The Office of Personnel Management announced this week that it will begin polling federal workers next year about their work-life balance and priorities.
OPM already administers the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey each year to get feedback from its workforce, and this new survey is part of an initiative to better understand federal employees’ work-life needs and priorities.
OPM’s acting director Beth Cobert said in a memorandum announcing the new survey that it is being developed as put forth in a presidential memorandum from June 2014 on workplace flexibility. She also said that it is part of an effort to “develop and sustain an engaged, innovative and productive Federal workforce” and that OPM is working to “attract, empower and retain a talented and productive workforce to better serve the American people.”
As to how the data gathered by the new survey will be used, Cobert said this in her memo:
The data collected will also help individual agencies understand their employees’ work-life needs and priorities, allowing senior leaders and managers to make evidence-based decisions about investments in these programs. Furthermore, OPM will analyze the Governmentwide results to identify and share high-performing programs, common barriers and recommendations to create a culture and work environment that supports the productive and efficient use of work-life programs.
According to the memo, the new survey will be administered in early 2017.
