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Government Leader home > August 2005 issue
August 2005; Vol. 1 No. 3
HUMAN CAPITAL: Leaders Get Tepid Marks in OPM Survey
By Richard W. Walker
What do rank-and-file federal employees think of their leaders?
Government executives don’t get particularly high marks from their employees in the latest Office of Personnel Management Federal Human Capital survey, available at www.opm.com.
In a section on leadership, responding to the statement, “I have a high level of respect for my organization’s senior leaders,” 14.6 percent of employees participating in the survey strongly agreed and another 34.9 percent simply agreed. Nearly 12 percent strongly disagreed, while 15.7 percent disagreed.
In reply to an assertion that leaders in their agencies generate high levels of commitment in the work force, 8.7 strongly agreed and 28.6 percent just agreed. Another 12.7 percent strongly disagreed and 21.9 percent disagreed without qualification.
Leaders did better on communications issues, with nearly 60 percent responding positively: 47.3 percent of employees agreed that their managers communicate the goals and priorities of their agencies, and 12.3 percent strongly agreed; 12.2 percent disagreed and 6.9 percent strongly disagreed.
OPM found that positive responses to similar questions in private-sector surveys about management tend to be about 10 percent higher.
“The quality of management in our federal agencies is not what is can and should be,” said Clay Johnson, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget. “We have to improve the quality of management at all levels throughout the federal government and be specific about holding people accountable for that.”
Johnson said his experience with management quality in the private sector was different.
“I’ve worked for some really well-run companies and I ran a company,” he said, “and my firsthand experience is that a focus on performance, outcome and the quality of management is absolutely critical, and that senior management should devote a tremendous amount of time and attention to the quality of the management throughout the organization. That is not happening now in the federal government.”
Patricia McGinnis, president and chief executive officer of the Council for Excellence in Government in Washington, thinks the government is well behind the private sector in developing leaders.
“The way [private sector] organizations communicate, manage and assess performance has really changed a lot over the last few years,” she said. “They’ve become less hierarchical and more collaborative. ... That cultural transformation in government is pretty far behind the private sector, and the role of [government] managers has to change in order to change the culture, so I think that should be a focal point of reform efforts and investment.”
Johnson said defining the role of managers better is one way to start improving the quality of leadership.
“We need to make sure that we mutually agree on a really clear definition of what a manager is supposed to do—and define [it] in such a way that it is auditable,” he said. “That way, you can sit down with a manager and look at the evidence of whether [he or she] is managing well or not.”
—Richard W. Walker
OPM’s Leadership Survey
I have a high level of respect for my organization’s leaders
Strongly agree 14.6%
Agree 34.9%
Disagree 15.7%
Strongly disagree 11.9%
Neither agree nor disagree 22.6%
Don’t know 0.4%
Leaders in my organization generate high levels of motivation and commitment in the work force
Strongly agree 8.7%
Agree 28.6%
Disagree 21.9%
Strongly disagree 12.7%
Neither agree nor disagree 27.4%
Don’t know 0.8%
My organization’s leaders maintain high standards of honesty and integrity
Strongly agree 14.3%
Agree 34.5%
Disagree 12.0%
Strongly disagree 10.8%
Neither agree nor disagree 25.2%
Don’t know 3.3%
Managers communicate the goals and priorities of the organization
Strongly agree 12.3%
Agree 47.3%
Disagree 12.2%
Strongly disagree 6.9%
Neither agree nor disagree 20.6%
Don’t know 0.7%
Managers review and evaluate my organization’s progress toward meeting its goals and objectives
Strongly agree 12.0%
Agree 45.3%
Disagree 9.1%
Strongly disagree 4.8%
Neither agree nor disagree 23.4%
Don’t know 5.5%
Source: Office of Personnel Management
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