Dive Brief:
- Employee surveys show that, across the government sector, senior executives have vastly different perceptions than those lower down the ranks regarding critical workplace issues -- including the fairness of promotions, the recognition and awards given for good job performance, and the way poor performers are handled, according to the Washington Post.
- From the perspective of executives, things are going smoothly. But that is not at all how employees see it.
- The Post reports that an analysis of the 2014 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and the "Best Places to Work in the Federal Government" data -- done by Deloitte and the Partnership for Public Service -- found that senior executives have a much higher satisfaction and commitment score than their employees. The score for executives is 81.8 on a scale of 100. For employees, it's 59.5.
Dive Insight:
Author Tom Fox, a vice president at the Partnership for Public Service, writes that while it’s not surprising that executives who have decision-making authority and a bigger paycheck might be more satisfied with their jobs and workplaces than their employees are, it’s troubling to find there's more than a 20-point spread between those levels of satisfaction.
When asked whether promotions in their work units were based on merit, 79% of the government’s senior executives had positive responses compared to just 29.9% of other employees -- a nearly 50-point difference.
These perception gaps are fixable, however. Fox writes that specific agency leaders who have seen measurable improvements in employee perceptions have used successful strategies, including: workshops for senior executives on subjects such as dealing with poor performers;a mentoring program to pair newer executives with more experienced executives; and coaching teams of executives to share best practices and to encourage follow-through on performance management and recognition.
