As you are well aware, the Department’s mission is focused on serving others - either by caring for our natural resources, meeting our trust responsibilities to native people, providing timely data and information, or responding to public inquiries. We need to recognize employees and contractors who are making a difference by listening to our customers and finding ways to improve our information, products and services. Effective this date, I have established a new awards program within the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Customer Service Excellence Award will provide well-deserved recognition to teams and individuals who are providing exceptional service to our customers, partners, and stakeholders.

 

The Customer Service Excellence Award program will be officially announced at our 60th Honor Award Convocation in October 2000. With this memorandum, I am pleased to announce that the first of these awards goes to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Customer Forum. This working group serves as an outstanding example of a successful partnership across the Department. Through it, we have shared experiences, ideas, and lessons learned for improving customer service, and have found ways to spotlight our innovative programs and projects. And we strengthened relationships with other agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In fact, the DOI Customer Forum is currently working with the EPA to co-sponsor a National Customer Service Conference in November.

Time will not permit me to recognize each recipient of the Customer Service Excellence Award at our October convocation. I hope you will join me now in thanking the following Forum members:

 

Office of the Secretary:

Norma Campbell
John Mahoney

 

 

National Business Center:

Al Camacho
Susan Leonard
Lynne Price

 

 

Minerals Management Service:

Angela Cummings
Terry Holman

 

 

Bureau of Land Management:

Andrew Goldsmith
John Kerwyn Keith

 

 

Bureau of Indian Affairs:

Lydia Stampley
Jeannine Brooks

 

 

Bureau of Reclamation:

Carmen Maymi
Janice Johnson
Kent Higgins

 

 

Office of Surface Mining:

JoAnn Schneider
Angela Herring

 

 

National Park Service:

Brian Forist

 

 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

Karen Malkin

 

 

U.S. Geological Survey:

Sheri Harris
Mike McDermott

 

 

A description of the Department’s Customer Service Excellence Award program is attached [see previous page].  Our Human Resources office will be adding this guidance to the Departmental Manual for future reference. I ask that each of you implement the award program within your bureaus and offices beginning on November 1, 2000.