Get a Life!: Survey shows change

Lots of talk these days about change. The Merit Systems Protection Board, which has been surveying federal employees on merit principles over the past 25 years, is identifying some changes that have occurred in employee views over time.  

In an upcoming report, the MSPB will describe trends by comparing employee impressions in surveys about supervision, fairness, recognition, job satisfaction, discrimination and prohibited personnel practices.  

Early results show that the greatest change in view has been about pay satisfaction.  While only 28 percent of respondents expressed satisfaction with their pay in 1989, 60 percent were satisfied in 2005, an increase of 32 percentage points.

On the other hand, one view has not changed:  In 1996, only about 55 percent of employees thought their opinions count, about the same percentage that have that impression today.

Other improvements include:
•    Employees recommending government as a place to work, up 27 percentage points since 1989
•    Employees agreeing that performance standards are fair, up 22 percentage points, and that rewards are based on merit, up16 percentage points, since 1992.

Still, areas remain where improvement is still needed.  The view from employees that they need more training is up 16 percentage points, reflecting job demands for more technical knowledge and decreased training budgets.  


Judy Welles