The Big Picture
It may be tempting to shrug off efforts to ensure that employees are satisfied with their jobs and their federal agencies, but such satisfaction drives employee engagement and ultimately leads to improvements in organizational performance. That’s why it is important to invest in the federal workforce and pay attention to employee viewpoints.
Job Satisfaction Is Improving
The 2010 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings offer the most comprehensive assessment of how federal employees perceive their jobs and agencies, providing unvarnished insights into issues ranging from leadership and pay to teamwork and work-life balance.
The rankings, representing the first in-depth look at the views of federal employees during the Obama administration, reveal good news—an increase in the overall satisfaction with the government workplace. But this positive response is leavened by a wide divergence of opinions about the capability of leadership and the conditions at individual agencies and departments.
The Best Places to Work government-wide employee satisfaction score for 2010 reached an all-time high of 65 out of 100, representing a 2.7 percent increase from 2009 and a 7.4 percent jump from 2003 when our rankings were first published.
Although some federal agencies are lagging behind, 68 percent of federal organizations improved, demonstrating that a determined focus on good management can have a relatively quick and significant impact in the workplace
Agencies at the Top
For the third consecutive time, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ranked first and the Government Accountability Office placed a close second in the Best Places to Work list of 32 large agencies. Perhaps as noteworthy, both agencies improved their scores even though they were already top-ranked. If either had simply maintained their 2009 index score, they would have dropped down the list, suggesting that to stand still is to fall back when it comes to employee satisfaction and commitment.
Agencies Falling Behind
At the other end of the spectrum, the lowest-rated large agency in 2010 was the National Archives and Records Administration, which was second from the bottom in 2009 and dropped a notch in the rankings this year even though it showed a slight improvement in its score. Tied for last place was the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which lost ground as other federal agencies showed improvement. Also falling behind was the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which dropped by 6.4 percent—the second survey in a row that employees downgraded the financial regulator. This represented the largest decrease for large agencies included in the rankings.
Agencies on the Rise
This year, the most improved large federal agencies were the Department of Transportation, which raised its standing among employees by 15.8 percent in large part because of significant improvements at its major subcomponent, the Federal Aviation Administration. The Department of the Treasury also made important progress, increasing its employee satisfaction score by 8.2 percent. Among the small agencies, the Federal Labor Relations Authority improved by a startling 250.4 percent, while the Federal Communications Commission registered a 23.6 percent improvement.
Notable Newcomers
The Smithsonian Institution and the Peace Corps are both brand new to Best Places to Work in 2010, and both organizations produced high employee satisfaction scores. The Smithsonian ranked fourth among large agencies with an overall score of 76.2, while the Peace Corps ranked fifth among the small agencies with a score of 82.8.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was part of the 2007 rankings, but was absent in 2009. It returned in 2010 to place third among the large agencies with an employee satisfaction score of 79.2. Also returning to the rankings after an absence in 2009 was the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which placed fourth among small agencies in 2010 with an overall score of 84.2
Leadership Remains Key Driver
So we know that a broad array of agencies saw their Best Places to Work scores improve significantly. The logical follow-up question is, “How did they do it?”
While many factors are involved in shaping how employees view their workplace, the 2010 survey for the fifth time in a row showed the primary driver in the federal space is effective leadership, and in particular, senior leadership. Two other key factors influencing satisfaction revealed by the analysis were a belief by employees that their skills were well-suited to their agency’s mission and a satisfaction with pay.
Public Sector Lags Private-Sector Counterparts, but the Gap is Closing
Employees in the private sector, meanwhile, continued to be more satisfied with their jobs, organizations and supervisors than their counterparts in the federal government. But the attitudes of federal employees in these three work-related areas are improving, perhaps a reflection of better government management and the economic realities of today’s difficult job market.
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).
