News and Updates

Recent initiatives and projects led by the Office of Customer Experience

USDA Blogs

• Two-Year Anniversary of Customer Experience Executive Order: USDA Celebrates Customer Experience Efforts

USDA CARES Initiative

The Office of Customer Experience (OCX) worked with stakeholders across the Department to launch USDA CARES, an initiative to collaborate with USDA partners, act on what is heard, rebuild trust, empower underserved communities and strengthen partnerships through improved access to resources. This initiative acts on USDA’s commitment to advance equitable access to USDA programs and services. USDA CARES is comprised of multiple resources that directly address partners’ needs and requests, gathered through research.

With our partners’ needs in mind, OCX designed three new resources under the USDA CARES Initiative, intended to advance equity by making it easier to access critical USDA resources and program information:

• A training module (learn more about accessing AgLearn here) and informational video that clearly communicates USDA’s vision, the distinct missions of its various agencies, the programs and services they provide, and customer diversity.
• The Partner Portal: a digital collection of resources designed to help partners access the information and tools that are most relevant to their work all in one place.
• The Key Programs Catalog: a resource detailing several popular USDA services and programs organized in a clear way to help USDA partners serve their communities.

USDA Telework Survey

In March 2021, Secretary Tom Vilsack pledged to look at workplace flexibilities across the board. To re-envision USDA’s workplace into one informed by our values of trust, respect, equity, inclusion, and service, the Office of Customer Experience engaged with diverse group – employees, supervisors, senior leadership, labor unions, and advisory groups – to design and launch a survey that carefully considers the needs and unique perspectives of employees.

To learn more, please view the Results of the Telework Survey (PDF, 14.8 MB). The report highlights key areas we must focus on to improve our efficiency, culture, and morale.