data analysis plan before potentially implementing in the Division as a whole.
3. Use of Improved Information Technology
DGMO will use Survey Monkey to collect the customer service data. A link to the survey will be placed on the signature line of staff emails, and customers will have the option (voluntary) to respond; clicking on the link will take customers to the survey.
All responses to the survey will be collected electronically, and can be downloaded from Survey Monkey (PDF and Excel) by the software license holder within OFAM. The data will be distributed to the DGMO manager electronically for analysis.
4. Efforts to Avoid Duplication
This information is currently not available from another source.
5. Involvement of Small Entities
The proposed survey will not have a significant impact on small businesses or other small entities. Completing the survey is voluntary.
6. Consequences if Information Collected Less Frequently
Not having the data will make measuring the degree to which customer service is meeting expectations more challenging. Completing the survey is voluntary; respondents can submit as many or as few surveys for DGMO staff as they would like. There are no legal obstacles to reduce the burden.
7. Consistency With the Guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2)
These surveys will be implemented in a manner fully consistent with 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).
8. Consultation Outside the Agency
The notice required in 5 CFR 1320.8(d) was published in the Federal Register on November 13, 2017, (Vol. 82, No.217, pages 52308-52309). No public comments were received.
9. Remuneration of Respondents
No payments or gifts will be provided to the respondents.
10. Assurance of Confidentiality
To date, the HRSA customer satisfaction surveys have not collected personally identifiable information from respondents. Regarding this survey, no personally identifiable information will be requested The respondents may choose to provide their name and contact information in the open comments text box if they are interested in having someone follow up with them directly about their feedback.
11. Questions of a Sensitive Nature
The survey does not contain questions of a sensitive nature.
12. Estimates of Annualized Hour Burden
Respondents:
Respondents will include anyone who interacts with DGMO staff. This may include other OFAM staff (outside of DGMO), HRSA Program office staff, other HRSA office staff (e.g., Budget, Office of Communications; etc.), grant recipients, other external entities (e.g., Payment Management System staff). DGMO estimates that approximately 64 participants per month and an average of 5 minutes (or 0.12 hours) to complete the survey per submission. This equates to 92.16 annual burden hours per year.
This burden estimate is based on an 8-month sample of the survey with one small Branch in the Division; the average number of responses per month was multiplied by the total number of individuals within the Division.
Annual burden estimates:
Type of Collection |
Number of Respondents |
Responses per Respondent |
Total Responses |
Hours per Respondent |
Total Burden Hours |
Wage Rate |
Total Hour Cost |
DGMO Customer Service Satisfaction Survey |
768 |
1 |
768 |
0.12 |
92.16 |
$24.98 |
$2,302.16 |
Total |
768 |
|
768 |
|
92.16 |
|
$2,302.16 |
Planned frequency of information collection:
The link to the survey will be included in the signature line of DGMO staff; there is no anticipated end date for the removal of the link, as it is intended to provide data regarding customer service for DGMO managers during employee performance evaluations.
13. Estimates of Annualized Cost Burden to Respondents
HRSA anticipates the total annualized cost to respondents to be $2,302.16. Since respondents can vary in occupation type, characteristics, and industry, the average hourly wage of $24.98 was used. No capital or start-up costs are associated with this information collection request. The total annualized cost estimate is related to the time for respondents to complete and submit satisfaction survey.
14. Estimates of Annualized Cost to the Government
It is possible that some Federal staff are respondents to the survey; the cost of their participation in completing the survey is included in the above figures. In terms of analyzing the survey data, this function will likely be handled by DGMO Team Leads at the GS14 level. If the GS14 step 5 hourly salary of $63.64 per hour is used, with an average of 1 hour per month of analysis per Branch (5 total), this would equate to an annual costs of approximately 60 hours per year, or $3,818.40.
15. Change in Burden
Not Applicable. This is a new activity under HRSA’s generic clearance and will be included in the total burden currently approved by OMB under OMB Control No. 0915-0212.
16. Plans for Analysis and Timetable of Key Activities
The data collection will be ongoing. The analysis will be at least quarterly, but no more frequently than monthly. The survey results will be shared with the appropriate manager(s) to be used for performance evaluation. The data may be generalized to help determine internal service improvement.
17. Exemption for Display of Expiration Date
No exemption is being requested. The expiration date will be displayed.
18. Certifications
This information collection activity will comply with the requirements in 5 CFR 1320.9.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | GENERIC - Supporting Statement Template |
| Author | Jodi.Duckhorn |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-15 |