Gap in workplace satisfaction grows between employees and SES

SES

Gap in workplace satisfaction grows between employees and SES

Members of the Senior Executive Service report much higher satisfaction at their agencies than the employees who work for them, according to a new report.

Jory Heckman@jheckmanWFED

July 1, 2015 11:09 am

2 min read

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Members of the Senior Executive Service report much higher satisfaction at their agencies than the employees who work for them, a new report finds.

Using numbers from its study, 2014 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government, researchers from the Partnership for Public Service and Deloitte Consulting LLP found the satisfaction gap between federal employees and SES doubled on issues of performance management such as promotion fairness, recognition for good work and discipline for underperforming workers.

“This big divide suggests that senior executives need to take steps to address this divergence of views if they expect to connect with and motivate their workforce,” the report said.

The findings are based on the views of more than 392,000 respondents who participated in the 2014 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, including more than 4,900 of the 7,200 total members of the SES.

pps_report — Chart from the Partnership for Public Service’s “Improving Leadership” report

Measuring overall workplace satisfaction, members of the SES in the survey scored much higher than the rest of the federal workforce. PPS gave executives a grade of 81.8 out of 100 — 22.3 points higher than the rest of the federal workforce.

“When employees and managers share a common vision, they are able to work together to achieve results. When there are considerable differences, it could be harder to
fulfill agency missions and drive constructive change,” the report said.

When asked whether promotions at their agencies were based on merit, less than 30 percent of employees agreed, compared to 79 percent of the SES.

The federal workforce showed the least confidence on how management deals with poor performers. Only 25.6 percent of those surveyed said bad employees were treated appropriately.

For the second year in a row, NASA was ranked as the agency with the most satisfied SES, followed by the Labor and State departments. Labor’s ranking was also the most improved of any agency since last year.