Secretary Bryson and Acting Deputy Secretary Blank have recognized three Commerce teams that are improving customer service and saving taxpayer money.  Teams from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Census Bureau, and Department of Commerce Human Resources offices have received the Performance Excellence Award.

The Performance Excellence Award is distributed to teams that support the Secretary’s vision of an evolving department and continuously improve service delivery to the American public. Bryson hopes to establish the department as a role model for other federal agencies. In an effort to go the extra mile, process improvement teams are examining the department’s infrastructure to identify and remove inefficiencies.  As a result, processes are streamlined to enhance the administration and delivery of services to customers. Although the sector is very diverse, it is definitely possible to improve service delivery through department-wide collaboration.

Today, Bryson recognized three teams that have developed new processes to accelerate reduced costs and improve programs within their purview.

First, the BEA team developed an original process to rapidly integrate new data into Gross Domestic Product reports on the state of the economy.  By doing a more flexible annual revision every year, they are able to provide more timely data to decision-makers in private sectors and the government.

Second, the Census Bureau Storage Area Network team developed a plan to consolidate several independent systems into one storage network. The project will reduce storage vendors, contractor support, and power usage to save a projected $25 million over the next five years.

Finally, the third team is Commerce wide – the first multi-bureau Performance Excellence winning team. Working together, all Commerce Human Resources offices streamlined hiring procedures and identified best practices, reducing the average time to bring in new employees from 105 days to 75 days. The team developed a standard 11-step program that will improve the federal recruitment and hiring process.

Employees can learn more about the Performance Excellence program by visiting the Performance Excellence page on the Commerce Intranet.