Aiming to meet the needs of customers and its workforce, the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, seems to be right on target, according to several recent surveys.
Carolyn Harris, program improvement specialist with the Huntsville Center’s Business Management Office, said the FY16 Stakeholder/Customer Satisfaction Survey reflects a 93 percent overall approval rating and a 91 percent overall product delivery satisfaction.
Angela Morton, chief, Equal Employment Opportunity Office, offered the results from an Organizational Climate Survey conducted through the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute.
She said that the Huntsville Center enjoys a 78 percent job satisfaction rating and a 66 percent approval of its organizational processes.
“This overall assessment reflects a good command climate comparable to other Army organizations. It reveals a lot about the command and its ability to eliminate disparate treatment, workplace harassment, sexual assault/sexual harassment and hostile environments,” Morton said.
“Additionally, it assesses climate factors such as work environment, personal work experience and job satisfaction,” she said. Other findings include a 65 percent trust in leadership, 76 percent organizational performance, 80 percent organizational cohesion, 65 percent diversity management, and a 63 percent leadership cohesion.
Morton added that even though survey results are favorable, there is room for improvement.
According to survey comments, the mentoring program and career development plans need to be improved to encompass requirements unique to the Center. Other interest areas include allowing more telework opportunity and flex time, an adequate staff for workload, improved facilities, more “all hands” communications with the workforce, and to hold poor performers accountable and reward high performers.
Harris adds that it’s all indicative of the Center’s attention to stakeholder requirements as well as the needs of its workforce.
Her office sent out 720 surveys, of which 42 percent responded and from that they were better able to understand how well the Center interacted with its customer base.
She said the survey benefits the Center immeasurably and helps it identify what factors are most important to its stakeholders.
Through these surveys, the Center also learned what projects its customers may require help with down the road, and most importantly, whether they would recommend its services to other organizations, Harris added.
“Twenty-five percent of our stakeholders said that they will need and pursue our services within the next five years despite maybe having to pay a little more for services rendered. This is an increase from 18 percent in last year’s survey,” she said.
Always seeking to capture and meet customer expectations, these surveys were conducted using the Interactive Customers Evaluation System. This survey tool is a Department of Defense web-based technology not needing to go through the sometimes lengthy vetting and approval process, Harris said. It allows our customers to quickly and easily provide feedback, gives our management timely data on our services, and provides instant notification.
Through ICE, managers can monitor satisfaction levels through reports and customer comments. In addition to the Annual Customer/Stakeholder Survey, HNC has generated a quick five-question survey for each program so customers have the means to provide regular feedback on service quality.
“ICE responses are immediate, and once a customer submits a comment card, we get an email of the results. This allows the Center to address ‘hot button’ issues immediately. Whether with the comment or the rating, it ensures that we are meeting our customers’ expectations and/or requirements,” she said.
Harris added that though these results are consistent with previous surveys, stakeholders overall want to see improved communication and lowered costs of doing business with the Center.
“We are a reimbursable organization, so our customers are important to us. It is important for HNC to keep in mind this survey raises our stakeholders’ expectations for us to address their concerns and respond appropriately to their feedback. Without the customer, we are all out of a job,” she said. “So yes, it does add value to the organization.”
| Date Taken: | 04.18.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 02.02.2018 09:44 |
| Story ID: | 264166 |
| Location: | HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 17 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Huntsville Center hits target for customer, workforce satisfaction, by David San Miguel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
