More than 66 percent of Defense Logistics Agency employees believe DLA is a great place to work despite declining views on telework and performance management, according to the latest results of the 2012 DLA Culture Survey.
The survey was conducted in May and June and consisted of two parts. The first measured organizational performance and behavior with 60 questions relating to mission, adaptability, employee involvement and consistency. Results of that portion were released in August and placed DLA above 48 percent of more than 900 organizations that use the Denison Consulting Model to measure workplace culture.
The latest results pertain to the second part of the survey, which focused on DLA’s climate and included 50 questions on such topics as job satisfaction, accountability, diversity and telework.
“Results for the climate portion were much like our results for culture. We remained the same or slightly declined in several areas, but there were some bright spots,” DLA Human Resources Director Brad Bunn said.
Job satisfaction dropped to 69.3 percent from 72.3 percent in 2010. Bunn said the score is still high, but officials will analyze overall results of the survey to pinpoint areas that could have contributed to the drop.
Employees’ views on telework also fell. Just 66.6 percent said they clearly understood DLA’s telework policy, compared to 72.7 percent in 2010, and only 50.2 percent agreed that their supervisor encourages and supports telework.
One of the biggest declines occurred in the area of performance management. Just 55.6 percent of respondents agreed that employees are recognized for providing high-quality products and services to customers, compared to 60.6 percent in 2010. And only 50 percent agreed that performance awards are based on how well employees perform their jobs.
Communication and diversity were two areas that improved, with more respondents agreeing that supervisors work well with employees of different background and that leaders communicate well with employees.
“Employees throughout the agency seem to feel that communication is improving. The 2010 Culture Survey revealed that this area needed some work, and several directorates and field activities placed a lot of focus on changing that,” Bunn said.
Almost 60 percent of employees said they were aware of DLA Director Navy Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek’s “Big Ideas” initiative to save $10.3 billion in the next five years, and 53.4 percent said they understood how they were expected to contribute to those goals.
“That shows us that we’re becoming more successful at getting important messages out to the workforce,” Bunn added.
Participants left more than 17,000 comments with the most common themes being communication, leadership, training, senior management and staffing.
“This is the largest number of comments ever received for a DLA Culture Survey. It shows that our employees are engaged and interested in their workplace, seeking out avenues for change, as well as indicating their approval for existing benefits and initiatives that make DLA a great place to work,” said Jackie Cookston, program manager for this year’s survey.
While the comments are an important part of the survey results, Cookston said data analysis and improvement efforts should focus primarily on the overall pattern of responses to culture and climate questions.
Culture “champions” assigned to every directorate and activity are sharing the results with leaders and employees in their parts of the organization. The results are broken down by directorate, field activity and work unit to give employees an idea of where their part of the organization stands on all aspects of culture and provide a framework for change at local and headquarters levels.
“These results are driving discussions and decisions across the agency. By looking closely at areas we scored low in, we can develop detailed action plans that bring about improvements,” Cookston added.
Culture champions will spend the next three months working with leaders and employees to analyze the data and create action plans and initiatives that address shortfalls. Action plans will be briefed to agency leaders beginning in January.
Previous culture survey results have inspired such initiatives as the We Are DLA campaign, which was designed to improve communication and instill a sense of camaraderie across the agency’s organizations. Employees’ dissatisfaction with leadership also led to the development of the Enterprise Leader Development Program.
This is the sixth time the survey has been conducted since 2003, when the agency’s score was 34 percent. DLA spent subsequent years on an upward trend, rising from 37 percent in 2006 to 52 percent in 2010. The next survey is planned for fall 2013.