RRB News - Office of Public Affairs - News Release

RRB News
U.S. Railroad Retirement Board
844 North Rush Street Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092

No. 15-7

www.rrb.gov
877-772-5772 general information
Public Affairs
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For Immediate Release
September 2015
RRB Scores Well with Railroad Employers

The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) earned a score of 77 in a recent survey of railroad
employers on their dealings with the agency, utilizing the science of the American Customer
Satisfaction Index (ACSI) survey. The study covered the employers’ direct contact with agency
personnel, along with various forms of electronic communication. This was the first time that
railroad employer satisfaction had been surveyed by the RRB, and the score of 77 compares very
favorably with the overall ACSI score of 64 for the federal government.
Railroad employers are responsible for reporting service and compensation data for their
employees, withholding railroad retirement taxes and providing information on unemployment and
sickness claims. These are the primary areas in which they deal with the RRB on a routine basis.
Among the areas evaluated by the survey were interactions with the RRB’s national network of
53 field offices and the Quality Reporting Service Center, a headquarters group that provides
guidance and training to employers, the online system that allows electronic filing of reports, and
the agency website.
The survey results once again showed the RRB field offices to be one of the agency’s greatest
strengths, with an overall satisfaction score of 88. They did particularly well in terms of
professionalism, courtesy and responsiveness of personnel, along with the accuracy and clarity of
provided information. The results did indicate that improvement could be made in the ease of
contacting the offices, although it still scored higher (79) than the agency’s overall score.

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The surveyed employers also rated the Quality Reporting Service Center and its staff very
highly, with an overall satisfaction score of 85 and ratings that were just a point or two lower than
the field offices in terms of personnel, information and ease of contact. The results did show
opportunities for improvement in terms of training, much of which is delivered in an online format.
While the satisfaction score for training was 87, only 10 percent of the respondents had received
training through this RRB unit, representing a significant opportunity for expansion.
The agency website, www.rrb.gov, and the system that allows employers to file forms and
reports electronically had identical satisfaction scores of 79. Almost two-thirds of the respondents
had used the online filing system, with the results indicating potential for improvement in terms of
improving instructions and ease of use.
Founded as a partnership between the University of Michigan Business School, the CFI Group,
and the American Society for Quality, the ACSI regularly measures national customer satisfaction
with corporate goods and services. The results allow government agencies to compare their
performance with similar types of organizations in the public and private sectors, and use customer
feedback to improve processes in ways that will have the biggest impact on satisfaction.
This marks the ninth time since 2001 that the RRB has used ACSI survey methodology, with
most of the prior reviews looking at specific customer segments that applied for or received various
benefits from the agency. In every instance, the RRB’s satisfaction level exceeded the overall
federal score. This first-ever survey of railroad employers used a combination of 300 e-mail and
phone surveys that took place in April and May of this year.

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