Federal employees are dedicated to their careers and are looking for ways to improve job performance; however, supervisors lack skills in performance management, according to the 2011 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.
After interviewing 266,000 federal employees, the survey found 96.9 percent of respondents agree or strongly agree that they're more willing to put forth extra effort to complete their jobs, and 73.9 percent of respondents agree or strongly agree believe their work gives them feelings of personal accomplishment.
Another 85 percent of respondents say they enjoy the work they do, and 59.4 feel encouraged to come up with innovative ideas for being productive in the workplace.
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"We have seen increases in satisfaction in the areas of telework, work force skills, and safety and security," says John Berry, director of the survey. "Employees continue to believe their agencies are successful and their approval of their supervisors remains high. Ratings of senior leaders have improved, but more work is needed in this area."
Still, performance management is an area that needs improvement, the study finds. Only 30.6 percent of respondents say steps are taken to deal with a poor performer who cannot or will not improve, and 35.9 percent of respondents say differences in performance are recognized in a meaningful way.
"Agencies must remain focused on performance management, especially in dealing with poor performers and providing their employees with sufficient resources to get their job done," Berry says. "Performance management continues to persist as a problem area across government."
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