TSP Management Promises Stability In Its Recordkeeping Transition
TSP Management Promises Stability In Its Recordkeeping Transition
Government officials overseeing the 401(k) savings plan concerned with retirement guaranteed users of stability in the Thrift Saving Plan’s troublemaker transition. The transition involved acquiring a new recordkeeping service provided by Accenture Federal Services. Ever since June 1, when the new collaboration began, participants showed unanimous disapproval of the website transformation.
Although the new look was created to increase the security of the log-in process and introduce new features, the change was met with distaste. Some of the numerous complaints included trouble with creating or logging into their, locating account information, and determining suitable beneficiary options.
To add fuel to the fire, the Thrift Line Customer Service was unable to cater to the surge in incoming calls. Since they had not foreseen this reaction to the new change, the customer service staff was inadequate to respond to the increasing complaints and queries.
To bring this drastic obstacle to an end, the Investment Board of Thrift addressed the problem in their monthly meetings. Hence, it was agreed that both Accenture Federal Services and the call center would waste no second in taking things back to normal.
The agreement was followed by a call to action where the call center employed 550 agents in June and a further 500 agents in July to leave no loose ends on their part. Immediately after the website shift, the Thrift Line started receiving around 34,000 calls in a day. However, following the customer service company’s response to new hiring, customers’ wait time has come down from around 2 hours to a minimum of 15 minutes.
Accenture also stepped up its game by breaking down the new process changes into easily decipherable features. This resulted in 90% of users nailing their log-ins on the first try without any prior assistance from the Thrift Line.
The TSP’s services director, Ramos, promised website users that the website would be back on its feet by mid-August at the latest. This claim has been backed up by their improving numbers. The abandonment rate – resulting from a customer cutting the line from having to wait too long for a response- has dropped significantly. The next step prevailing for TSP is to ensure the stability of these results.
The first month after the disastrous transition, TSP could still process approximately 1967 loans in a day. This was a 100% increase from June, accompanied by an increase from 13000 to 14465 withdrawals in a day. According to Ramos, this increase resulted from accumulating demand in the period before the new launch.
Although their response to recovery is commendable, it was not fast enough for several lawmakers who took the matter to the Government Accountability Office for investigation. Del. Eleanor Norton, in particular, decided to form legislation for the establishment of an inspector general. Her explanation for this move surrounds the daily increase in complaints from users. She, therefore, took the responsibility of getting to the bottom of the matter on herself and discover where and what went wrong.
