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Results of the 2004 Federal Human Capital Survey: Negative Responses
Can Be Instructive
In the fall of 2004, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
launched its biennial federal human capital survey. Participation
in the survey was fairly broad: nearly 150,000 federal employees
across agencies and around the world participated. The lowest
percentage participation for a single agency was just under 28
percent (US Marine Corps), while the highest percentage of participation
for a single agency was just over 73 percent (Small Business Administration).
All small agencies combined were the highest participators, with
a participation rate of just over 75 percent. Government-wide
participation was 53.5 percent. According to OPM, employees responded
“in record numbers.”
While the 2004 survey showed many performance gains over the 2002
survey (for which government leaders should take credit), the
survey serves its best purpose as a tool to understand areas that
require attention. In addition to looking at positive responses
and changes in positive responses year-over-year, human capital
managers and government leaders would be well served by digging
into the details of employee dissatisfaction.
Analysis Methodology
Pivotal Insight has reformatted the OPM weighted data into Excel
files that can be manipulated and analyzed. (Click
here to access the raw data in an easy-to-manipulate format.)
We then sorted the data into the same employee categories OPM recognizes
in the survey:
Government-wide Age
Under 30 30 – 39 40 – 49 50 – 59 60 and over
Gender Race/Ethnic Group Supervisory Status
Non-supervisor Team Leader Supervisor Manager Executiv
Work Location
Field Office Headquarters
Using the same formula OPM uses to rank order positive ratings
(e.g., % Strongly Agree + % Agree), we rank ordered negative ratings
(e.g., % Disagree + % Strongly Disagree). Finally, we identified
the top 10 areas of weakness as identified by employees, sorted
by employee group, and compared results.
Results
Overall, questions from the “Performance Culture”
section of the survey received the lowest grades by employees
across all categories of employee groups. In fact, in the top
10 government-wide lowest-graded questions, 7 are from the “Performance
Culture” section. The remaining three questions include
one each from the “Job Satisfaction,” “Leadership,”
and “Recruitment, Development, and Retention” sections.
The top 10 heaviest and highest ranked questions (those questions
ranked highest by the most number of respondents) are listed in order
of ranking below.
| Weighted Rank* |
Question Number |
Question |
1 |
24 |
In my work unit, steps are taken to deal with a poor performer
who cannot or will not improve. |
2 |
23 |
Promotions in my work unit are based on merit. |
3 |
63 |
How satisfied are you with your opportunity to get a better
job in your organization? |
4 |
31 |
In my work unit, differences in performance are recognized
in a meaningful way. |
5 |
40 |
In my organization, leaders generate high levels of motivation
and commitment in the workforce. |
6 |
27 |
High-performing employees in my work unit are recognized or
rewarded on a timely basis. |
7 |
17 |
I have sufficient resources (for example, people, materials,
budget) to get my job done. |
8 |
29 |
Creativity and innovation are rewarded. |
9 |
30 |
Awards in my work unit depend on how well employees perform
their jobs. |
10 |
62 |
How satisfied are you with the policies and practices of your
senior leaders? |
*Number 1 is rated as the most concerning by the most respondents,
number 2 the second, etc.
The table below outlines the most interesting, and perhaps instructive,
results of our review of specific questions.
ANALYSIS OF TOP 10
EMPLOYEE NEGATIVE RESPONSES AS REPORTED IN THE 2004 FEDERAL
HUMAN CAPITAL SURVEY |
| Question Number |
Question |
Result/Analysis |
| 15 |
My work unit is able to recruit people
with the right skills. |
Only supervisors, managers,
and executives ranked this in the top 10 negative responses,
which is not necessarily surprising, as those are the groups
most likely to be responsible for recruiting. However, the result
may indicate that recruitment problems are not widely recognized
or accepted among the rank-and-file, which means it may be difficult
for leaders to involve staff in recruiting efforts. |
| 17 |
I have sufficient resources (for
example, people, materials, budget) to get my job done. |
This question was ranked the number 1
greatest concern by supervisors, managers, and executives. While
some other groups ranked it as a top 10 concern, no other group
ranked it so highly. |
| 18 |
My workload is reasonable. |
This question was ranked in the top 10 negative
responses only by supervisors, managers, and
executives. In fact, it was ranked as the number 2 or number
3 concern by these three groups. |
| 23 |
Promotions in my work unit are based
on merit. |
The only employee groups that did not
include this question in the top 10 areas of concern were managers
and executives. Given their positions, this result may not be
unexpected; however, leaders should be cognizant of the disconnect
between their perceptions and the perceptions of those who work
in their organizations. |
| 24 |
In my work unit, steps are taken
to deal with a poor performer who cannot or will not improve. |
Every employee group included this question in
their top 10 negative response list; it is the only
question of the 78 in the survey to have been included in the
top 10 by every group. If government is ever
to consider seriously implementing a pay-for-performance program,
this will be the first area to address. |
| 27 |
High-performing employees in my work
unit are recognized or rewarded on a timely basis. |
All employee groups except supervisors,
managers, and executives included this question in their top
10 negative response listings. Again, this result is not unpredicted,
but, as with question 23, leaders should understand that their
views do not match those of their employees, and they need to
determine ways to address an issue that is clearly important
to their staffs. |
| 29 |
Creativity and innovation are rewarded. |
With the exception of one other employee group,
only managers (team leaders, supervisors, managers,
and executives) do not rank this issue among
their top 10 concerns, while all other employee groups do. Managers
should be concerned with the same issues addressed in questions
23 and 27.
(Employees 60 and over also did not rank this issue in the top
10; for that group, this issue ranks as 12th.) |
| 31 |
In my work unit, differences in performance
are recognized in a meaningful way. |
The only employee group not
to rank this issue in the top 10 is executives. It is problematic
that all other employees, managers and supervisors in particular,
believe that performance differences are not recognized. The
first step to any kind of potential pay for performance program
is for employees—especially managers and supervisors—to
see that performance differences are recognized. |
| 39 |
I have a high level of respect for
my organization's senior leaders. |
The only employee group to include
this issue in their top 10 list of concerns was managers. This
ranking means that — unlike other employee groups, who
give their immediate supervisors good marks — managers
do not grade their own direct supervisors as highly. This concern
is exacerbated by the fact that it indicates that agency managers
may have concerns about the direction their agencies are going,
given their concerns about agency leadership. |
| 40 |
In my organization, leaders generate
high levels of motivation and commitment in the workforce. |
Every employee category except
one included this question in its top 10 most negative responses.
(The group that did not list it in its top 10 — Black
(Non-Hispanic) rated it number 11.) Clearly upper-level leadership
needs to determine how to communicate differently with staff,
either directly or through their management ranks. |
| 53 |
My training needs are assessed. |
The only employee group to include
this question in their top 10 was executives. Since executives
generally responded favorably to question 54 (I receive the
training I need to perform my job), it is unclear why executives
rank assessment of needs so unfavorably — and if they
believe they could receive training that would help them produce
breakthrough results, rather than just what is needed to perform
their jobs. |
| 63 |
How satisfied are you with your opportunity
to get a better job in your organization? |
All employee groups except executives
included this question in their top 10. Leaders will have to
focus extraordinary attention on addressing this issue as they
face concerns about retirement and succession. It will be impossible
to retain talent if nobody sees opportunity. |
| 66 |
Considering everything, how satisfied
are you with your pay? |
On a positive note, the only
employee group to include this question in their top 10 was
executives, which is not surprising given their response to
question 18 (My workload is reasonable). |
| 77 and |
How satisfied are you with |
Again, only executives included
these questions in |
| 78 |
telework/telecommuting? How satisfied
are you with alternative work schedules? |
their top 10. Executive response could indicate
one of two different issues:
| 1. |
They are dissatisfied with their own telework
and alternative schedule experiences; or |
| 2. |
They are dissatisfied with the implementation
and impact of telework and alternative schedules on their
employees. |
Either reason for dissatisfaction is problematic as the government
seeks to grow the use of these alternatives. If the executives
are dissatisfied—no matter why—with these programs,
it is unlikely they will be able to champion them. |
Next Steps
Human capital managers and leaders within individual work units will
want to take a close look at the results in their own areas and conduct
this same kind of analysis to determine areas of greatest need. It
can be instructive, too, to compare results to overall government
or employee group results to identify outliers.
Leaders might also consider collecting one more piece of vital information
prior to developing action plans. While the 2004 Federal Human Capital
Survey provides feedback on issues generally considered important
to employees, it does not seek to understand which issues are most
important to employees. For example, an employee may respond “Strongly
Disagree” to the statement, “My training needs are assessed.”
But, she may not care, particularly, whether her training needs are
assessed or not. In the absence of understanding the relative importance
of the issues addressed in the question, work unit leaders could expend
effort that would not generate an appreciable return.
Additional
Information
Click here to access the raw
data from the 2004 Federal Human Capital Survey in an easy-to-manipulate
format.
Click
here to access OPM’s report What Do Federal Employees
Say: Results from the 2004 Federal Human Capital Survey.
For more information on how to analyze your survey results or to
develop a plan to address human capital needs, visit our website
at www.pivotal-insight.com,
call us at 703-914-2760, or send an e-mail to inquires@pivotal-insight.com |
