Abbreviated Supporting Statement (revised)

ABBREVIATED SUPPORTING STATEMENT

AGENCY:     Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation

TITLE:          Survey of Applicants for Jobs at PBGC

STATUS: Generic ICR under Customer Service Focus Groups and Surveys, OMB control number 1212-0053 (expires 12/31/2012)

CONTACT:   Thomas H. Gabriel (202) 326-4223 x3898

1.  Need for the collection.  This survey will help PBGC improve its customer service by increasing its understanding of how responsive PBGC is to people who apply for jobs at PBGC.  Responses to the collection will inform PBGC as to whether its Human Resources Department (HRD) is fulfilling the “Pledge to Applicants” contained in the “Delegated Examining Operations Handbook” of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which states:

To attract talented people to the service of the Nation, we believe the application process should enable rather than deter job seekers. To that end, we will work to ensure a process that reflects these principles.

1. A user-friendly application process that is not unduly burdensome or time consuming.

2. Clear, understandable job announcements and instructions for applying.

3. Timely and informed responses to questions about the requirements and the process.

4. Prompt acknowledgement that their application has been received.

5. Regular updates on the status of their applications as significant decisions are reached.

6. A timely decision-making process.

The collection is also needed to assess the extent to which PBGC is meeting the OMB mandate, as stated on USAJobs.gov , that agencies are responsible for evaluating and providing status to applicants at “four points”: (1) Application Received, ( 2) Application Assessed, (3) Applicant Referred or Not Referred to Selection Official, and (4)Applicant Selected or Not Selected.

The collection will also help PBGC comply with the requirements stated in OPM’s publication “End-to-End Hiring Initiative” (E2E Hiring). As stated in the publication’s preamble (p.3), E2E Hiring “is designed to focus on the applicant: his or her expectations, needs and interests.” OPM also directs HR Mangers, to “Evaluate and Measure Recruitment, Staffing Plans and Marketing Strategies” by, among other measures, “Conduct[ing] customer satisfaction surveys and evaluat[ing] ratings” (page 27).

2.  Intended use.  PBGC plans to use the responses for the purpose of improving customer service, including measuring the extent to which PBGC is meeting the customer-centric requirements described above.

3.  Description of respondents.  The survey respondents will be recent applicants for positions announced by PBGC.

4.  Information collection procedures.  The collection will be distributed by e-mail to 2,400 applicants.

5.  Expected response rate.  PBGC expects about a 15% response rate, or 360 of 2,400.

6.  Justification for incentive.  This collection does not provide any monetary incentive.

7.  Estimated burden.  The survey is expected to take 10 minutes per respondent. A total of 360 respondents at 10 minutes each = 3,600 minutes or 60 hours.

8.  Methodology. HRD will provide PBGC’s Budget and Organizational Performance Department's Strategic Planning and Evaluation Division (SPED) a list of names and e-mail addresses of persons who applied for a job with PBGC between January 2010 and May 2010. The list is expected to number about 3,800. From the 3,800 names, SPED will randomly select 2,400 names, using Excel's random-number generator. (Basically, the names are numbered with a repeating sequence, e.g., 1, 2, 3. The random-number generator provides a number between 1 and 3, and all names with that number are removed from the sample.) Obtaining 360 or more responses will allow a 5% margin of error at a 95% confidence level. Sampling may be reduced if the response rate is higher than expected. All data will be aggregated and stored on PBGC's secure, password-protected network and PBGC's secure, password-protected, Web-based survey tool. SPED will not provide data for a specific demographic (e.g., announcement number) if there are fewer than 10 responses.

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