SES members fed up with slackers

An overwhelming majority of Senior Executive Service members are proud of the work they do but many are fed up with the slackers in their agency, according to a new survey.

The Office of Personnel and Management’s new report polling nearly 5,000 reveals some of the strengths and challenges facing today’s Senior Executive Service members. Overall, the respondents were optimistic about the career path they had chosen:

• 94 percent said they were proud to be a member of the Senior Executive Service.
• 93 percent said their work gives them a sense of personal accomplishment.
• 92 percent said they are held accountable for achieving results.

However, the survey wasn’t all good news. Federal agencies continue to struggle with poor performers, and only 28 percent of the SES respondents said their organization deals effectively with executives who don’t do their part. It may not be coincidental that 92 percent of the respondents. said pay should be based on performance.

The Federal Labor Relations Authority topped the list of organizations that respondents said do the best job of weeding out the layabouts. Still, just 11.1 percent of respondents said they “strongly agree” that their own agencies are dealing with slackers.

The survey findings also indicated that fewer SES members were satisfied with pay and recognition in 2011 compared to the 2008 survey, something the report stated was “unsurprising” given the current pay freeze.