Reform scores big with feds
Federal employees' overall job satisfaction is on a par with privatesector 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.
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.
NEXT STORY: Figuring taxes on your mutual fund sales