2007 Federal Human Capital Survey for the US Access Board
In accordance with section 1128 of Public Law 108-136 and with sections 250.302 and 250.303 of Title 5 Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 1, Part 250, the U.S. Access Board conducts the Federal Human Capital Survey annually among its employees and make the survey results available to the public. In 2007, the U.S. Access Board administered the Federal Human Capital Survey (FHCS) to its employees. Below the 2007 survey results are presented, along with the survey methodology.
Survey Process
The annual Federal Human Capital Survey (FHCS) at the U.S. Access Board was conducted electronically on the Internet via a website, by Vovici, Inc., a private company specializing in online surveys. (The initial contract for the FHCS was through Raosoft, Inc., but as a result of Raosoft, Inc.’s asset sales, Vovici, Inc. carried out the remaining work in accordance with the initial contract.) Data collection and reporting were administered in a secure online environment to provide confidentiality to the employees of the U.S. Access Board.
First, pre-invitation emails were sent out to all employees by a senior official of the U.S. Access Board, informing them of the upcoming survey and inviting their participation. Following that, all employees received an initial invitation via email on October 4th 2007 and two participation reminders before October 25th 2007. Support and assistance to the respondents was made available through telephone and email.
About the Federal Human Capital Survey Questions
The Federal Human Capital Survey instrument, which is specified in section 250.302 of Title 5 Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 1, Part 250, was used for the employees of the U.S. Access Board. The FHCS containing 45 questions is aimed at discerning employee satisfaction with agency leadership policies and practices, the work environment, awards and recognition, and the professional development opportunities which are afforded to Federal employees.
Of the 45 questions in the FHCS, five questions concern the respondent’s demographic characteristics. The remaining forty questions are broken out into five categories: Personal Work Experiences, Recruitment, Development & Retention, Performance Culture, Leadership and Job Satisfaction. The forty questions are presented with a 5-point rating scale. For each question, a respondent is asked to indicate how strongly he or she agrees or disagrees with a statement describing one of the five aspects of his or her work and organization.
U.S. Access Board Survey Methodology
The total survey population at the U.S. Access Board is 27 employees (as of October, 2007). Of the 27 employees, 25 responded; therefore, the total response rate was 93%.
Because of the small population size of the US Access Board, employees were not asked any of the 5 demographic questions. This is a standard procedure for agencies with less than 800 employees. Any demographic breakouts in a population only 27 employees would be too small to be statistically relevant regardless of the response rate. In addition, the exclusion of the demographic questions helped to preserve the confidentiality of the employee’s responses.
All of the remaining 40 questions were optional for a respondent to answer as the electronic survey did not force him or her to choose a response before moving forward in the survey. Despite the lack of forced answers, nearly all respondents chose to answer all of the questions presented.
Survey Findings
The 2007 Federal Human Capital Survey results show that the employees of the U.S. Access Board like what they do, believe their work is important, know what needs to be done, and believe they deliver. At the same time, responses identify room for improvement in the agency's performance culture - dealing with poor performers, recognizing high performance, and providing adequate training or training opportunities.
For each of the five groups of questions in the survey, the percentage of respondents selecting the two highest ratings of the statements was calculated and ranked from highest to lowest. For sections 1 through 4, percentage in agreement was calculated by summing the number of respondents that selected “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”, divided by the total number of responses. Questions in Section 5, Job Satisfaction, were rated on a satisfaction scale where “Satisfied” and “Very Satisfied” represented the two highest ratings.
In descending order, group results showing the level of agreement/satisfaction were:
| Personal and Work Experiences |
85% in agreement |
| Leadership |
80% in agreement |
| Recruitment, Development and Retention |
79% in agreement |
| Job Satisfaction |
71% show satisfaction |
| Performance Culture |
61% in agreement |
The six questions that show the greatest level of agreement/satisfaction were:
| I know how my work relates to the agency's goals and priorities. (Q.9) |
96% in agreement |
| My work gives me a feeling of personal accomplishment. (Q.3) |
92% in agreement |
| The people I work with cooperate to get the job done. (Q.1) |
92% in agreement |
| The work I do is important. (Q.10) |
92% in agreement |
| My supervisor supports my need to balance work and family issues. (Q.24) |
92% in agreement |
| Employees are protected from health and safety hazards on the job. (Q.28) |
92% in agreement |
The five questions that show the lowest level of agreement/satisfaction were:
| In my work unit, steps are taken to deal with a poor performer who cannot or will not improve. (Q.16) |
24% in agreement |
| Pay raises depend on how well employees perform their jobs. (Q.20) |
40% in agreement |
| Promotions in my work unit are based on merit. (Q.15) |
40% in agreement |
| My training needs are assessed. (Q.14) |
44% in agreement |
| How satisfied are you with your opportunity to get a better job in your organization? (Q.35) |
48% show satisfaction |
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