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More than 90 percent of federal employees believe they do important work, and more than 80 percent enjoy what they do. Almost two-thirds would recommend their organization as a good place to work, a number that is on the rise.

So say the results of the 2004 Federal Human Capital Survey released by the Office of Personnel Management in May. And those figures are just the beginning. Nearly three-fourths of employees surveyed said they and their co-workers have the proper knowledge and skills to get government's business done. Sixty percent or more of workers said they have real opportunities to develop their skills, get the training they need to do their jobs (more than 70 percent have access to online education systems) and are supported by their supervisors in gaining new expertise.

Sounds like cause for celebration, right? Not if you're the Bush administration and OPM. In releasing the survey, OPM's acting director, Dan G. Blair, acknowledged that it showed employees' commitment to public service, but then went straight to the bad news. The study, he said, indicated a "strong perception that excellent performance is not properly recognized and that action is not taken against poor performers." Only a little more than one-fourth of employees said managers at their agencies take appropriate steps to deal with lousy workers, and less than a third said differences in performance on the job are recognized in a meaningful way.

As far as the administration is concerned, those responses constitute an endorsement of its push to implement a governmentwide civil service reform plan that seeks to strengthen the link between pay and performance and give federal managers more flexibility in disciplining or firing incompetent workers. But a closer look at the survey results indicates there are reasons to be skeptical of this claim.

The data indicate that the percentage of employees who have positive things to say about the government's performance culture is on the rise. While only 27.4 percent of employees agree that steps are taken to deal with poor performers who cannot or will not improve, that's up from 24.9 percent in 2002. And the number of workers who agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that "high-performing employees in my work unit are recognized or rewarded on a timely basis" went up from 40 percent in 2002 to 42.6 percent last year.

Employees show high and rising levels of satisfaction with their own performance reviews. More than 66 percent said their appraisals fairly reflected their performance, up from 64 percent in 2002.

In fact, the survey shows that employees have as much of a problem with their political leaders as they do with the slacker in the cubicle down the hall. Or, as OPM's report on the results of the survey delicately puts it, workers apparently have "reservations about the leadership of top officials."

Indeed. Less than half the workers agreed with the statement, "I have a high level of respect for my organization's senior leaders." Only 37 percent said those leaders "generate high levels of motivation and commitment in the workforce."

Blair said the survey showed that "federal agencies have more work to do to increase employees' confidence in the leadership they receive." But it seems fairly clear that it's political employees, not front-line managers and supervisors, who bear most of that responsibility. More than 65 percent of employees thought their immediate supervisors are doing a good job (up from 61 percent in 2002). Majorities also agreed that their direct bosses support a balance between work and family, provide opportunities to develop leadership, work well with diverse groups of employees, communicate goals and priorities, make constructive suggestions for improving job performance and do not tolerate prohibited personnel practices.

As administration officials trumpet their civil service reform effort as a response to employee demands for change in the government's performance management culture, they also might want to take a long, hard look at what federal workers are trying to tell them about their own leadership.

COMMENTS

• Can someone tell me what the best temperature is for cooking books? I laughed so hard I cried-- In my work I have spoken to thousands of employees and managers and handled hundreds of workplace disputes on misconduct and performance issues. OPM needs to get out of the Teddy Roosevelt building a little more often-- I think the floor cleaners might be affecting their minds!!! The sad truth is that most people in the government are very unhappy--that is spelled U-N-H-A-P-P-Y. And if OPM wants to know why, OPM can walk around and ask people. In fact, they don't have to go very far because many of my fellow HR peers at OPM are also very U-N-H-A-P-P-Y. Hello- a little reality check please from the real world of government work would be nice. I've been getting lots and lots of calls from folks putting together NSPS and Max-HR and these folks are asking whether I know of jobs in other Departments. 350 degrees or perhaps 400 degrees to properly brown the cover???? HR Specialist GovExec.com reader Posted June 17, 2005 2:46 PM
• Dear "Privatized" - Yes, I was privatized in place and I now work for a contractor. Yes, I had over 20 years with the Government. But maybe I should also point out that I had over 10 YEARS of private industry experience BEFORE I got my Government job. And managers and supervisors are the same EVERYWHERE regardless of whether they work for the government or not. There are good ones and bad ones and HORRIBLE ones. You don't have to work for the government (or a contractor) to find people who are skating through their job while the hard-working shmo next to you (or you) gets axed because the boss didn't like them. GovExec.com reader Posted June 15, 2005 11:12 AM
• It's baffling why you give an upbeat treatment to a survey that clearly shows large numbers of federal workers without the tools and leadership they need. Sure, there's good news, and the admninistration acknowledged that. But 40% of workers without access to development? This is not good news except for those who aspire to retire on the job. As to the section on leadership, you pin the blame on political leaders without any supporting evidence. You may pursue your political fantasies as you wish, I suppose, but senior career leaders have much more influence with workers and, in my experience, are frequently short on fundamental leadership skills. It is surely they who come up lacking in the survey. You do a disservice to the taxpayers by pretending that things in the government are better than they are. GovExec.com reader Posted June 14, 2005 9:27 AM