The results of the 2017 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) show employee responses are moving in a positive direction, OPM announced.
Respondents
A total of 486,105 employees responded out of the 1,068,151 who received it, a 45.5% response rate—the lowest since 2012. Respondents represented 80 agencies ranging from small to large and the highest response rate was in “very small” agencies (with less than 100 employees) at 97%, while “very large” agencies (over 75,000 employees) only had a 64% response rate.
Here is a breakdown of respondents:
- 28% had/have military service
- 40% were between pay grades 13-15
- 49% had agency tenure of 1-10 years
- 49% were female
- 34% were a minority
- 61% field
- 66% had a non-supervisory status
- 34% held a bachelor’s degree
Pay
This area of the federal viewpoint survey also showed improvement. Sixty-one percent of respondents answered positively when asked, “Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your pay?”. That’s the highest positive response since 2013. Forty-one percent of respondents answered positively to the question asking if they felt creativity and innovation are rewarded in their agencies.
When asked if respondents felt pay raises depend on how well employees perform their jobs, only 25% answered positively, however this was the highest percentage since 2013. This was also the question that generated the highest negative response.
Overall Job Satisfaction
The question, “Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your job?” had the highest positive response rate at 68%. The lowest rated question was, “How satisfied are you with your opportunity to get a better job in your organization?” at 37%.
Fifty percent answered positively on receiving recognition for a job well done, 45% about the satisfaction of policies and practices of senior leaders and 55% on satisfaction with training received on the job.
Work/Life Programs
This area of the viewpoint survey saw some of the highest scores. Eighty-one percent responded positively to their agencies available telework programs and 90% responded positively about alternative work schedules.
Highest Rated Agencies
OPM measures an Employee Engagement Index (EEI) in FEVS, which is a measure of an agency’s work environment. It’s made up of three subfactors: leaders lead, supervisors, and intrinsic work experience.
Here are the highest EEI rated agencies among the five agency categories:
- Very Small (<100 employees)—Marine Mammal Commission—96%
- Small (100-999 employees)—Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service—85%
- Medium (1,000-9,999 employees)—Federal Trade Commission—83%
- Large (10,000-74,999 employees)—National Aeronautics and Space Administration—82%
- Very Large (>75,000 employees)—Department of Health and Human Services—72%
Click here for the full survey results.
