Federal Manager's Daily Report

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The administration has said it plans to conduct additional “pulse” surveys, saying that “As the federal workforce adjusts to the post-pandemic environment, we have a unique, time-sensitive moment to rigorously learn about what enables federal employees to thrive—informing our strategy for decades to come on the future of work.”

A June 30 Federal Register notice from GSA says the administration plans to build on the pilot project of three surveys conducted late in 2021 and early this year. Such surveys have the advantages of a low burden on employees and results being “available for decision making within weeks (or even days), not months” as in the larger Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, it says.

The results will help agencies carry out the President’s Management Agenda and the Learning Agenda “and will identify government-wide issues and priorities and support agency action planning,” it says. Some questions will continue from one survey to the next for comparison purposes while others will be unique and will “evolve based on conditions on the ground.” General topics in the pilot surveys were employee engagement, expectations and concerns regarding return to office plans, and equity and inclusion.

A separate notice the same day said that GSA plans to continue the Mission-Support Customer Satisfaction Survey, which asks employees to rate how satisfied they are with mission-support functions and services, how important specific services are to achieving mission outcomes, and whether a function serves as an effective strategic partner.

The purpose is to help agencies “evaluate functional performance on quality as well as cost”; “compare their performance to other agencies at the agency and bureau level”; and “provide actionable insights for mission-support performance improvement,” it said. That survey typically is sent annually in the spring asking recipients to respond only regarding functions or services they interacted directly with in the previous year.

Both surveys are anonymous and voluntary and go only to employees of CFO Act agencies—the two dozen Cabinet departments and largest independent agencies—which account for all but a few percent of federal employees.

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See also,

Eligibility for FERS Retirement

Your Finances after Retiring from the Federal Government

Your Retirement: A Slope or a Cliff?

FERS Retirement Planning Bundle: 2022 FERS Guide & TSP Handbook