Tag: Partnership for Public Service

Federal Employee Morale Hits Record Low

Federal Employee Morale Hits Record Low

Posted: 12/17/2013 11:59 pm EST  |  Updated: 12/18/2013 11:07 am EST

WASHINGTON — Budget cuts and forced furloughs have taken a toll on federal workers, with job satisfaction at a record low in a new government-wide survey.

“We are dismantling the capability of our government by the way it’s being managed, and the people in government are giving that message back. … It should be really worrisome to anyone who cares about our country,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, which produced a report on the survey.

The Office of Personnel Management surveys workers across the government annually about their satisfaction at work. This year, nearly 400,000 people participated from April through June, just as sequestration’s furloughs were hitting many workers.

Using the data compiled by OPM, PPS and the consulting firm Deloitte issued their annual “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” report Wednesday, finding “troubling” responses. Continue reading “Federal Employee Morale Hits Record Low”

Former Budget Chief, On Why It Can Be Tough to Work for Government

Former Budget Chief, On Why It Can Be Tough to Work for Government

Former Budget Director Peter Orszag
Former Budget Director Peter Orszag Lauren Victoria Burke/AP File Photo

Peter Orszag quit his government job. For three and a half years, he ran two federal budget agencies, and in 2010, he defected to Wall Street. Even though he thinks the government desperately needs more smart people, he has deep empathy for those who flee to the private sector.

“In a hyperpolarized environment in which we effectively have a bipolar Congress with no middle, there are just much smaller returns to being in government,” he said during an interview with The Atlantic’s Steve Clemons on Wednesday. Because of this, smart people working in business see less appeal in taking a pay cut and moving to Washington. “What would excite many of the people I know about being in government would be the opportunity to actually do things, rather than just lob grenades at each other,” he said. Continue reading “Former Budget Chief, On Why It Can Be Tough to Work for Government”

Majority of Feds Don’t Believe Agencies Will Reward or Promote Them

Majority of Feds Don’t Believe Agencies Will Reward or Promote Them

Home-lab/Shutterstock.com

Less than half of federal employees believe they will be rewarded or promoted for doing a good job, according to a new analysis.

Forty-three percent, or four out of every 10 federal workers, said they thought they would receive performance-based awards or better job opportunities at their agencies, the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and consulting firm Deloitte found. The data gauging employees’ perceptions of awards and promotions, based on the Partnership’s 2012 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government, reveal that it has been the survey’s lowest-rated category since 2005. The 2012 score is 2.5 points lower than the 2011 score.

“The results are unsettling,” the report said.

The analysis was based on six questions from the Office of Personnel Management’s 2012 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. They related to employee perceptions of fairness in performance evaluations, rewards and recognition for good work, creativity and innovation, merit-based promotions and opportunities for employees to move up within an agency. Of those questions, respondents gave the highest marks to the quality of performance evaluations, with 67 percent of employees saying they believed their reviews were fair. Continue reading “Majority of Feds Don’t Believe Agencies Will Reward or Promote Them”

Leaders fear sequester’s impact on recruitment, retention, service

Leaders fear sequester’s impact on recruitment, retention, service

May. 6, 2013 – 05:44PM   |
By STEPHEN LOSEY   |
Dan Tangherlini, acting head of the General Services Administration, says recruitment challenges will make it difficult for his agency to renew and revitalize its leadership ranks.Dan Tangherlini, acting head of the General Services Administration, says recruitment challenges will make it difficult for his agency to renew and revitalize its leadership ranks. (Thomas Brown/Federal Times)

The constant drumbeat of bad news and poor morale in the government is hurting recruitment and retention of mid- and upper-level employees at the General Services Administration, acting administrator Dan Tangherlini said Monday.

“We still have many, many more people who want to come work for us than we have [entry-level] opportunities,” Tangherlini said at a Public Service Recognition Week town hall sponsored by the Partnership for Public Service. “It’s really in midlevel retention, and mid- and upper-level recruitment, where we have people saying, ‘I’m not sure I want to make those sacrifices.’ ” Continue reading “Leaders fear sequester’s impact on recruitment, retention, service”

Federal Workers’ Job Satisfaction in Freefall

Federal Workers’ Job Satisfaction in Freefall

By , About.com GuideDecember 18, 2012

Robert Longley

Back in February, all 1.8 million federal government employees were given a chance to rate their job satisfaction. The results were disturbing, as the overall job satisfaction and level of commitment of the federal workforce fell its lowest point since 2003.

In 2011, 64 out of every 100 federal employees said they were satisfied with their jobs. As we near the end of 2012, and the third year of the pay freeze imposed by President Obama in 2010, that number has fallen to 60.8 out of 100. The 5% drop is the largest in the history of the survey. At the same time, the Hay Group reported that employee satisfaction in the private sector remained steady, with a score of 70 out of 100. Continue reading “Federal Workers’ Job Satisfaction in Freefall”

%d bloggers like this: