Reform scores big with feds

Federal employees' overall job satisfaction is on a par with private-sector

workers but is particularly strong among feds who work for agencies that

have made "reinventing government" a priority, according to the results

of a new federal employee survey released last week.

Vice President Al Gore's National Partnership for Reinventing Government

and the Office of Personnel Management sponsored the survey, which was designed

to help agencies assess employee satisfaction and the extent to which the

reinventing government approach has taken hold in their organizations.

The results show how important the reinventing government program is

to creating a work force that is "motivated, satisfied and interested in

staying at work," said Morley Winograd, director of the reinvention partnership.

Based on the survey, 84 percent of federal employees who said they believe

reinvention is a priority in their offices said they are satisfied with

their jobs. That number is almost triple the 31 percent satisfaction rate

of employees who said they do not believe their offices make reinventing

government a priority.

The survey responses showed that overall job satisfaction in the federal

government — 60 percent favorable — is about the same as for private business.

But federal employees give lower ratings to their immediate supervisors

and to the quality of work produced in their units.

On average, 59 percent of employees said they have electronic access

to data needed to do their jobs. NASA, the Food and Drug Administration

and the Administration for Children and Families ranked high in this category.

Employees expressed the greatest dissatisfaction with how employee performance

is measured. Two out of three employees believe reward is based on something

other than merit.

"All of the low scorers are around questions of performance, being a

leader, what it means by performance, recognizing good performance and dealing

with underperformers," Winograd said. The message from employees is, ""Get

going on this stuff. You're not getting it right,'" he said.