SpectrumTalk

Why Doesn't FCC Like Interagency Surveys?

About two months ago I wrote a posting about how FCC somehow avoided the OPM Federal Human Capital Survey 2006, a commendable Bush Administration initiative that "that measures employees' perceptions of whether, and to what extent, conditions characterizing successful organizations are present in their agencies." Last week I read in the Washington Post's Federal Diary column about another interagency survey - this time dealing with agency websites.

The University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) surveys quarterly 80-100 federal agencies' web sites to see how happy users are with them. Why do they do this? An OMB-sponsored website explains it this way:

You want people to be satisfied with your website – right? Measuring customer satisfaction is subjective – it tells you what they say they like and don’t like about your site, not necessarily what they do on your site. But it will tell you whether they happy or not, when they used your site, how likely they are to return, whether they’ll recommend your site to others, and much more.

The only specific survey mentioned on this site is ACSI and it is used by agencies large and small that want to see where they stand. Both large agencies and small agencies participate in ACSI. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's website did reasonably well just as NRC did well in the Federal Human Capital Survey. (NRC is only slightly larger than FCC.)

Do you think I am unfair about the FCC's website? You may be aware that there is a very contentious petition (RM-11361) filed at FCC by Skype asking for part 68-like treatment of cell phones. Try to find it! Until recently the FCC search engine couldn't find it at all. Now the search engine can find the 3/15/07 Daily Digest that has a link to the order extending the comment cycle, but not to the original request for comments or the docket file.

The Bush Administration likes to measure results and hold people accountable for their results. Shouldn't FCC follow the White House lead and be willing to have its performance evaluated in interagency surveys like the Federal Human Capital Survey and American Customer Satisfaction Index?