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Employee Communication Mailbox
From Subject Received
Employee 1 Contest for new logo 3/30/00
Employee 2 Suggestion Program 4/4/00
Employee 5 Acronym/Form Book 4/4/00
Employee 12 Business Cards 4/4/00
Employee 20 Opportunity for personnel
to purchase PCs @ discount 4/5/00
Employee 247 Improving Pendency 10/12/00
United States Patent and Trademark Office
December 5-7, 2000
R. Jacqueline Dees
Office of Quality Management
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION MAILBOX (ECM)
Table of Contents
What is the ECM 2
Why develop it 3
Sending messages 4
Finding answers 5
Managing the Information 6
Results 7
ECM and SMART Bonus Program 10
Recommendations 12
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION MAILBOX (ECM) 2
What is the ECM
The ECM
is an additional communication tool for USPTO employees
focuses on USPTO global issues
identifies trends and consistent areas of concern
is not intended to replace existing channels
is not used for resolving personal issues
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION MAILBOX (ECM) 3
Why was it developed
The ECM was developed because of USPTO employee response to the 1998 and 1999 NPR/USPTO survey questions:
1. My opinions seem to count
2. I am satisfied with my involvement in decisions that effect my work
NPR 1998 NPR 1999 USPTO 1998 Question 1 37% satisfied 39% satisfied N/A
Question 2 38% satisfied 43% satisfied 25% satisfied
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION MAILBOX (ECM) 4
How does it work—sending messages
When employees send messages they find the ECM easy to use. The components that facilitate ease of use are:
USPTO e-mail system
Box available for hard copies
Immediate acknowledgement
Simple name and address
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION MAILBOX (ECM) 5
How does it work—finding the answers
Sanitized messages are forwarded from the ECM to the appropriate business area for responses and involve:
USPTO Quality Council Representatives
Specialization and coordination
Three day turn-around goal
Answers from Council Representatives to ECM
ECM forwards answers to employees
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION MAILBOX (ECM) 6
How does it work—managing the information
E-mails are read and processed at least twice daily
Three data bases are maintained
E-mail files
Access data base
Hard copy binders
Weekly reports are provided to the Quality Council
Ad hoc reports are provided to the Executive Committee
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION MAILBOX (ECM) 7
Results
Implemented April 3, 2000
295 Messages as of December 4, consisting of:
Suggestions
Questions
Requests
Concerns
Compliments
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION MAILBOX (ECM) 8
Results (continued)
Some of the suggestions were adopted and have provided new benefits to employees:
Business cards for all employees who need them
Maximum subsidy allotments, if eligibility criteria are met
Designated parking for motorcycles at the new facility
Resolution of parking problem for employees who worked/parked in different buildings
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION MAILBOX (ECM) 9
Results (continued)
Other sugestions provided input that was useful to the leadership for policy decisions resulting in:
Expanded flextime alternatives for employee work schedules
Business casual dress option all year
Suggestions for specific improvements to the Patent and Trademark automated application processing systems
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION MAILBOX (ECM) 10
ECM and SMART Bonus Program
ECM does not
establish the validity of suggestions
determine the monetary value of suggestions
provide compensation for suggestions
publish employee identity without permission
limit its scope to suggestions
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION MAILBOX (ECM) 11
ECM and SMART Bonus Program
SMART Bonus Program does
establish the validity of suggestions
determine the monetary value of suggestions
provide compensation for suggestions that merit it
associate employee identity with the suggestion
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION MAILBOX (ECM) 12
Recommendations for using the ECM
Give the ECM a chance
Try us more than once
Provide feedback on the service you received
Remember we have established extremely challenging and difficult to accomplish timeframes
