The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is now releasing data from the 2016 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. The initial data show which federal agencies have the happiest overall employees as well as the most engaged. OPM said it plans to release more data from the survey in October.
First, some definitions:
OPM says that the Global Satisfaction Index “measures job, organizational, and pay satisfaction, as well as whether or not an employee would recommend their agency as a good place to work.”
It defines employee engagement as a model based on three factors: leaders lead, supervisors, and intrinsic work experience. Employees who say that “leaders lead,” for instance, would say, “In my organization, senior leaders generate high levels of motivation and commitment in the workforce.”
And with respect to supervisors, employees who are more engaged would say things like, “My supervisor listens to what I have to say” or “My supervisor treats me with respect.”
With those concepts in mind, here is a breakdown of how federal agencies scored on both employee engagement and global satisfaction.
Note that the salary data listed are from the latest available data for each agency from FedsDataCenter.com and are not part of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey results. Coincidentally or not, the agencies with the highest salaries often finish near the top of each category measured.
Global Satisfaction
Top Five Agencies
| Agency | Score | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Office of Management and Budget | 79% | $120,632 |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | 78% | $118,499 |
| Securities and Exchange Commission | 77% | $173,587 |
| Federal Energy Regulatory Commission | 76% | $115,890 |
| Federal Trade Commission | 74% | $123,860 |
Bottom Five Agencies
| Agency | Score | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| National Labor Relations Board | 61% | $103,974 |
| Department of the Treasury | 60% | N/A |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | 58% | $117,846 |
| National Archives and Records Administration | 57% | $67,679 |
| Small Business Administration | 56% | $86,061 |
Employee Engagement
Top Five Agencies
| Agency | Score | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Trade Commission | 82% | $123,860 |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | 80% | $118,499 |
| Office of Management and Budget | 78% | $120,632 |
| Federal Energy Regulatory Commission | 77% | $115,890 |
| Nuclear Regulatory Commission | 74% | $122,158 |
Bottom Five Agencies
| Agency | Score | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Department of the Interior | 63% | N/A |
| Small Business Administration | 63% | $86,061 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | 62% | $117,846 |
| Broadcasting Board of Governors | 56% | $101,198 |
| Department of Homeland Security | 56% | $115,153* |
* DHS Headquarters
The Department of Homeland Security gets special mention because its secretary, Jeh Johnson, released a statement today touting the improvement in the agency’s results. Johnson noted that after six years of declining scores, the agency finally posted higher scores, going from 53% last year to 56% this year. While true, it still ranked dead last in the list OPM published, so apparently the agency still has some work to do.
“This is no anomaly,” said Johnson. “It is regarded by OPM as statistically significant, and compares favorably to the 1% increase across the entire U.S. government. This increased morale at DHS was the result of some very hard work, and is the largest increase of any Cabinet Department our size. Hopefully, these improved results are the beginning of a new, upward trend.”
There were a total of 407,789 responses to the survey this year, down from 421,748 last year. Employee engagement overall was 65% and the global satisfaction score was 61%; both are 1% higher than last year’s scores.
