U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

2006 Federal Human Capital Survey Results

OPM recently announced the results of the Federal Human Capital Survey, which is a means of gauging employee perceptions as well as the management challenges facing the Federal Government and its civilian workforce. More than 221,000 employees participated in the 2006 Survey, more than double the number of the first such Survey conducted by OPM in 2002.

The most recent Survey shows the capacity and commitment of Federal employees is high: fully 90% of Survey respondents believe their work is important; 83% know how their work relates to agency goals and priorities and 83% say their co-workers cooperate to get the job done. Many of the improvements made over the past four years have been sustained or solidified.

The nation’s civil servants expressed satisfaction with the benefits they receive: 88% are satisfied with their paid vacation, and 86% say they’re satisfied with paid leave for illness, including family care.

The Survey also includes results which indicate continued efforts are necessary. Many Federal employees still do not believe high performance is properly recognized, nor that steps are taken to deal with poor performers. Only 49% say they’re satisfied with recognition for doing a good job; 39% say creativity and innovation are rewarded; 22% see a link between performance and pay raises and 29% believe steps are taken to deal with a poor performer who cannot or will not improve

With these results in hand –along with the agency-by-agency results we will release on
Tuesday, January 30, 2007– OPM and our fellow Federal agencies are committed to working together to identify and implement necessary program and/or policy changes. The follow-up work ahead of us fits hand-in-glove with the President’s Management Agenda, which is about promoting a culture of achievement throughout the Federal Government.

I invite you to examine the complete set of Governmentwide Survey results, which can be viewed at www.fhcs2006.opm.gov.

Linda M. Springer