Good news and bad news for federal employees.
The good news is that 90 percent of them believe their work is important, according to the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey in which 400,000 federal employees — or half the federal workforce — participated. The Office of Personnel Management, which conducted the survey, reported that 50 percent more employees took part in the survey and that 75 percent of the responses were more positive than in last year's survey.
It's less clear, though, how to judge the level of engagement. According to the survey, 64 percent of employees are "engaged," according to a set of criteria devised by the OPM, which measures each employee's "dedication, persistence and effort" on the job. That figure has remained relatively flat over the past four years. Engagement did not differ substantially between experience levels or age.
The survey also sought to understand employee thoughts on a number of recently-implemented programs intended to help federal workers achieve a better work-life balance.
The most popular program is an alternative work scheduling initiative that allows workers to compress or spread out their work to accommodate non-work duties. But by most popular, that means only 38 percent of federal employees take advantage of the program or have jobs that allow them to ask for less rigid hours.
Those who do work on flexible schedules appear to greatly appreciate it, however. Eighty-nine percent of participants give the program a positive rating. Wellness initiatives, which for federal employees include exercise programs, medical screenings and smoking cessation programs, also earned high marks, with 80 percent of employees rating them positively.
About a third (31 percent) of federal employees telework at least sometimes. Those who do are more likely to be engaged than those who don't (69 percent versus 62 percent) and 78 percent of those who telework are satisfied with the program.
Programs that earned lower ratings included child care (72 percent) and elder care (66 percent), including support groups and speakers who speak to issues of aging.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.