Officials of several agencies that either have scored high consistently on employee engagement measures in annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, or that have moved up substantially in that indicator recently, stressed the value of good communications between employees and management—going up to the top of the agency.
In a conference call with reporters regarding the results, a Department of Transportation official said that following its ranking as last among large agencies in the 2008 Best Places to Work report from the Partnership for Public Service, the department set out first to improve internal communication. That includes seeking employee feedback in various settings such as town hall meetings and making sure that when officials travel they spend some time in field offices. The department also created an online suggestion tool that allows employees to suggest idea for office or agency-wide. Employees have submitted 8,400 ideas and agency has implemented more than 100 of them, which shows employees that they are heard, she said.
And an OPM official said that agency also has focused on communications, using town hall meetings, social media and other formats to provide updates on goals and priorities and recognize employee accomplishments. He also cited the agency’s “innovation lab” that encourages agencies to take a team-based approach to problem solving.
Similarly, an SEC official said that improvements in communications helped boost employee engagement there, along with an emphasis on training and giving employees enough resources to do their jobs.
