Profiles of Notable Movers
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Securities and Exchange Commission
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Office of Personnel Management
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
National Archives and Records Administration
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Securities and Exchange Commission
Amid enormous pressures and greatly increased workloads stemming from the nation’s financial crisis, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has risen to the top of the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings, while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has experienced a continual decline in employee job satisfaction and commitment.
The FDIC, which has devoted time, energy and resources to supporting employees and creating a positive work environment, moved from third place in 2010 to first place among large agencies in the 2011 Best Places to Work rankings. In contrast, the SEC dropped to 27th place out of 33 large federal agencies in 2011 after having been ranked 24th in 2010, 11th in 2009 and third in 2007.
The FDIC recorded a Best Places to Work score of 85.9 out of 100, an 8.5 percent jump from 2010. The 2011 score represented the largest percentage improvement for any large agency. The new rankings also placed the FDIC first among large agencies when it comes to employee views on overall effective leadership, senior leaders, the match between skills and mission, strategic management, teamwork and pay.
An independent agency, the FDIC is responsible for maintaining stability and public confidence in the nation's financial system by insuring bank deposits, examining and supervising financial institutions for safety and soundness and consumer protection, and managing receiverships. It handled 25 bank failures in 2008, 140 in 2009, 157 in 2010 and 86 through Nov. 4, 2011.
The FDIC began a multi-year culture change program in 2008, initially under the leadership of agency head Sheila Bair and now being continued under acting chairman Martin Gruenberg.
Ira Kitmacher, the FDIC’s manager of culture change, said the initiative started with development of a core set of values to guide the agency, items like integrity, teamwork, effectiveness, accountability and fairness. He said that effort was followed by clear and repeated messages from Bair and other top leaders that they were dedicated to creating a high-functioning workforce and improving workplace conditions.
Kitmacher said there has been a dedication to soliciting staff input and communicating how and why decisions have been made.
He said the FDIC has established an internal ombudsman who reports directly to the chairman and handles problems and grievances; created a website for employees to submit questions and get answers on workplace issues; held town hall meetings; instituted conference calls with the chairman and all employees to answer questions and get direct input; and established a culture change council and teams to explore workplace improvements.
He said a key emphasis has been to demonstrate to employees that the management “values their opinions and that their voices are being heard.”
In addition, Kitmacher said the FDIC established a pilot project to help in the career advancement for administrative staff, increased leadership training for senior executives and managers, and improved training and continued learning programs for bank examiners.
The Securities and Exchange Commission
The SEC scored 58.3 out of 100 on overall job satisfaction and commitment in the 2011 Best Places to Work rankings, representing a 5.9 percent decrease from 2010. This was the second biggest drop among the large agencies. The SEC’s low scores reflect increasingly negative response by employees regarding agency leadership, strategic management and a number of other workplace issues.
Only 33.6 percent of the SEC employees had “a feeling of personal empowerment with respect to work processes,” while just 32.2 percent felt they had “sufficient resources to get my job done.” The SEC also had the largest decrease on satisfaction with pay of all large agencies.
The SEC’s mission is to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. The SEC oversees securities exchanges, securities brokers and dealers, investment advisors, and mutual funds, and is responsible for enforcing the federal securities laws.
An SEC official said the agency is aware of the problems and is developing plans to address employee concerns. The official said the SEC has experienced a significant increase in workload, including stepped up enforcement activities and the need to craft and begin implementing regulations under the new financial reform law, without being given sufficient resources.
The SEC official said the heavy workload and stress on employees also coincided this past year with a proposed reorganization plan that has created uncertainty for some staff members. The official said that the agency has convened labor- management teams to come up with action plans, and is looking to greatly improve internal communications with employees.
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The United States Patent and Trademark Office
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has made continuous strides improving employee job satisfaction and commitment, rising to 19th place in the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings among the 240 federal agency subcomponents surveyed in 2011.
The PTO registered a Best Places to Work score of 74.1 out of 100 in 2011, a 6.6 percent jump from 2010, and showed improvement on a range of issues that included leadership, the match between skills and mission, strategic management, work/life balance, and training and development.
Regarding effective leadership, which includes employee views on empowerment, fairness, senior leaders and supervisors, the PTO’s score rose from 58.2 to 62.3 out of 100, a 7 percent increase in one year. On the survey question asking whether senior leaders generate high level of motivation and commitment in the workforce, for example, the PTO improved by 15.5 percent between 2010 and 2011.
The PTO, part of the Department of Commerce, is responsible for issuing patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.
In 2007, the PTO stood at 172 out of 222 federal government subcomponents included in Best Places to Work rankings. It jumped to 105 out of 216 in 2009, 56 out of 224 in 2010 and moved into the 19th spot in 2011.
David J. Kappos, the undersecretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the PTO, has made improvement of the workplace a priority since arriving in 2009, and has initiated a number of reforms.
One critical change affecting employee attitudes involved a major reengineering of the patent examination system that revised the timeframes for review of patent applications, gave patent examiners more flexibility and permitted them to have more direct contact with the applicants.
Drew Hirshfeld, Kappos’ chief of staff, said management did not impose the new system on the patent examiners or seek to be confrontational, but included employees, union representatives and stakeholders in a collaborative process to hear their concerns and find common ground. He said the process created “a sense of teamwork between managers and employees,” and “helped employees feel empowered.” The end result, he said, is that examiners now have “more time to do their examination correctly,” while being more productive and feeling “more in control of their work.”
At the end of fiscal 2011, the PTO reported that the backlog of unexamined patent applications was reduced to 669,625, the lowest total in five years. While still a huge caseload, the PTO said it represented a 10 percent reduction in the backlog from fiscal 2009, even with an average 5 percent annual increase of patent application filings. The PTO’s trademarks organization also met or exceeded all of its fiscal 2011 goals for quality, pendency and e-government.
In other changes, Hirshfeld said there are now training programs for patent examiners with a focus on helping them better understand new technologies and how they can be more effective in their work. He said the PTO instituted a leadership development program that is open to all employees “so they can see what their future could be,” and started training programs for top managers, all of whom must create executive development plans and chart their progress.
The PTO has instituted a number of new employee and manager award programs, offered opportunities for employees to provide feedback on workplace issues to management and is among the leaders in the percentage of employees who telework. The PTO also promotes flexible work schedules.
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The Office of Personnel Management
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is seeking to practice what it preaches.
As the federal government’s central human resources agency, OPM’s mission is to provide help and advice to agencies on employee policies, and to hold agencies accountable for creating productive workplaces.
This year, OPM placed ninth out of 33 large agencies in the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings, breaking into the top 10 for the first time, and raising its employee satisfaction and commitment score to 69.4 out of 100, a 5.3 percent increase from 2010.
OPM has had a steady climb upward in the rankings, improving from 25th out of 30 large agencies in 2007, 20th out of 30 in 2009 and 14th out of 32 in 2010.
The latest ratings show employees giving OPM improved scores on almost every workplace issue, including a 7.3 percent increase in the effective leadership category that encompasses employee views on empowerment, fairness, senior leaders and supervisors. This was the largest percentage change on leadership of any large agency. OPM, for example, drew a 72 percent positive response to the question, “Supervisors/team leaders in my work unit support employee development.”
From the employee perspective, OPM has shown improvement on strategic management, teamwork, training and development, opportunities for reward and advancement, work/life balance, creating a family friendly culture, supporting diversity and matching skills to mission.
Justin Johnson, a OPM deputy chief of staff, said Director John Berry set the tone for the agency when he first came into office in 2009, making it clear to senior executives, human resource leaders and office supervisors that they would be held accountable to analyze the employee survey results and come up with plans and strategies to address problem areas. He said Berry challenged executives to be proactive and to “drive change,” whether it’s workplace flexibilities, training or wellness issues.
“He raised this prominently and jump-started the effort,” said Johnson.
Johnson said there has been a concerted effort to solicit employee feedback through free flowing monthly town hall meetings with Berry and the use of the Idea Factory, where workers are encouraged to submit innovative ideas for workplace improvements. He said OPM leaders have actively engaged labor representatives to take the pulse of their members and to work with management to enhance the workplace environment and lower barriers to change.
“These are all signals that we want to hear from employees,’ said Johnson. “This is still a work in progress.”
OPM also has revamped its employee awards programs, making the process more open and employee driven. He said some of the new ideas grew out of a labor-management forum, including setting up a system to make fair assessments rather than having awards given “based on who you know.”
Moreover, the human resources agency started a mentoring program, and has increased employee training opportunities, including consolidating employee development functions into a new learning and career center.
OPM also has placed emphasis on the use of telework among its employees. Johnson said OPM believes that workers who are able to effectively work outside of the office setting should be allowed to do so, calling this an “a fairness issue” and a way for managers to send the message of “trust” to employees.
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The U.S. Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
The U.S. Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), both part of the Department of the Treasury, registered significant gains in employee job satisfaction and commitment in 2011, showing improvements on a wide range of workplace issues that include leadership and opportunities for rewards and advancement.
Both the Mint and BEP were at the bottom of the rankings for federal agency subcomponents in 2010, and made dedicated efforts to engage employees, and improve morale and workplace conditions — strategies that were undertaken at the behest of the leadership of the Treasury.
Daniel Tangherlini, the Treasury’s assistant secretary for management, said the leaders of the department’s bureaus closely examine the survey results used in the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings as a means of better understanding employee concerns. He said the leaders of the bureaus are held accountable for making progress on workplace issues, with goals embedded in their performance plans.
“We have said to the leaders that they need to engage their workers, and that they will have to provide explanations if the performance trends are not going in the right direction,” said Tangherlini.
The Mint, which manufactures and distributes circulating coins, precious metals, collectible coins and national medals to meet the needs of the United States, clearly got the message. In 2011, it was the most improved agency subcomponent in the Best Places to Work rankings. The organization recorded a Best Places to Work score of 68.5 out of 100, up from 56.5 in 2010, for a 21.2 percent gain. It also catapulted in the rankings from 201 of 224 in 2010 to the 57th spot in 2011 out of 240 agency subcomponents.
Employees gave the Mint improved scores for effective leadership, which includes empowerment, fairness, and the role of senior and supervisory leaders. Employees also gave more favorable responses in 2011 than in 2010 to questions dealing with strategic management, rewards and advancement, support for diversity and other topics.
Richard Peterson, the deputy director of the Mint, said there has been a focus on increasing communication with employees to explain the challenges faced by the organization and the reasons for various decisions. He said Mint executives are now working more cooperatively with labor unions to bring about change and resolve outstanding issues, and are seeking to empower employees to give them greater flexibility to do their jobs.
Peterson said he has held regular town hall meetings in concert with the president of the Mint’s chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees, and visited all of the Mint’s facilities to hear employee concerns. In addition, Peterson said the senior leaders are pulling together as a team and providing a unified sense of direction for the organization.
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing was the third most improved agency subcomponent in 2011, raising its Best Places to Work employee satisfaction and commitment score from 51.5 out of 100 in 2010 to 60 in 2011. This represents a 16.6 percent increase. In addition, the BEP’s ranking rose to 174 out of 240 agency subcomponents in 2011. While still low, it marked a positive step from being ranked 219 out of 224 in 2010.
The BEP, which develops and prints billions of dollars a year in United States currency notes, was given improved marks by employees for effective leadership, including a 25.7 percent improvement in the scores for the senior leaders. The scores went up in every workplace category surveyed, including opportunities for training and development and support for diversity.
Len Olijar, the BEP’s chief financial officer and chairman of its Best Places to Work Committee, said the agency held focus groups that included white collar workers and those doing manual labor, mid-level managers and entry-level employees to take the pulse of the workforce, and to find out the reasons behind the historically low employee ratings.
He said the number one concern was lack of communication, which resulted in development of an action plan to let employees know what was happening in the organization and why decisions were being made. He said mechanisms have been put in place to get feedback, to act on concerns and to let employees know that they are being heard.
Larry Felix, the BEP director, said supervisors meet regularly with employees as part of their performance requirements to discuss and address workplace issues, to understand what motivates the workforce and to ensure active engagement. He said the leadership also has worked closely with union leaders and held offsite meetings to find areas where all parties can collectively improve the work environment.
In addition, Felix said senior executives regularly take part in the “Walking in Your Shoes” program by spending a day doing line work in the printing plants to better understand the nature and stresses of the jobs, and to get suggestions on ways to make improvements. He said BEP has undertaken skill assessments of many of its workers, increased internal training programs to address skill gaps and helped workers adapt to new technologies being introduced into the printing process.
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The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) placed last among small agencies in the 2011 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings, registering sizable declines from 2010 in employee job satisfaction and commitment.
The USTR, an agency that negotiates trade agreements with foreign governments, resolves disputes and participates in global trade discussions, was 35th out of the 35 small agencies included in this year’s rankings. The USTR’s Best Places to Work score of 47.7 out of 100 represents a 16.8 percent drop from last year and continues a steady downward slide. In 2010, the USTR placed 29th out of 34 small agencies, having experienced a 22.6 percent drop from 2009 when it was ranked 14th out of 32.
From the employee perspective, USTR’s biggest decline involved effective leadership, and in particular the view of senior leaders. Just 30 percent of the respondents felt that their leaders have the ability to generate motivation and commitment from the staff, and only 35.5 percent said they have a high level of respect for the organization’s senior leaders. In addition, the USTR registered low scores on rewarding creativity and innovation, recognition for doing a good job and for providing sufficient resources to get the job done.
In a statement, the USTR said the survey results were drawn from a small percentage of its employees. Nevertheless, the agency said “our leadership is aware of the decline in positive responses and is very concerned,” adding that “our employees are our most important asset.”
“In order to try and identify the root causes of the decline in our scores, USTR’s HR will conduct focus groups with employees – for any who care to attend – to get discussions going, and glean additional feedback and suggestions,” said the agency statement. In addition, USTR said it will place suggestion/feedback boxes in the two USTR buildings, and ask employees to “submit anonymous feedback…to tell us what their strongest areas of concern are and their suggestions as to how we can improve.”
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The National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) registered an employee job satisfaction and commitment score of 53 out of 100 in 2011, representing a 7.1 percent drop from 2010 and marking the second year in a row that the nation’s record keeper was at the very bottom of the Best Places to Work rankings for large agencies. In 2010, the agency was tied for last place with the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
NARA’s job is to collect and preserve important government documents and historical records. It has employees spread over 44 locations, including a sizable manual labor workforce employed at storage facilities and a highly professional white-collar staff.
Employees gave lower scores compared to 2011 in every workplace category surveyed, including on issues such as leadership, creating a family friendly culture and opportunities for rewards and advancement. On the question of empowerment, only 44.4 percent of the respondents answered positively when asked whether they were satisfied with their involvement in decisions that affect their work.
Analisa Archer, NARA’s chief human capital officer, said Archivist of the United States David Ferriero is deeply committed to improving the work environment, and in January 2011 began a five-year transformation effort that includes a major reorganization of NARA’s business operations and structure. She said the action plan includes instilling a new set of organizational values, a significant cultural change, making agency decisions more transparent to the workforce and concentrating on fixing many of the concerns voiced by employees.
She said these concerns include the need for better internal communication, working to ensure that diversity is valued, providing increased training and development opportunities, and making sure the leadership is more responsive to employees and focused on creating positive change. She said NARA has traditionally been a “bureaucratic” organization with separate fiefdoms where decisions were made at the top without staff having input or understanding why actions were taken.
Archer said the survey used to compile the Best Places to Work rankings took place shortly after NARA announced its reorganization plan. She also said that in the past year, almost 100 percent of the organization’s senior executives have left NARA and have been replaced by new leaders who are on board with the change agenda.
While acknowledging NARA has many workplace problems that are reflected in the low scores, she said the combination of announcing the restructuring plan and the enormous executive turnover was unsettling for many employees who may have been fearful about the changes. She said this may be part of the reason for lower Best Places to Work scores in 2011 and that it was not unexpected.
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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.
