Fedweek

The online-based survey will go to nearly all federal employees, with a deadline of responding within six weeks. OPM expects to start releasing results in October. Image: Nicole Glass Photography/Shutterstock.com

The annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, delayed this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic, will launch soon and will include a new section on the impact of the pandemic on the federal workplace, OPM has said.

It said that the survey—to be administered in two waves, the first of which will begin July 13—will include new questions “that allow identification of ways in which employees continued to achieve missions in the face of an unprecedented pandemic. The addition of the section aligns with Congressional interests and agency requests and will resonate well with respondents.

The survey is “one of the most powerful platforms for federal employees to share their opinions and perceptions regarding work experiences influencing productivity. With the addition of the COVID-19 pandemic section, the survey also provides employees an opportunity to participate in data collection with the potential to shape future policies and interagency learning regarding human capital management in the face of an emergency,” it said.

The online-based survey will go to nearly all federal employees, with a deadline of responding within six weeks. OPM expects to start releasing results in October.

The memo further said that the survey will feature a “streamlined” set of standard items asked each year that are used to measure employee satisfaction, engagement, views of management, and more.

Agencies that rank toward the top in the survey—and in the Partnership for Public Service’s annual report on the best and worst places to work in the government, largely based on the survey—commonly tout their results in recruitment pitches and other forums while those ranking toward the bottom commonly find themselves under increased scrutiny from Capitol Hill and the media.

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