Three of the five federal financial institution regulatory agencies saw their “employee engagement scores” drop this year from 2017 levels, with the consumer financial protection agency seeing the biggest decline, more than 25 points, according to results of a study released Wednesday.
The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government report for 2018, released by the non-profit Partnership for Public Service (PPS), stated that employee engagement scores for the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP, formerly known as the CFPB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) all declined from their 2017 levels in this year’s results.
More specifically, the BCFP engagement score for 2018 was 51.7, down 25.2 points from its 2017 score. The FDIC 2018 score was 80.5, down 1.4 points from the previous year; NCUA earned a 67.2 score, down 1.8 points from 2017.
All three of those agencies were categorized as mid-sized agencies.
The BCFP score was the largest decline in the mid-sized agencies and the second-lowest score among all (the Department of Education score fell to 47.3, down 12.4 points from the previous year). Only the Federal Labor Relations Board (FLRB) – categorized as a small agency – had a more precipitous decline in score than the consumer bureau, at 31 points.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), on the other hand, increased its ranking for 2018, to 77, up 1.3 points from 2017. The OCC was categorized as an “agency subcomponent,” in that it is contained within the Treasury Department.
The Federal Reserve was not ranked.
Despite the slightly lower employee engagement score, the FDIC overall was ranked fifth for 2018, with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ranked first with an 84 score (which was up 2.6 points from the previous year).
The FDIC also scored within the top five in several subcategories, according to PPS, including: pay, at 79.1 (ranked first); employee skills/mission match, at 82.8 (fifth); and strategic management, at 69.8 (fourth).
The rankings are calculated by PPS using its proprietary weighted formula, using responses to three questions from the Federal Employee Viewpoint Surveey, conducted by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), according to PPS. The three questions are:
- I recommend my organization as a good place to work. (Q. 40)
- Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your job? (Q. 69)
- Considering everything, how satisfied are you with your organization? (Q. 71)
PPS said that employee engagement dropped at more than half (59.1%) of the federal organizations included in the rankings. Only 39.6% registered increases and 1.3% stayed the same, PPS said. “This represents a stark contrast to the previous three years when more than 70 percent of federal organizations experienced gains in how employees viewed their jobs and workplace related issues,” the organization said.
Best Places to Work in the Federal Government: 2018 rankings