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Just as agencies ask employees to meet high expectations, agencies must also hold themselves to a high standard in their treatment of the workforce. Respecting the workforce includes providing training opportunities, benefits that match employee needs, promoting a healthy work-life balance, improving Federal labor-management relations, and working to ensure employees are satisfied with their work experience. Only by treating employees well will the government continue to attract, hire, and retain talented employees.

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Employee Viewpoint Survey
Job Satisfaction

To guide agencies in creating better working environments for their employees, the government administers an annual survey that asks all employees a variety of questions on their work experience. This survey, the Employee Viewpoint Survey, is organized around four areas: Leadership and Knowledge Management, Results-Oriented Performance Culture, Talent Management, and Job Satisfaction. There are 8-14 questions that address each of these areas, and the answers to those questions are combined to produce a single composite score of how satisfied an employee is in that area. The chart to the right presents the percentage of employees in each agency that reported on the 2011 survey having high levels of personal job satisfaction. This area is composed of questions focusing on personal involvement in the workplace and opportunities, recognition of good performance, training, and overall job and pay satisfaction.

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Talent Management

The chart to the right presents the percentage of employees in each agency with a high level of satisfaction with Talent Management (as reported in the 2011 Employee Viewpoint Survey). This area focuses on whether employees perceive the agency to have high-quality people with the appropriate competencies in mission-critical activities, and to have sufficient programs to attract, hire, develop, promote, and retain quality talent.

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Employee Retention Rate

The government also analyzes data on how long employees remain at an agency. While some turnover is inevitable and can create a healthy dynamic in an organization, a low or sudden drop in the retention rate, especially for new hires, may also be a product of an agency lacking effective workforce plans, staffing processes, on-boarding programs, or workplace policies. The chart to the right shows the percentage of all permanent, non-student, full-time employees by commonly-filled position hired two years ago that are still with their agencies. 


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Agency Breakdown

Agency Breakdown
Department% of Positive Responses on Job Satisfaction% of Positive Responses on Talent ManagementOverall Two-year Retention Rate %
Department of Agriculture685883
Department of Commerce696380
Department of the Interior685780
Department of Justice706286
Department of Labor665481
Department of State736583
Department of The Treasury706379
Office of Personnel Management716385
Social Security Administration726286
Nuclear Regulatory Commission777690
Department of Veterans Affairs686079
General Services Administration706587
National Science Foundation686171
Environmental Protection Agency696088
Department of Transportation685784
Department of Homeland Security645385
U.S. Agency for International Development665883
Small Business Administration675383
Department of Health and Human Services685979
National Aeronautics and Space Administration747090
Department of Housing and Urban Development634982
Department of Energy655885
Department of Education655891
Department of Defense686181
N/A = Not Applicable

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