Low Morale Among DHS, DOD Employees Unsatisfied with Work Environment
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According to the 2021 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) results released last week, federal employees were overall less satisfied and less engaged in their jobs last year. The Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) recent report illustrated that employee engagement fell by 1 point to 71 out of 100, while employee satisfaction fell 5 points to 69 out of 100 across the federal government.
Key survey questions related to employee morale and engagement landed the National Science Foundation (NSF), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), General Services Administration (GSA), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) above the government-wide average on each question. These agencies ranked highly on employees' job satisfaction, senior leaders' ability to motivate their employees, and whether employees believed their agencies would use the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey results to improve work environments.
Federal agencies continued to earn high marks on most questions directly related to the pandemic, with three quarters reporting that leaders were committed to employees' health and safety and 84 percent saying their immediate supervisors were. However, only 62 percent of federal employees said that senior leaders communicated effectively about reentry plans.
The Downward Trend
On the other hand, the State Department ranked in the bottom five of all three questions. An official with the State Department said employees' views on leadership's ability to motivate them have steadily improved over the years, despite its poor performance in the survey.
"Over the past five years, we have seen a consistent, incremental increase with the response on this item. The percent positive was 37.2 percent in 2017 and has grown to 49.8 percent in 2021," the official noted. "That includes a 7 percent increase between 2020 and 2021 that puts the department's score slightly above the government-wide average. The results were promising and a direct result of the actions of our senior leaders."
SSA Press Officer Mark Hinkle attributed the lower scores to a lack of funding, leading to burnout and other factors that negatively impact employee morale, stating: "Chronic underfunding is detrimental to our success and our employees' experience."
"The final budget this year from Congress was $850 billion less than the president's budget, requiring us to delay planned hiring, which would relieve our workers. We now have the lowest number of employees in over 25 years," Hinkle said. "This will increase our customers' wait times for service, increase processing times, and increase pending workloads. Our employees feel the weight of these challenges. We continue learning and evaluating how we can meet our mission and support our employees, including increased telework."
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD) continuously ranked at the bottom in questions concerning their work environment. Across DHS and DOD, employee perceptions of leadership continue to decline with each successively higher level.
At DHS, 75 percent of employees were satisfied with the role of their immediate supervisor, but only 60 percent felt likewise with the manager directly above that supervisor. Among DOD employees, 75 percent reported feeling trust and respect towards their immediate supervisors, compared with 62 percent with high regard for their organization’s senior leaders.
Unfortunately, the numbers don’t increase with morale and satisfaction. DHS employees rated their job satisfaction at 52.9 percent and their satisfaction with the organization at 60.2 percent. DOD employees were 60.8 percent satisfied with their organization and 66.6 percent satisfied with their jobs.
The Retort
In a letter accompanying the report, Director Kiran Ahuja praised the federal workforce's resilience amid the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that decreases in engagement and morale mirror industry trends. Additionally, she cautioned observers against drawing sweeping conclusions based on the survey's impact on the pandemic.
“Federal employees are deeply motivated by their commitment to public service,” noted Director Ahuja, “The FEVS survey results highlight their resilience in the face of two years of unprecedented challenges and show how they found creative solutions and leveraged workplace flexibilities to continue delivering results.”
A certain amount of engagement and satisfaction declines may be linked to the fact that agencies are planning, or have already begun, the process of returning federal workers to traditional work sites. Moreover, OPM delivered the survey just as agencies started exploring ways to implement hybrid work environments permanently, likely influencing results.
Compensation may also have an adverse effect on the global satisfaction index. During the 2021 fiscal year, federal employees received a 1 percent pay increase with no locality pay increase amid soaring inflation rates. Pay satisfaction fell by six points last year, from 67 points in 2020 to 61 points in 2021.