Federal Manager's Daily Report

One aspect of the Best Places to Work analysis focuses on how federal agencies compare to private sector companies in similar measures, reaching this conclusion: “When it comes to employee satisfaction with their jobs and workplaces, the private-sector far outpaces the federal government.”

It said a comparable index, based on 1.5 million employee responses to surveys in more than 100 organizations, puts the private sector’s score at 76.7 compared with the government’s 58.1.

The biggest difference in 13 directly comparable questions is one of resources, with under half of federal employees satisfied that they have the resources to do their jobs properly, compared with 71 percent in the private sector. The smallest gap, only 5 points, involved whether employees feel their supervisors listen to them.

While about two-thirds of employees in each sector agree that their performance reviews are fair, only 44 percent of federal employees believe they are recognized for high quality work, compared with 73 percent.

Said the report: “Many organizations in both the private and public sectors are reevaluating how they assess and promote high performance. There is growing evidence that frequent and constructive feedback from managers can be more helpful, motivating, and engaging for employees than annual performance reviews. These trends, along with our findings of big differences on feedback and recognition, suggest that federal agencies should consider new ways to improve performance conversations between managers and employees, and to honor employees for outstanding work.”