A House committee plans a hearing this week on the annual Best Places to Work report from the Partnership for Public Service, the kind of attention that is far more welcome in some agencies than in others—especially since the panel intends to focus as much on the worst places to work.
The annual report comes out late each year, using data from that year’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and other information, with an emphasis on responses to questions about an employee’s willingness to recommend the organization as a good place to work, overall job satisfaction and overall satisfaction with the organization.
Certain agencies consistently rank especially high or low. Those in the former category trumpet the findings and use them in recruiting pitches, congressional testimony and other forums, while those in the latter commonly experience embarrassment and directives for improvement from top leadership.
Among large agencies, at the top in the most recent report were NASA, the intelligence community, Justice, State and Commerce, and at the bottom were DHS, VA, Army and Treasury. Among mid-sized agencies, at top were FDIC, Peace Corps, GAO, FTC and FERC, and at bottom SBA, Broadcasting Board of Governors, NARA, HUD and Energy. Among small agencies, tops were FMCS, OPIC, FLRA, National Endowment for the Humanities and Surface Transportation Board, while at the bottom were FEC, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Millennium Challenge Corporation and CFTC.
One consistent driver of the rankings that the Oversight and Government Reform Committee likely will explore is the quality of leadership, particularly on issues such as strategic management, teamwork, innovation, training and development, work-life balance, support for diversity, and performance-based rewards and advancement.
Separately, the panel also plans a hearing this week focusing in particular on management at TSA, whose consistently bottom-drawer rankings pull down those of its parent department, DHS.