Retirement Security - Improving Operating and Staffing Practices Can Increase Productivity and Reduce Costs in Ssa's Atlanta Region: Ggd-85- (Paperback)

As part of a series of reviews of productivity in government claims processing, GAO reviewed field office productivity in the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Atlanta Region. GAO found that: (1) while the SSA Atlanta Region ranked at the top in productivity among SSA regions, productivity within the region varied widely because of inconsistent staffing and operating practices among field offices; (2) regional and area management staff did not allocate staff among field offices based on fluctuating work loads; (3) at a number of field offices, staffing levels remained unchanged over a period of several years, despite decreasing work loads; (4) some field offices supplemented staffing for reasons not related to work loads; and (5) SSA unjustifiably allows area directors to adjust staffing levels based on their perceptions of local conditions. GAO also found that: (1) field offices use a wide variety of processing practices, organization structures, and work load control practices despite similarity in work loads and services offered; (2) while some offices incorporate additional work steps and quality reviews into their processing procedures, these offices do not produce significantly better work than other offices; (3) those offices with lower productivity averaged 7-percent less staff devoted to positions directly related to claims processing; and (4) improved training for area and field office managers about efficient processing practices could stimulate significant productivity improvements in the region.