Mission of the Program:

Employee attitude and opinion surveys are a proven tool for assessing workforce morale, retention, engagement, and readiness. Survey results are used by leaders and supervisors in public and private sector organizations to improve the workforce performance and engage employees. DoD uses FEVS results to inform programs and training content to improve the DoD workforce climate and increase engagement. In the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Public Law 108-136, November 24, 2003, 117 STAT. 1641), Congress established a requirement for agencies to conduct an Annual Employee Survey (AES) to assess:

• Leadership and management practices that contribute to agency performance
• Employee satisfaction
• Leadership policies and practices
• Work environment
• Rewards and recognition for professional accomplishment and personal contributions to achieving organizational mission
• Opportunity for professional development and growth
• Work/life balance

Since 2010, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) annually administers the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), which meets the requirements of this law (The FEVS includes the 16 mandated AES questions) as well as adding additional questions collecting a greater wealth of data on government programs and workforce attitudes.

The Partnership for Public Service in conjunction with the Boston Consulting Group also uses the results to determine the Best Places to Work in Federal Government rankings available at Best Places to Work in Federal Government. Additionally, OPM and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) uses results to evaluate agency progress in organizational performance based upon employee feedback. Goals for the OPM FEVS and program include:

• A responsive survey with a leading-edge design and contemporary content capable of informing leadership priorities.
• Data of the highest possible quality (e.g., reliable, valid) to support effective organizational development decisions.
• An agile survey and reporting process to support timely and substantive change actions within agencies and across government.

Resources

• Agency Management Report (AMR) FEVS Reports
  • Agency Management Report 2022 - Dashboard: United States Department of Defense
  • Agency Management Report 2021: United States Department of Defense
  • Agency Management Report 2020: United States Department of Defense
  • Agency Management Report 2019: United States Department of Defense
• Best Place to Work 2021
• Employee Engagement Toolkit for Supervisors
  • Review Survey Results to Gain Insights
  • Share Survey Results and Solicit Input
  • A Simple Approach to Action
  • Leadership for Engagement
• DEIA Questionnaire
• Key Terms and Definitions
• Survey Items - Indices and AES and New Content
• milSuite (CAC required)