Work-Life Balance

At yesterday's Federal Human Capital Survey results release, Nancy Kichak called attention to one number in particular she said she was worried about: a 3 percent drop in the number of federal employees who said they were pleased with the government's efforts to help them achieve a good work-life balance, from 78 percent in 2006 to 75 percent last year. I'll be curious to see what answers agencies and departments come up with to explain that decline, but the FHCS numbers on specific work-life programs offer some disturbing suggestions.

How many federal employees responded positively to the question about their satisfaction with child-care subsidies? A measly 9.1 percent. 22.6 percent said they were satisfied with telework or telecommuting programs. 28.5 percent said they were satisfied with work-life balance programs, including those on health and wellness, elder care, support groups, and other forms of employee assistance.

It's possible that some of these numbers are as low as they are simply because many employees don't yet have much experience with these programs. But if that's the case, perhaps programs need to be better-advertised or made more widely available. Particularly in the case of telework, which the Bush administration has worked hard to promote, the figures are quite low.

None of these numbers detract from the fact that an overwhelming majority of federal employes, 91 percent in fact, see their work as important, and 69 percent have no plans to leave government in the next year. But there is always room for improvement, especially when it comes to promoting the federal government as a good employer. Making sure employees feel good on and off the job is a good place to start.