Private Sector Comparison
For our government to be effective and serve the needs of the American people, federal agencies must be able to attract, retain, develop and promote the best employees. And to do this, the government must compete with leading private-sector companies that are eager to hire top talent.
Advantages and Gaps
So exactly how does the federal government match up against the private sector from the employee perspective?
The answer is that the government is lagging behind the private sector, but making progress.
According to an analysis by Hay Group, the 2010 employee satisfaction index score for large private sector companies is 70.6, a drop from 71.2 in 2009 and 72.9 in 2008. With a 2010 Best Places government-wide index score of 65, the federal agencies lag behind the private sector when it comes to worker satisfaction with their jobs and organizations. But while the private sector worker satisfaction declined in the past year, the government registered an increase from a 2009 index score of 63.3.
Comparative data with the private sector also are available for 13 questions that are in the Office of Personnel Management’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.
The table below compares federal government respondents against a cohort of private sector employees involved in a range of jobs at large companies. The federal government outperforms the private sector for only one area and is tied in another. Of the remaining 11 questions, six show government trailing private employers by more than five percent.
As the table below shows, there is a 14 point difference between the government and the private sector on the question, “How satisfied are you with the information you receive from management on what’s going on in your organization?” When asked whether they felt satisfied with the training they received for their current jobs and whether they felt happy with their opportunities to move forward, there were respectively, a 10 and 11 percentage point gap between the private and public-sector employees.
| Question | Gov % 2010 | Private % 2010 | Gap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I am given a real opportunity to improve my skills in my organization | 66 | 65 | 1 | |
| The people I work with cooperate to get the job done | 75 | 82 | -7 | |
| I like the kind of work I do | 86 | 86 | 0 | |
| My work gives me a feeling of personal accomplishment | 75 | 76 | -1 | |
| Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your job? | 72 | 75 | -3 | |
| I have enough information to do my job well | 73 | 77 | -4 | |
| How satisfied are you with your involvement in decisions that affect your work? |
55 | 58 | -3 | |
| How satisfied are you with the recognition you receive for doing a good job? | 52 | 55 | -3 | |
| Overall, how good a job do you feel is being done by your immediate supervisor/team leader? | 68 | 74 | -6 | |
| How satisfied are you with your opportunity to get a better job in your organization? | 42 | 53 | -11 | |
| How satisfied are you with the training you receive for your present job? | 56 | 66 | -10 | |
| Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your organization? | 62 | 71 | -9 | |
| How satisfied are you with the information you receive from management on what’s going on in your organization? |
51 | 65 | -14 | |
| Data source: OPM, 2010 Federal Human Capital Survey | ||||
Yet, the scores for the federal government scores have been improving.
Of the 13 questions, government registered modest improvements in 11 since the last survey. According to this year’s data, employees rated government supervisors higher by 3.0 percent while numbers for the private sector held steady. Government improved its score by 3.8 percent, while the private sector numbers remained unchanged when employees were asked, “How satisfied are you with your involvement in decisions that affect your work?”
Perhaps most notable is an increase of 8.8 percent for the federal government and only a 1.4 percent rise for the private sector when employees were asked, “Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your organization?” This reflects the broader trend showing greater employee satisfaction with government.
Clearly more has to be done, especially if government is to attract the highly-skilled workforce that it needs to meet the critical challenges facing the country. But, as we look ahead, there are reasons to be optimistic.
The Best Places to Work rankings — the most comprehensive and authoritative rating of employee satisfaction and commitment in the federal government — are produced by the Partnership for Public Service and American University's Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation (ISPPI).
