Digital Storm/Shutterstock.com

Feds Don't Feel the Government Is Rewarding Innovation

Employees still haven’t given up on finding better ways to do their jobs, according to analysis.

Federal employees overall believe innovation in government is declining, and that agencies do not sufficiently reward forward-thinking in general, an analysis of government data shows.

The so-called governmentwide “innovation score” dropped 2.1 points to 59.4 out of 100 points from 2012 to 2013 – the lowest score since 2010. Employees’ perceptions of how their agencies viewed creativity were even less encouraging: Just one-third of respondents believed their employer rewarded innovation, while 54.7 percent felt encouraged to think outside of the box. The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, consultancy Deloitte and the Hay Group looked at data from the Office of Personnel Management’s 2013 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey to determine respondents’ attitudes toward innovation. The 2013 survey reflects the input of 376,577 federal workers out of a civilian workforce of roughly 2 million.

“The bottom line is that federal workers are motivated to improve the way they do their work, but they do not feel supported by their organizations,” concluded the analysis, which is part of the Partnership’s annual Best Places to Work in Government project. Respondents also were less enthusiastic in 2013 about agencies giving them the opportunity to develop job skills and personally empowering them. The score for the question “I have a high level of respect for senior leaders in my organization,” also dipped slightly from 50.5 percent in 2012 to 49 percent in 2013.

The news isn’t all bad: 90 percent of the employees surveyed said they are “always looking for better ways to do their job,” the Partnership analysis said.

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but it can be tough to foster creativity in a work environment with dwindling resources and maxed-out employees. “Innovation depends on the total environment that leaders and managers shape for employees,” the report acknowledged. “Creating that environment can be challenging for managers because they are dealing with day-to-day demands, and it is difficult to take the time to step back and examine new ways of doing business.”

Job satisfaction among federal workers dropped nearly across the board in 2013 -- a year marked by furloughs, a pay freeze and proposals to reduce federal employee compensation -- according to the most recent viewpoint survey. Just 44 percent of employees in the 2013 survey said they had sufficient resources to do their jobs, down from 48 percent last year and 50 percent in 2010.

OPM will administer the 2014 survey across government beginning this month and ending in June. Some results will be available in late August, with full results announced in the fall.

The Partnership analysis included some broad recommendations for how federal managers can encourage creativity and innovation. The report suggested regularly providing a forum where employees can brainstorm and toss out ideas for doing things differently, building trust through mentoring and constructive feedback, creating a specific process for executing ideas, and assessing results through metrics.

Want to know which agencies were the most and least innovative in 2013 according to federal respondents? Click here.

(Image via Digital Storm/Shutterstock.com)

NEXT STORY: The Origins of Office Speak

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.