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Internal Revenue ServiceInitiatives in Performance Excellence

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

National Quality Month Celebration

October 27, 1999

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Drivers of IRS Initiatives

• Customer Service Task Force

• New Commissioner

• Congressional Hearings

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Customer Service Task Force

• Partnership involving IRS, Treasury, and the National Partnership for Reinventing Government

• Identified over 200 opportunities for service improvements

• Reinventing Service at the IRS (Publication 2197 (3/98))

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New Commissioner

• Charles O. Rossotti

• Management experience– Government (OSD)– Private Sector (AMS)

• Commitment to customer service

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Congressional Hearings

• Senate Finance Committee

• Committee on Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service

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Strategies for Implementation

• Taxpayer Treatment and Service Improvements

• New Mission Statement

• Modernizing the IRS

• Citizen Advocacy Panels (CAP)

• President’s Quality Award

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Taxpayer Treatment and Service Improvements

• Coordinate, plan, and manage recommendations

• Ensure suggestions are evaluated • Ensure decisions are timely and coordinated• Ensure major commitments to stakeholders

are coordinated and implemented• Initially led by now Deputy Commissioner for

Operations Bob Wenzel

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New Mission Statement

“Provide America's taxpayers top quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all.”

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Modernizing the IRS

• Modernization Principles

• IRS-NTEU Partnering Principles

• PQA Core Values

• Modernization Goals

• Areas of Change

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Modernization: Principles

• Understand and solve problems from the taxpayer's point of view

• Expect managers to be accountable

• Use balanced measures of performance

• Foster open, honest communications

• Insist on total integrity

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Modernization:IRS-NTEU

Partnering Principles• Leadership by example

• Mission-relevant focus

• Participative decision making

• End-to-end empowerment

• Trust-building behavior

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Modernization:PQA Core Values

• Customer-driven Quality• Leadership• Continuous Improvement and Learning• Employee Participation and Development• Fast Response• Design Quality and Prevention

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Modernization:PQA Core Values (cont.)

• Long-range View of the Future

• Management by Fact

• Partnership Development

• Organization Responsibility and Citizenship

• Results Focus

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Modernization: Goals

• Service to each taxpayer

• Service to all taxpayers

• Productivity through a quality work environment

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Modernization:Areas of Change

• Revamped business practices

• Four Operating Units

• Balanced measures of performance

• Management roles with clear responsibility

• New technology

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Modernization:Four Operating Units

• Individual taxpayers with wage and investment income

• Small business and self-employed taxpayers

• Large business taxpayers

• Employee Plans/Exempt Organizations and state and local governments

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Modernization:Balanced Measures

• Customer Satisfaction

• Employee Satisfaction

• Business Results

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Citizen Advocacy Panels

Provide citizen inputElevate identified problems to the

appropriate level Refer individual taxpayers to the

appropriate IRS office for assistance

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President’s Quality Award

• Self-assessments

• Action plans

• In partnership with NTEU

• Goal: Institutionalize in day-to-day management of the IRS

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For details ….

• The main IRS Internet web site at http://www.irs.gov/

• The Commissioner’s Section at http://www.irs.gov/welcome/index.html

• The National Director of Quality at 202-622-6450 or 202-622-5710