How Federal Agencies Improve Performance through Job Satisfaction

When you think of the US Federal government working culture, you might think: slow, bureaucratic, hierarchical and male-dominated. However, of the 362 Federal agencies measuring job satisfaction, roughly 33% have increased their scores since 2004 according to the Washington Post. This Deloitte study, The Best Places to Work in Federal Government notes that if agencies focus on employee job satisfaction, then employee performance and top talent recruitment improves.

The site itself is fascinating to browse through, with scores for agencies across ten categories: effective leadership, employee skills/mission match, pay, strategic management, teamwork, training and development, work/life balance, support for diversity, performance based rewards and advancement, alternative work and employee support programs. Agencies are also ranked by size; you can even see how different demographics have ranked the agencies.

So while the startup culture has gained notoriety for creativity and leadership lessons, this set of rankings shows that the government is gaining ground in employee satisfaction best practices.

Agencies receiving recognition included the Office of the Chief Financial Officer within the Department of Education (OCFO), the Department of Transportation (DoT), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

These four agencies were highlighted for employee satisfaction best practices, including:

• Leadership & Communication: The NCUA Chairman met personally with employees in each office and also conducted quarterly webinars, to hear from employees in a more efficient manner. After hearing repeated concerns about specific issues, promotion processes were changed.
• Strategic planning and focused core values: The OCFO took a more strategic, big-picture approach and rallied employees by setting out a clear mission and core values. This provided employees and the department with direction, allowing the office to set clear goals and milestones in order to continually improve processes and satisfaction.
• Employee engagement: The DoT also sought to engage employees by holding listening sessions. Similar to what the NCUA did through webinars, the listening sessions brought the most pressing issues, such as conference room online scheduling processes and supervisory training, to the forefront. If the most basic things aren’t taken care of, then performance can suffer.
• Performance-based focus: The FDA adopted a five tier performance appraisal system for senior executives, allowing for better communication, accountability, understanding of future training needs, and progress evaluation as an agency. In the future, they hope to focus on a robust reward system to incentivize employees.

Are you a federal employee? What do you think federal agencies should focus on in order to improve job satisfaction and performance? What best practices have you seen? Leave your comments below!