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Best Federal Agencies to Work For

Posted on June 26, 2009

WASHINGTON, DC -- The 2009 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings were released last month and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was named the best large federal agency to work for.

The Best Places to Work rankings, compiled by the Partnership for Public Service and American University’s Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation, are based on a survey conducted by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management that represents the views of 212,000 federal employees.  Agencies are ranked in three categories: large (2,000 or more employees), small or subcomponent. They are also ranked in ten workplace categories, including leadership, work/life balance, and pay and benefits.

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service. “The Best Places to Work rankings are an important tool for federal managers who understand that employee satisfaction drives agency performance. They provide both transparency and accountability – and they are an important benchmark for this administration.”

“The whole idea of employee engagement is to make the workplace more productive,” Robert Tobias, director of American University’s Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation, added. “These rankings provide an incentive for agencies to focus on their employees, they give a roadmap for improvement, and they help Congress fulfill their oversight responsibilities.”

The best large federal agencies to work for are: 

1) Nuclear Regulatory Commission
2) Government Accountability Office
3) National Aeronautics and Space Administration
4) Intelligence Community
5) Department of State
6) Environmental Protection Agency
7) Department of Justice
8) General Services Administration
9)  Social Security Administration
10) Department of Commerce

The best small agencies to work for are:

1) Surface Transportation Board
2) Overseas Private Investment Corporation
3) Congressional Budget Office (tie)
3) Office of Management and Budget (tie)
5) National Science Foundation
6) Federal Maritime Commission
7) National Transportation Safety Board
8) Commodity Futures Trading Commission
9) Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
10) Federal Trade Commission

The most improved large federal agency is the Small Business Administration, increasing its score by 30.1 percent and moving up in the rankings from 30 in 2007 to 26. The Office of Personnel Management also has a significant score increase of 14.3 percent, moving up from a 2007 ranking of 25 to 20 in the large agency rankings. The Federal Maritime Commission was the biggest mover among small agencies, with a 28 percent increase, moving from 23 in 2007 to 6 in the new rankings. 

The complete Best Places to Work rankings of all 278 agencies and subcomponents can be accessed at bestplacestowork.org. Visitors to the site can also access trend analysis, demographic data and all ten workplace categories, as well as generate custom reports and conduct side-by-side comparisons for up to three agencies.

The Best Places rankings are compiled from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Federal Human Capital Survey. The Best Places rankings were first produced in 2003, and again in 2005 and 2007.
 
The Partnership for Public Service is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to revitalize our federal government by inspiring a new generation to serve and by transforming the way government works. To learn more, visit ourpublicservice.org.