Feds’ employee experience and engagement continued to climb in 2024, FEVS data finds

Federal workers’ views of their employer in general slightly improved or held steady compared to last year, according to data released on Thursday by the Office of Personnel Management from the 2024 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. 

OPM officials, in particular, touted the employee engagement index score (73 out of 100), which is a record high and a one percentage point increase from 2023. Such index encompasses perceptions of leadership and supervisors and the overall employee experience. 

Those employee engagement increases mostly translated across large, medium and small agencies, with very large and small-sized agencies each gaining two percentage points from 2023 to move to 73% and 77%, respectively. Very small agencies, however, were down one point from last year to land at 76%, a five-point slide from 2020.  

• 87% of overall respondents said their supervisor treats them with respect. 
• 78% reported that they have trust and confidence in their supervisor. 
• 79% said their supervisor supports employee development. 

In a statement, officials attributed the positive survey results to the Biden administration’s efforts to strengthen the federal workforce, such as by increasing hiring, bolstering civil service protections and improving labor relations. 

“Leaders across the Biden-Harris Administration — and managers and supervisors across government — have prioritized rebuilding their workforces and engaging them on the issues most important to them,” acting OPM Director Rob Shriver said in a statement. “And now we are seeing the results, with the highest ever score on the Employee Engagement Index, and strong results across the board.”

FEVS is conducted annually and includes employees of departments and large agencies as well as of small and independent ones who agree to participate. The response rate this year increased to 41% from 39% in 2023. 

Other notable results include:

• The index score to measure how employees feel about diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the workplace increased to 72 out of 100. Such score was 71 in 2023 and has improved every year since it was introduced in 2022. 
• The index for employee satisfaction (e.g. job, organization, pay) increased by one percentage point (from 64 to 65), which is still lower than the 2020 score of 69. 
• The measure of how employees perceive their work unit’s effectiveness remained the same at 84 out of 100, as it has been since 2021. 
• The employee experience index, which covers how much employees are engaged by their work and organization, increased from 73 out of 100 in 2023 to 74 this year. 

When asked what happens to poor performers in respondents’ units, 40% said they stay in the unit and continue to underperform, a one-point decline from 2023. 

OPM will release agency-level data from the 2024 FEVS later this year.