DHS, which traditionally has been among the lower-scoring agencies in numerous areas including employee satisfaction and views of their agency, likely will rank near the bottom again once the government-wide data are released, judging from the results for that department.
Regarding personal career experience, only 14 percent agreed that pay raises depend on how well employees perform their jobs, only 21 percent agreed that promotions in their workplace are based on merit; only 22 percent that steps are taken to deal with poor performers, only 23 percent that work performance is recognized in a meaningful way, and only 24 percent say that creativity and innovation are rewarded.
Forty-eight percent would recommend their organization as a good place to work.
Views of supervisors were only slightly more positive. Only 55 percent said that discussions with their supervisors are worthwhile, 52 percent said supervisors in their work unit support employee development, and 59 percent said they have trust and confidence in their supervisor. But even those scores far outstripped views of senior leaders: only 26 percent said those leaders generate high levels of motivation and commitment, and only 39 percent said those leaders maintain high standards of honesty and integrity, and a only a similar percentage said they have a high level of respect for them.
In many cases, opinions dropped on the order of 3 or 4 percentage points from 2013 levels.
One result is that overall, only 53 percent of DHS employees are satisfied with their jobs—compared with 66 percent government-wide in the 2013 survey–and only 42 percent are satisfied with their organization—compared with 57 percent.
DHS leadership said in an e-mail to employees that the results are “not good.” It added: “You deserve a workplace that recognizes your efforts, supports your great work, and fulfills your highest aspirations. It is clear from feedback since the creation of this Department that many of you do not feel that you have such a workplace.”