Demographic Perspectives
While government- and organization-wide numbers can tell us a lot about the federal workforce, they do not provide a complete picture. To offer both federal leaders and job candidates a fuller view, the Partnership for Public Service and the Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation provide Best Places 2009 results across several demographic groups.
Closing the Gap
Previous iterations of Best Places have identified gaps in employee satisfaction along gender and age lines. In the 2009 rankings, those gaps have essentially been eliminated. In 2007, women (62.5) enjoyed a marginally higher satisfaction index than men (61.4). That gap, which was small to begin with, has been cut by more than half, down to 0.5 points.
In 2007, under-40 federal workers had an index score that was 1.7 points higher than their older counterparts. The gap between those two cohorts no longer exists. While the index score for younger workers was essentially static over the past two years, the rating for 40 and over workers improved by 2.9 percent. In 2009, both groups now have an index score of 63.3.
Among racial/national origin groups, gaps remain. Employees who classify themselves as Asian were most satisfied (67.3, four points above the government-wide average of 63.3), followed by Hispanic or Latino (65.1), Black (64.5), White (63.5), American Indian (61.3) and multi-racial (55.7). Although federal employees who report two or more races have the lowest employee satisfaction scores among the five demographic groups, they also had the biggest improvement, up 7.4 percent since 2007.
Looking Closer at Individual Agencies
With parity government-wide between the index scores for men and women, it shouldn’t be surprising that most individual agencies reveal a negligible gender gap. Only three of 29 large agencies which provided demographic data had a difference of more than four points between men and women. The largest gap is at the Department of Transportation, where the index score is 9.3 points higher for women. Female employees at the National Archives also appear to be more satisfied by 4.8 points compared with their male coworkers. The Securities and Exchange Commission is the one agency where males’ overall satisfaction index scores are considerably higher than females’ scores – a 6.2 point difference.
When considering age, the story is a bit more interesting. Even though there is literally zero difference across government between the government-wide index scores of workers under 40 and over 40, younger workers tend to be slightly more satisfied at most agencies. At 22 of 29 large agencies where data are available, young people are more satisfied, but by very narrow margins. While there are only seven large agencies where the over-40 workers are more satisfied, these gaps exist at some of government’s larger agencies and the differences tend to be much more pronounced. The agencies where over-40 workers are more positive than their younger colleagues are the Department of Housing and Urban Development (+9.3 points), the Department of the Treasury (3.7 points), the Department of Veterans Affairs (3.5 points) and the Department of Transportation (2.8 points).
An analysis of large agencies by race and ethnicity shows that Asians have the highest satisfaction index scores in 12 large agencies, Hispanics in 11, whites in four (Education, National Archives, State, VA) and American Indians in two (HUD and the Social Security Administration). Employees who designated themselves as black or multi-racial did not have the highest index score at any agency.
Model Agencies
Further agency-by-agency analysis reveals that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sets the standard for employee satisfaction across multiple demographic groups. The NRC scored number one among African-Americans, Asians, employees younger than 40, and 40 and older, Hispanics, males, multi-racial individuals, whites and women (tied with the Government Accountability Office).
The only group in which NRC did not claim number one is American Indians who had the highest score at the Social Security Administration.
The Best Places to Work rankings — the most comprehensive and authoritative rating of employee satisfaction and commitment in the federal government — are produced by the Partnership for Public Service and American University's Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation (ISPPI).
