OPM today released the complete Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) results for 2015. The report contains the scores for the three major indices – employee engagement, overall job satisfaction, and workplace inclusion – plus lots of supporting detail from the survey and the trend lines for individual agencies over the past few years.
The report provides a first look at this year’s scores for the New IQ, which is a measure of employees’ sense of inclusion in their workplaces – meaning how fair, open, cooperative, supportive, and empowering they perceive their workplaces to be. The New IQ score rose by 1 percent government-wide to 57 percent. That small but statistically meaningful increase is important because we know that employees who feel a strong sense of inclusion are better performers on the job and contribute more of their talents to the vital public service missions of their agencies.
The New IQ increase also tracks the improvement we saw in the employee engagement and global job satisfaction indices in two earlier releases of the FEVS results in recent weeks. Both engagement and global satisfaction rose by 1 percentage point over 2014, to 64 percent and 60 percent, respectively. The Administration has made improving the government’s workplace culture a priority, and the trend lines reflect that.
When I dove into the full report, I was especially gratified by the progress made by individual agencies. Agency leaders and managers really can make a difference when they use OPM’s data to make meaningful changes that improve work environments. For example, since last year, 30 of the 37 large departments and agencies made gains in their scores measuring global job satisfaction, which includes how satisfied employees are with their jobs, their pay, and their organizations. (OPM recently highlighted the success of one large agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, in boosting its scores.)
It’s clear that some agencies truly excelled in their internal efforts. One small agency, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, made double-digit gains in all three indices. Its engagement score went up by 14 percentage points, its global job satisfaction score by 17 points, and its workplace inclusion index by 12 points.
We asked our colleagues at the board how they did it. They credit better communication, employee recognition programs and greater focus on relationships with senior leaders. Agency managers increased the regularity of staff and all-agency meetings, ensuring that employees got relevant information faster. They also created many opportunities for employees to get together to discuss topics of interest, ranging from pay and performance to dress code guidelines. These events are good opportunities to not only collect valuable employee feedback, but to foster collegiality and closer working relationships. The reaction from employees to these initiatives was overwhelmingly positive and the agency plans to expand the programs.
Finally, I am encouraged by the government-wide results that demonstrate how important our work-life programs are to employees. In 2015, satisfaction with telework increased to 78 percent, up 1 percent from last year. The growth of telework across government continues, and I encourage every agency to consider it as a vital workforce tool. Employees are also just as, if not more, satisfied than last year with their employee assistance programs, alternative work schedules, and health and wellness programs.
All of this is not to say our work is done. There are several areas where agencies continue to focus on making improvements. For example, scores for senior leaders have rebounded somewhat (up 1 percentage point) but still have a ways to go. And employees in a mission critical occupation – IT specialists – post more negative responses on questions related to recruitment, retention and development than employees in other occupations.
Agencies now have senior accountable officials who have been tasked with increasing employee engagement by customizing programs to an agency’s needs and by working closely with the leadership. I know that this, coupled with the focused efforts of leaders and managers throughout government, will help us keep our momentum going.
I want to send a special thanks to every employee who gave feedback in this year’s survey. Their willingness to share their thoughts and concerns is the starting point for change and for an evolution that keeps us moving in the right direction. Federal employees and the public can now explore the 2015 FEVS on their own with OPM’s terrific digital resource, UnlockTalent.gov.
