Federal employees’ opinions of their agencies and management continue to fall, the survey found, with satisfaction with the organization now down to 55 percent and only 62 percent saying they would recommend the organization as a place to work—both down seven points over three years.
The government-wide results mirror results that had trickled out from several major departments previously, including DoD, DHS and VA in the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, to which about 400,000 employees responded earlier this year.
Views of management tend to decline as the level of supervision rises. For example, 69 percent believe their immediate supervisor is doing a good job, 75 percent say their supervisor listens to what they have to say and 80 percent say their supervisor treats them with respect—all nearly or exactly unchanged since 2011.
Fifty-six percent say the manager directly above their immediate supervisor is doing a good job, down two points. But only 50 percent now say their organization’s senior leaders maintain high standards of honesty and integrity, and the same percentage say they have a high level of respect for senior leaders, in each case down seven points over that period and four points just since 2013.
Other areas of less than 50 percent positive response include employee feelings of personal empowerment; recognition for producing high quality products or services; rewards for innovation and creativity; the linkage between performance and pay and rewards; opportunity for advancement; involvement in decisions that impact their work. Those all have declined virtually across the board, as well.
One final indicator of the workplace’s mood is that only 38 percent believe the survey itself will be used to make their agency a better place to work, down from 45 percent in 2011.
The report is here: http://www.fedview.opm.gov/2014files/2014_Governmentwide_Management_Report.PDF
