{"id":34154,"date":"2022-06-05T08:27:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-05T12:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/?page_id=34154"},"modified":"2024-10-22T10:07:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T14:07:06","slug":"case-study-achieving-results","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/public-service-leadership-institute\/tools\/case-study-achieving-results\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study: Achieving Results"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/i>Back to all case studies<\/span><\/a>\n\n\n\n
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Case Study: Achieving Results<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Putting the customer first: How Barbara C. Morton helped transform the way our government serves veterans <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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In 2014, a major crisis hit the Department of Veterans Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explosive reports claimed that the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System had for several years<\/a> falsified data showing how long veterans were waiting to receive medical care. Internal data samples showed that wait times for some lasted an average of 115 days\u2014well above the 24-day wait time officially reported by the Phoenix VA\u2014and that at least 40 veterans died<\/a> while waiting for appointments in the local VA system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coverup soon became a national scandal. President Barack Obama called the reports<\/a> \u201cdishonorable\u201d and \u201cdisgraceful,\u201d while former Sen. John McCain proposed<\/a> significant reforms to veterans health care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The VA is still making headlines today<\/a>\u2014but for different reasons. Thanks to its Veterans Experience Office and productive partnerships across and outside the VA, the agency has become a leading customer experience organization in government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Launched under the leadership of then-Secretary Bob McDonald and in response to the Phoenix VA crisis, the office has transformed the way the VA serves veterans, as well as their families, caregivers and survivors. In turn, veterans have gained better access to critical support services and trust in the agency has skyrocketed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the heart of this transformation stood the VEO and Barbara C. Morton, the office\u2019s indefatigable deputy chief veterans experience officer. In her nearly six years in the office, Morton has embodied the highest forms of public service leadership, navigating the federal system, using new types of customer-focused data analysis and human-centered design, and leveraging digital technology to design and implement innovative services that meet the needs of all veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy leadership style is rooted in my stalwart belief in the purpose of government, which is to serve the people first. I am always focused on making sure that government keeps its focus on those it serves,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Barbara C. Morton, deputy chief veterans experience officer at the Veterans Experience Office<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cThe best of both worlds\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Morton\u2019s early work at the VA laid the groundwork for her to emerge as the agency\u2019s chief customer experience champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She spent ten years at the Board of Veterans\u2019 Appeals working across different career levels that allowed for both face-to-face contact with veterans and systems-level policy and operational design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early in her tenure, Morton got a \u201cfirsthand look at how challenging and frustrating it could be for veterans to navigate the appeals process\u201d as a staff attorney. As director of operations, she eventually developed an appreciation for \u201ccreative problem-solving and cross-departmental, enterprise-wide challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A stint as an acting veterans law judge also required Morton to travel across the country to hold in-person hearings with veterans about their appeals\u2014a role that enabled her to stay connected with veterans the board served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The various roles provided her with \u201cthe best of both worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI aspired to make a profound difference in these individual veterans\u2019 lives, while simultaneously seeking to impact a larger scale of policy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A formative moment came toward the end of Morton\u2019s tenure at the board when she received a phone call from a World War II veteran lost in the appeals process. Rather than refer the call to another employee, Morton decided to personally handle the request, sensing the veteran\u2019s anxiety and frustration with the status of his appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI could tell he was very anxious and just really didn’t understand what was going on in the process,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After taking his name and number, she conducted weeks of research into his case, working with partners across the department to rebuild his paper file with important records until the appeal could be properly processed. During this time, she also reached out to the veteran to provide periodic updates to respond to his concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, the appeal was put back on track thanks to Morton\u2019s work. During a final phone call with the veteran, he shared a sentiment that would deeply impact and stick with her: \u201cI trusted you because I knew you would take care of me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From the story:<\/strong> How did Morton\u2019s prior experience set her up for her new role?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For reflection:<\/strong> What drives you to stay accountable to all of the people your agency serves?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For action: <\/strong>How might you improve customer experience opportunities with your eligible customers\u2014either internal or external\u2014based on their needs or wants?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA flash in the pan or a fad\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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That sentiment stuck with Morton and would inform the trajectory of her work at VA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Phoenix scandal, former VA Secretary Bob McDonald realized the agency needed to revamp the way it served veterans. To do so, he aimed to put the veteran first in everything the VA did\u2014from providing outpatient care and processing appeal claims to scheduling appointments and enabling digital access to key resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2015, the Veterans Experience Office launched to implement this vision. The office\u2014a central customer experience bureau tasked with working across the VA\u2019s three large subcomponents and serving the agency\u2019s more than 400,000 employees\u2014was an entirely new type of organizational setup in government. Rarely, if ever, had an agency built such a prominent platform dedicated solely to improving the customer experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morton joined the office in July 2016 and recalled the early challenges it faced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said the VEO felt initially like a \u201cstartup\u201d and was a \u201clittle bit undefined.\u201d With the office still an unproven entity, people had doubts about whether the VEO would even survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were question marks about what the value of the office was or could be,\u201d she said. \u201cWe needed to understand our organizational needs to make the office viable in the long term so it didn\u2019t feel like a flash in the pan or a fad. Connecting the dots for people to show why the office was relevant was really important.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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From the story:<\/strong> How might feeling like a \u201cstartup\u201d have helped Morton and her growing team start their work? How can this culture be replicated?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For reflection:<\/strong> When have you had to take over a project, role or assignment that had not previously succeeded? How did you navigate your environment to gain support from stakeholders?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For action:<\/strong> What new or ongoing initiatives are you or could you be part of in your agency? What principles, like \u201cveterans first,\u201d could you apply to keep focused on the end result?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cSprinkling the seeds everywhere\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Given these factors, Morton realized that she needed to quickly demonstrate the proof of concept for the VEO\u2019s impact to VA leadership and employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do so, Morton and her team sought to bake the VEO\u2019s customer experience goals into the VA\u2019s core mission. She knew that would require navigation and understanding of the internal workings of the organization and its culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cParticularly in government, understanding the ecosystem around you is really a critical skill set for instituting any transformation initiative,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An early key was to \u201cmeet the organization where it was\u201d and plant customer experience goals into its existing offices, strategies and structures, rather than create anything that would be imposed upon the organization. Ultimately, Morton said that working within the structures of the VA\u2019s existing organization and culture made it easier to demonstrate to leaders and staff why the VEO was so critical to their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re not the office that comes in and says, \u2018You need to do this, that and the other thing.\u2019 We work with our VA siblings and teams that we’re connected with,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Morton collaborated with the Office of Enterprise Integration\u2014which is responsible for developing agencywide VA policy and strategy\u2014to include veterans\u2019 experience metrics and the Veterans Journey Map in the agency\u2019s strategic plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also made sure that the agency\u2019s Senior Executive Service performance plans include a metric related to the customer experience, and also codified customer experience principles in VA regulations as part of the agency\u2019s core values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a higher level, the VEO has also worked to ensure that the customer experience is an official agency priority goal\u2014something set in concert<\/a> with the White House every two years. Morton said the strategy has helped \u201ckeep the VA on the hook\u201d for emphasizing the customer experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with the Office of Management and Budget, she and her team also led the President\u2019s Management Agenda priority goal of improving customer experience with federal services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These strategies helped bake what many had seen as an abstract concept or idea into VA operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe knew in the early days that people weren\u2019t necessarily enamored with this office, so we just started planting and sprinkling the seeds everywhere by collaborating with our VA brothers and sisters and bringing the abstract concepts of customer experience from ideas to tangibles,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood ideas are great, but we had to operationalize CX at VA by hardwiring and anchoring it into the mechanisms of government and by delivering concrete tools, products and capabilities that demonstrated measurable impact to veterans and their supporters.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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From the story:<\/strong> Why was it important for Morton and her team to understand and work within the confines of the VA\u2019s existing processes and organizational structure?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For reflection<\/strong>: In what ways have you observed government leaders effectively building transparency and accountability into the operating systems of the agency as Morton did?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For action:<\/strong> How might you strengthen accountability by planting seeds that root themselves into your organization\u2019s key processes, strategies, reporting systems and regular planning?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThat\u2019s what the data is telling us\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Morton also demonstrated the office\u2019s immediate impact by seizing upon opportunities to use new qualitative and quantitative data, including human-centered design, to better understand the needs of all veterans. These insights lent further credence to the idea that the VEO had no intention of imposing itself upon the VA and its subcomponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe met everybody where they were and offered the perspective of, \u2018Hey, here’s what human-centered design and other experience data is telling us and these are the unique capabilities VEO can offer to support your mission,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using the Veterans Experience Journey Map<\/a>\u2014a foundational document that helps visualize and tell the story about how the VA fits into the life journeys of veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors\u2014Morton and her team recently developed the agency\u2019s first women veteran\u2019s health journey map<\/a> and its first tribal veterans journey map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done dozens of journey maps for specific veteran cohorts that have allowed us to dive deeper and deeper into the customer experience, understanding the moments that matter most to them, the bright spots and the pain points to address,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The VEO has also used the maps to hold the VA accountable to design plans with the explicit goal of better serving veterans. For example, Morton said that the office has mapped VA Secretary Denis McDonough\u2019s larger strategic goals onto the journey map to show how his priorities align with the agency\u2019s customer experience work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have been able to elevate customer experience as a co-equal measure of our performance and that has been really transformational,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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From the story:<\/strong> How does Morton use the VA\u2019s listening strategy to build support and credibility for her team\u2019s work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For reflection:<\/strong> What are key pieces of information your agency needs to understand about its customers and how might you start to access this information? What kind of customer, operations or performance data exists in your field? When have you seen it used to enhance decisions and outcomes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For action: <\/strong>What would a journey map look like for your customers? Are there specific communities among your customer base for whom you might develop specialized journey maps to ensure that you are best representing all possible customers?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cResearch to insight to program to impact\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Morton and her team also took advantage of eagerness and like-minded thinking within the Veterans Health Administration to use journey mapping to understand how patients experience VHA medical services. She said this work emblemized her team\u2019s opportunistic approach to making an impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe recognized strategic opportunities with like-minded thinkers, grabbed them and then connected them to our mission\u2014even if we didn\u2019t anticipate them initially,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This human-centered design research yielded a surprising finding: Among the biggest frustrations veterans shared that they faced was navigating large and complex physical space of VA facilities and hospitals\u2014a moment that would not naturally appear on a traditional operational performance dashboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Morton and her team worked with the VHA to brand and scale the nationwide Red Coat Ambassador Program<\/a>. Today, veterans entering any VA medical center are greeted by volunteers who offer directions so that veterans can find the service provider or resource they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the program launched in 2018, ease of navigation scores have increased by 4% on post-service surveys\u2014a significant jump given the 9 million veterans the VHA serves each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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