Surveying the Next Generation of SESers

The Senior Executives Association has released a new survey of GS-13s and GS-14s GS-14s and GS-15s about their attitudes toward moving up the ranks into the Senior Executive Service. It turns out they're not exactly doing cartwheels over the possibility of joining the government's elite executive corps.

We'll have a full report shortly, but here are a few tidbits:

• "The most significant attractors for considering an SES or Senior Professional position are the ability to contribute more to the mission of the agency, greater opportunity for creativity and innovation, the honor of serving at the highest level, and increased responsibility and authority."
• "The most significant detractors for considering an SES or Senior Professional position are the potential negative impact on the balance of work and family responsibilities, the possibility of being reassigned or transferred geographically, and the complexity of the application process."
• "Although pay was not a top attractor or detractor among survey responses, numerous narrative comments by survey respondents expressed that the difference in pay between a GS-14/15 position and an SES or Senior Professional position is often not commensurate with the increased workload, responsibility, and risk."
• "Despite respondents' stated interest in serving in SES and Senior Professional positions, less than 50 percent of respondents said that the attractors to serving in these positions outweigh the detractors to serving in the positions."