Online extra | DHS needs to win over some employees

Homeland Security Department employees as a whole hold relatively low opinions of their department’s performance in several respects, according to an Office of Personnel Management survey.

In key areas covered by the OPM survey, employees’ attitudes were more negative that those of workers at other federal agencies, according to the Government Accountability Office, which conducted the survey for OPM. The survey, conducted in 2004 and released last year, covered all DHS employees and was not limited to IT workers.

These survey results reflect the answers of 10,475 DHS employees who responded to the survey, and are compared with the answers across 16 large civilian agencies, including DHS.

Specific survey questions and employee responses included:

Agency leadership
Have a high level of respect for the department’s senior leaders:
DHS: 39%
Average of 16 other large agencies: 50%

Rate the performance of their supervisors as fair to very poor job:
DHS: 44%
Other agencies: 35%

Said the department’s senior leaders do not maintain high standards of honesty and integrity:
DHS: 22%
Other agencies: 14%

Said DHS leaders do not generate high levels of motivation and commitment:
DHS: 51%
Other agencies: 35%

Information technology
Reported that they had access to electronic learning and training materials from their desk:
DHS: 51%
Other agencies: 71%

Said that they used technology, such as an intranet or shared networks, to do their jobs:
DHS: 69%
Other agencies: 86%

Said they and their fellow workers use IT to gather and share knowledge:
DHS: 76%
Other agencies: 81%

Workplace issues
Said DHS is an average, below average or one of the worst employers:
DHS: 62%
Other agencies: 44%

Said the department had prepared its employees properly for potential security threats:
DHS: 60%
Other agencies: 72%

Said they knew how their work related to their agency’s goals and priorities:
DHS: 78%
Other agencies: 83%

Said they believed they could disclose any suspected violation of a law, rule or regulation without fear of reprisal:
DHS: 40%
Other agencies: 48%

Said the department’s workforce has the job-relevant skills and knowledge to carry out the organization’s mission:
DHS: 64%
Other agencies: 73%

Said arbitrary action, favoritism and partisan political coercion are not tolerated at DHS:
DHS: 33%
Other agencies: 47%

Said they believe that promotions in their work unit are not based on merit:
DHS: 52%
Other agencies: 36%

Said that, in their work unit, no steps were taken to deal with employees who performed poorly and could not or would not improve:
DHS: 50%
Other agencies: 41%

Said that high-performing employees in their agency were promptly recognized:
DHS: 17%
Other agencies: 43%

The survey results appeared as part of the Federal Human Capital Survey that the Government Accountability Office conducted on behalf of OPM. The margin of error of the results was plus or minus one percent at a standard 95 percent confidence level.