While many agencies fared poorly in at least some areas, and some much more than others, the Departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Interior and DHS ranked near or at the bottom on most or all of the categories tracked, with DHS once again struggling the most.
Agriculture, VA, Interior, and DHS all had less than 57 percent of their workforces say they were satisfied with work / life balance, and less than 53 percent said there is effective leadership in their agencies.
Less than 53 percent said they were satisfied within the broad category strategic management. For the rankings, strategic management measures whether managers ensure employees have the necessary skills and abilities, are successful at hiring new employees and work to achieve goals with targeted personnel strategies and performance management.
Not more than 41.4 percent of employees at all four agencies were satisfied with performance based awards and advancement. This category rated perhaps the worst among all those tracked, ranging from 59.8 percent at the top (NASA), down to 35.8 percent at DHS. In past surveys, including those carried out by OPM performance based awards and advancement have suffered from the perception that they are driven by favoritism.
By contrast, the category of alternative work and employee support programs were rated relatively highly, with the lowest score of 69.7 percent at VA. Even within this category, scores for every agency either remained flat or declined, and by as much as 7.4 percent within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, Defense Agencies, and Department of Defense Field Activities.
Agriculture, VA, Interior, and DHS also were among the lowest rated for training and development, with at most 58.2 percent or employees satisfied in that area.