Pension & Health Benefits Committee
California Public Employees’ Retirement System
Agenda Item 10
April 17, 2012
ITEM NAME:
Workload Inventory
PROGRAM:
Customer Services and Support
ITEM TYPE:
Information
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A fundamental objective of the mylCalPERS system is to improve service to ourmembers and employers and generate greater efficiencies in the realm of businessprocessing across the organization. However, the launch of mylCalPERS hasimpacted processing time frames within the Customer Service and Support (CSS)Branch. Some areas within CSS have maintained processing at close to pre-launchlevels while other areas have seen a decrease in processing. In some cases, theprocessing degradation has resulted in a large inventory of work items and/orbacklogged items. This report will cover the current processing gaps and processinggains while highlighting the amount of work staff is and will be engaged in to mitigatethe impact of the gaps, reduce inventory, and eliminate backlogs.
BACKGROUND
After six months of processing within mylCalPERS some CSS areas are alreadyreaping the benefits of improved business processing efficiencies, allowing staff tobetter serve CalPERS customers and stakeholders. In other areas, businessprocesses are not yet operating at optimum levels due to needed improvements tosystem design and functionality. This resulted in slower processing time frameswhich led to the formation of large inventories and backlogs. With a systemtransformation of this magnitude we anticipated the increase of inventories andbacklogs. We also anticipated the reduction of those inventories and backlogs wouldbe an on-going effort as staff become familiar with the system and systemenhancements are applied. A considerable portion of the inventories were amassedduring the weeks and months prior to mylCalPERS launch, as areas were unable toprocess work items due to system conversion activities.For discussion purposes, an inventory is the number of work items an area has on-hand which can be completed within the established service level. Whereas, abacklog represents the number of work items an area has on hand that cannot becompleted within the established service level. In March 2012, improved reportingcapabilities enabled us to capture production information, identify trends, and projectproductivity output.
ANALYSIS
Areas within CSS able to sustain, nearly sustain, or make significant improvementsin business processing efficiencies since the launch of mylCalPERS include:retirement benefit estimates, disability retirement determinations, refunds, direct
Agenda Item 10Pension & Health Benefits CommitteeApril 17, 2012Page 2 of 11deposit processing, compensation review, payroll processing, and service retirementapplication processing.Prior to launch, the Retirement Benefit Estimates Unit had an established servicelevel of processing 100 percent of estimates within 30 days of receipt. Post launch,this area has been able to utilize system functionality and sustain the monthlyworkload they receive. At the beginning of March 2012, the Retirement BenefitEstimates Unit had an inventory of 6,431 requests, but of those, only 55 work itemsare older than 30 days and are considered backlog items. Staff within the unit areactively working the 55 backlogged cases. The Retirement Benefit Estimate Unit isexpected to increase their productivity when future changes are applied to thesystem. The changes will allow staff to release a greater number of estimateswithout manually checking the data for accuracy.The inventory within the Disability Retirement Unit is keeping pace with pre-launchlevels. Prior to mylCalPERS this area had an established service level, which theywere able to regularly achieve, of completing 70 percent of determinations madewithin six months of receiving the necessary documentation. In February, this areawas able to reach their target percentage (70%) for disability retirementdeterminations. Currently, they have approximately 1,200 cases on hand undergoingprocessing and/or review for determination. Out of those cases, 300 are local safetycases for which CalPERS does not make the determination, and 300 cases areawaiting further documentation. Additionally, we have been working on systemfunctionality which will allow service retirements pending approved disabilityretirements to be moved onto the disability retirement roll. There are approximately500 of these cases which are considered backlogged items.Prior to launch, the Refunds Unit had an established service level of completing 100percent of refunds within 30 days of receipt. In the post launch environment this areahas been able to efficiently process refunds in mylCalPERS (over 97%). TheRefunds Unit was able to process all requests received in February 2012, and at thewriting of this agenda item, their oldest request was two weeks old.In terms of processing direct deposit requests, in February 2012, the direct depositrequest inventory reached approximately 20,000 requests with an average of 6,000new requests received on a monthly basis. In March 2012, the development ofsystem generated workload management reports and a focused overtime projecteffort significantly reduced the inventory. At the end of March 2012, the inventory ofdirect deposit requests was 4,500, of which 3,000 were backlogged items. BeforeMay 2012, we expect to eliminate the backlog inventory and will be processingrequests within our expected service target of 50 days within receipt.Since February 2012, the Compensation Review Unit reduced their total inventoryby 43 percent from 2,868 compensation review items to 1,632 items. This reduction
Agenda Item 10Pension & Health Benefits CommitteeApril 17, 2012Page 3 of 11in inventory can be attributed to system changes and operational efficienciesidentified by staff.The Payroll Processing Units recently made significant progress relating to thesubmission of payroll. In February 2012, there were 220 direct payroll reporters whowere non-compliant in submitting their payroll report in mylCalPERS. As of mid-March 2012, the number of non-compliant business partners was reduced to 110.This reduction was the result of a communication and outreach effort conducted bystaff as part of an effort to improve operational efficiencies. The Payroll ProcessingUnits anticipate making further strides as our business partners become morefamiliar with mylCalPERS.Prior to launch, the Benefit Services Division (BNSD) processed approximately 100percent of service retirement applications within 30 days of the retirement effectivedate. Post launch, BNSD is processing nearly 90 percent of all retirementapplications within 40 days of the member’s retirement date when the membersubmits an application 90 days in advance of their retirement date. At the writing ofthis item this area had an inventory of 4,352 service retirement applications. Ofthose, 190 were considered backlogged items. Service retirement applications whichcannot be processed in a timely manner are generally delayed due to compensationissues which require additional review, payroll reporting issues, members who donot apply 90 days in advance of retirement, or administrative hold conditionsrequiring detailed analysis. Applications for service retirement which are not subjectto a constraint can be processed timely and efficiently in mylCalPERS.Other areas within CSS have been unable to sustain pre-launch service levelsleading to the formation of large inventories and backlogs. Where processing gapsexist, staff has been diligently working to provide the best possible customer serviceto our members and employers. Areas experiencing difficulties have been usingmitigation techniques, such as working with project developers to troubleshootsystem issues, using overtime allotments as needed, and collaborating with othersections of the Branch to ensure they have relevant system information.Areas where large backlogs exist include the following: 1) payroll driven retirementadjustments; 2) post-retirement death benefit cases; and, 3) service creditpurchases. We have prepared the information below which relates to theinventories/backlogs and the mitigation efforts which are taking place. We have alsoprepared information relating to the Customer Contact Center (CCC) (item 4 below)as the inventories and backlogs discussed have a direct impact on call volumes. Thedata and projections shared are based on the most current and best availableinformation and may need to be adjusted in future months based on realizedefficiencies and business events.
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