The bipartisan leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have challenged OPM’s proposal allow a reduction in the required government-wide questions on the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey from 45 to 11, saying that while some questions could be improved, OPM’s plan is “drastic” and “unnecessary.”
The plan would not affect the 2017 survey but would allow “future administrations to eliminate questions not mandated by regulation. Should OPM stop asking key survey questions in the future, it interferes with our ability to compare future employee responses to historical trends,” they said in a letter to OPM.
“The proposed rule may also have unintended consequences for agency performance. Understanding employee satisfaction has a corresponding effect on understanding barriers to increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the federal bureaucracy. It is difficult to address shortcomings related to agency performance without data about employees’ engagement and satisfaction,” it adds.
Results from the survey are used in congressional hearings into agency operations, and in particular have been the grounds for examination of two major agencies historically rated at the bottom end in many measures, DHS and VA, the letter notes.
The survey also is used by agencies in setting internal workforce initiatives, by OPM in tracking overall measures of engagement, satisfaction and inclusiveness, and in the Partnership for Public Service’s annual report on the best places to work in government.